Zoo Day Language

A day at the zoo is a great way to teach our kids additional vocabulary, work on WH questions, animal sounds, and much more. When planning for your day at the zoo, you can talk to your child about the type of shoes we should wear for walking, snacks or water we can bring, and the weather outside.

Once inside the zoo, talk about directions. “Go left, go right”, “go this way”, “go that way”, “let’s go see the monkeys”, “let’s go find the bathroom”.

When you see an animal, you can either ask them “what do you see?” or describe what you see yourself. “Look! It’s a monkey!”. A monkey goes “ooo oo ah ah, let’s try it together”. This can easily be done for each animal. In addition, you can describe the color of the animal, whether it is short, tall, hiding, laying down, eating, etc.

After a lot of walking, our kids might feel worn out. This is a great time to check in and talk about feeling hot, tired, hungry, thirsty, or happy.

At the end of the zoo day, ask your child which animal they liked the best, which one was scary, which one made noises. Every family outing is a perfect opportunity to model functional language and create a teaching opportunity while having fun.

Author: Amber Drew, C-SLPA