New camps that make kids think about their future
Summer day camps at the Calgary Zoo are more than just an excuse for your kids to hang out with the animals for a week. The experience could spark a passion or lifelong interest in conservation or possibly a career in biology or zoology.
This year, the zoo is launching two new camps angled to budding zoologists in grades 5 to 9: Summer Biologist and Summer Zookeeper, says youth program co- ordinator Diana Zarowny.
“We get a lot of kids that are super- passionate about animals and animal care, husbandry, nature, the environment,” she says.
“The kids can tell you all the information they know about animals and they know the Latin names— they’re already like miniature zoologists or biologists.” The newest camps play to these strengths, Zarowny says. “Summer Biologist is targeted toward those who are really interested in natural history interpretation. The new camp helps develop their interest and shows them what it can lead to in the future in terms of study or job opportunities.”
Zarowny says part of the camp involves the kids developing their own presentations and learning how to collect data, all taught by trained zoo interpretative guides.
As for the new Summer Zookeeper camp,“a lot of kids want to be a zookeeper, and this shows them what it means to do that,” says Zarowny.
“They will work alongside the zookeeper ( and have) a behind- the- scenes experience and learn all about the different jobs besides working directly with the animals.”
For example, part of the camp will take kids into the zoo’s animal health centre, where they’ll help veterinary staff work on case studies.
Of course, younger children can enjoy the zoo day camp experience, too. The popular half- day Zoo Tots program,
“That’s for the really little guys, and it’s really neat because you’re helping them build the foundation of how they feel about nature,” says Zarowny.
“It’s neat to see that spark when they make the connection, or learn new things they might not have experienced before. They learn it’s not all Simba… we make the connection, talking about where do you sleep and now how do they ( the animals) sleep. Itmakes it more real for them.”
Another popular camp is the Summer Art Camp for grades 1 to 6.“They learn about the different mediums and techniques… and they produce ( art) based on the animals,” says Zarowny.
A Junior Zoologist Camp is also offered for grades 5 and 6 and a Youth Wildlife Workshop that will explore animal behaviour, wildlife conservation and careers in zoology or natural history is offered for kids in grades 7 to 9.
For more information about Calgary Zoo’s summer camps, visit calgaryzoo.com.