Melbourne Zoo Kinder/Early Years

Melbourne Zoo offers exciting Early Childhood programs that provide fun and safe ways for young children to explore natural environments and to get up-close-and-personal with our wildlife. 

Our Early Years programs provide great opportunities to discover, explore and connect with the natural world. Closely linked to VELS, our programs help students to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours that are the foundations of their future learning.

  • KINDER- Tricky Tadpoles

    Children are welcomed through movement, rhyme and costumes to explore the life of tadpoles and the adventure of turning into frogs.

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  • Big Buddies

    Small birds in a big city need Big Buddies to help them find their habitat.
    Year 1 and 2 students will take home an ingredient for a perfect habitat for small birds to eat, hide amongst and nest in.

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  • Habitat Heroes

    In this hands-on program, students meet some unique animals that are considered lucky or unlucky, because their habitats are either healthy or under threat.
    To help improve the habitat in their local area (and maybe attract some animal inhabitants), students pot seeds ready for planting back in their school or home garden.

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  • Captive Care

    How do you entertain an orang-utan?  What does a lizard have for lunch?  How do you weigh a snake?  Discover the answers to these questions and check out what interesting food we keep in our fridge!  Students will get up close and personal with some of our animals such as a frog, lizard or snake and find out a bit more about being a zookeeper.

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  • Cycles of Life

    From birth through to death all animals have a life cycle, but are they all the same?  Through meeting some of our Discovery Centre animals, such as a snake, monkey or wombat, students will explore the different ways animals grow and change throughout their lives.

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  • Fur, Feathers, Scales and Skin

    Whether they're furry, feathered or have scales or skin, our animal friends are fascinating.  This program is a unique opportunity for students to explore animal body coverings and animal groups through a range of interactive and multi-sensory experiences.

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