Zoo Wrap-Up

We had a wonderful trip to Ueno Zoo this week!  Thank you to everyone who came with us!

For those who didn't come along I'll post some resources you can use on your next visit to the zoo or when reading about a zoo.

We started the day with a group who met at the gate at 10 AM. Our early group enjoyed visiting the large birds, lions, gorillas and bears.

We learned that the lion with a little hair is the Mommy and the lion with the big hair is the Daddy! 

We were able to watch the Polar Bear eat fish, swim and play with a ball.

At 11:30 we had our 2nd meeting time for those who wished to join us from lunch.  We enjoyed taking a break in the shade while watching the monkeys near by. Although we didn't have a proper lesson, we did have a chance to review a few signs using the book Peek-A-Moo before heading to the petting zoo.

 Checking out the map to see where we've been and where we're going.

Our lovely group - 17 adults and 16 1/2 babies/toddlers

After eating we walked to the other side of the park to the children's petting zoo area which features farm animals.  Here is a link to an Hand-y Craft Animal Memory Game you can download and make at home.

 Guess who found the rabbits!

For most of the kids it was the first chance to pet a goat.  

Look!  The goats and pigs eat grass!

Throughout the day we were able to see what many of the animals eat.  It was wonderful to see how many of out little signers were making connections between the things we're learned in class (eat, yummy, apple, banana etc.) and the real animals eating real food.

Can you guess which animal we are looking at now?

 We had an up close look at the giraffes eating leaves for their lunch!

 When we have play group we often use the Classroom Edition curriculum which includes printable flashcards that you can color in and laminate at home.  This little girl has her set of cards hooked to the stroller to "read" on the train and look at as we explored the zoo.

After wandering together for a few hours about half of the kids were asleep in their strollers so we parted ways at 2PM.  A few of us went on to visit the reptiles before heading home.

Baby M had her first experience with live turtles.  It was so much fun to watch her face light up as she saw how they moved!  Even a child just turning 1 can enjoy the zoo :-)

For more zoo book ideas please visit the Kotoba & Sign Amazon.co.jp store!

Again, thank you to everyone who joined us for this first サインで遊ぼう Sign & Play Group Field Trip!  We're hoping to have another one at the end of July (2013), possibly to a Tokyo area aquarium!  Please check this blog or follows us on Twitter or Facebook for details!  For those who can't join us I'll still post resources on here that you can use for your own future adventures :-)

Here are blog posts from some of the other participants:
Diary of a Mommy Photographer