A paper bongo hiding in a forest of bamboo pieces

This week’s Safari School was all about bongos.  (The animals, not the drums.)  Even though we had a small group on Wednesday, it was a fun class and the kids learned a lot.

Bongos are very large but very secretive antelope.  It’s amazing to think of something that big disappearing into the African rainforest, but they can and do on a regular basis.  In class we learned how the stripes on a bongo’s back help it to camouflage with the trees around it.  The students even had a chance to hide a paper bongo in a jungle of bamboo that they created!

We currently have three baby bongos at the Zoo, so of course an exhibit visit was in order.  Before we did that, we created our very own bongo horns out of toilet paper tubes to wear on our walk.  I wore mine, too, although I don’t think the bongos were impressed.  The kids sure thought it was funny!

Wish you’d been able to join our bongo class?  If you know a preschool student between the ages of 3 and 5 who would love a class like this, check out our Safari School page.  Next week are the last classes for fall, and we’ll be learning about turtles, making a turtle craft, and even meeting a live turtle visitor in the classroom!  And if you miss turtles, well, we have a whole new set of animals to learn about in the spring, including flamingos, okapi, and red panda.  Hope you can join us!

Koi at the Zoo

On September 16th and 19th, the Houston Zoo’s Safari School program will be focusing on these amazing animals.  Bring your toddler with you for an hour long program during which we will learn about koi, meet a fish up close in the classroom, create our very own painted fish prints, and feed the koi residents at the Reflection Pond.   So swim on over to the zoo and join us!