Last week Morgan attended the zoo camp. The theme for the week was Twisted Tales:
We all know classic fairy tales that feature creatures but would the tale be the same from the animal's point of view?
All the campers had to wear the official Animal Tales T-shirt each day at the zoo.
They did so many things and learned so many neat things about animals. On Monday, they read "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs" and learned about all things wolf. They played a really neat game called Find Your Pack! where each kid had a scented bottle and they had to find the rest of their pack by finding other kids with their matching scent. They also had a service dog as their animal visitor. Morgan was excited to share the fact that wolves smell better then cats, but cats hear better then wolves.
On Tuesday, they read "The Three Snow Bears", an adaption of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears". They played Hibernation Food Hunt. When the lights were off, they had to sleep on their mats, when the lights were on, they had to find food super quick. I asked her if they had any animal visitors and she looked at me like I had three heads.
No mom, we learned about bears today.
Well yesterday you learned about wolves but you still had a visitor.
Yes, well there isn't an animal related to a bear that would be safe to bring into the classroom.
Alrighty then.
Wednesday was all about Turtles, Tortoises and other reptiles. They visited Tropical Discovery, had turtle dress-up time, learned about all the turtles of the world, played Pin the Tongue on the Frog and made tissue paper turtles.
They also had a box turtle visit the classroom. Morgan's fun fact to share for the day was that the turtle's shell grows with the turtle.
Thursday's theme was fast and slow animals. They created their own storybook called The Sloth and the Jaguar, a new take on The Tortoise and the Hare.
They also had a Sloth vs Jaguar Race, played Fast and Slow Simon Says and had a Tortoise and Hare Relay Race. The highlight of the day for her was a visit to the cheetah's exhibit, her favorite animal. She was still talking about the cheetah this weekend. I was informed that cheetahs are the only cat's who's claws don't retract? They stay out all the time so they can run fast through the long African grass. Looks like Morgan isn't the only one learning something new from the zoo camp.
Friday was the final day and Morgan was quite sad that it was over. The theme for the day was primates. They learned about African versus Asian primates, played move like a primate, had a gorilla grooming game, visited the primates and toured the Lorikeets (which had nothing to do with primates, but Morgan enjoyed non the less). At the end of the camp day, the families were invited to the Wildlife Show. Due to bad weather it was held inside. The kids sat up front with their groups while the parents hung out in the back of the room. They had a macaw and a red wing hawk, but the star of the show was the African Serval. We were too far back to get a picture, but here is what this cat looks like. He was kept on a leash and demonstrated how well he can leap 10 feet high into the air. It was amazing.
At the end of the show, each class performed a song. Morgan's room did Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
This by far was Morgan's favorite camp. Morgan has decided to she wants to be a zookeeper when she grows up. She wants to go to this camp EVERY WEEK next year, and for fall break, and for Christmas break and for any classes they have on Saturdays. While she won't be going every week next summer (there are only two different classes offered over the summer weeks, plus this camp is expensive) we want to encourage her love for animals and will be signing her up for other offerings through out the year.
The bare mountain in this picture is considered the JFK mountain. Do you see it?
How about in this one? See his profile, and a little ways down his hand over his heart?
On Saturday, we went hiking on the Cub Lake trail. I use that term loosely as we probably didn't even go half a mile. Instead, the kids enjoyed scrambling up some rocks and playing forever in a river. Of course I forgot my camera again so just use your imagination.
After our mini-hike, we took it easy and hung around the campsite the rest of the day. The kids enjoyed putting on their own performances at the auditorium.
The next morning we packed up while the kids used the top of the camper as another one of their stages.
And then headed to the Visitor's Center where the kids sat down with a ranger to discuss their visit, turned in their books, got their Jr. Ranger badges.
On our way out, we stopped for a little while at the small amusement park outside RMNP. The slide was only $1 to go down, so Morgan went a few times.
The bumper boats were a rip off. We paid $6 and I think they were on it for only two minutes at the most.
We stopped two times on the way home to do some geocaching. Managed to find both of the caches we were looking for. We are starting to get better at this thing. It's very addictive and Morgan is always asking us when we can find more treasure. Good thing there are tons hidden right in our own backyard.
