Our indoor soft play area, Jungle Tumble, will be closed on the following dates to annual maintenance work and a thorough deep clean. We apologise for any inconvenience caused, but this short closure is vital for us to be able to offer a high standard facility. • Monday 18th to Friday 22nd September 2023
Please be aware that some areas of the zoo will be CLOSED from the following dates to allow us time to prepare for our Halloween events.
• From 25th September 2023, our Bears of the Rising Sun lower viewing area will be closed.
• From 2nd October 2023, our Elephant Bushwalk will be closed.
• From 9th October 2023, our Cheetah viewing area, opposite Komodo Dragons, will be closed.
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Important Information
Education
Learning Resources
Info, Activities, Worksheets and More!
Click the links below or scroll down the page to access these free resources:
Activity Packs for SCHOOLS: Cross-curricular pre-trip, post-trip, and at the zoo activities including worksheets.
Learning Trails for SCHOOLS: Explore the zoo focused on STEM, Maths or Art.
Business Activities for SCHOOLS: Resources and worksheets on the topic of business, travel and tourism.
Sensory Resources for ANY VISITORS: Including a visual social story and sensory trails.
Children’s University Resourcesfor ANY VISITORS (including families or groups): Worksheets to complete at the zoo or after your visit to earn Children’s University hours.
Activity packs designed for schools to use as part of a school trip including fact sheets about relevant animals, and background information on the topic. To help you plan a topic themed visit to the zoo, the packs also contain a map showing suggested animals to visit, worksheets to complete during your visit, and pre-trip and post-trip classroom activities.
Click on the age range/KS level after the topic to open the pdf pack in a new tab.
At Home – Wildlife Activities to do at Home – All Ages
Please note, we suggest you pick and choose which worksheets would work best for your class and your topic from each pack, as each worksheet is independent and can be done without completing the whole pack.
Learning Trails around the Zoo
The above activity packs contain cross-curricular activities, including some focused on art and some focused on STEM. These learnign trails provide a more specific focus.
Art
Colchester Zoo Art Trail – this trail is suitable for all ages and provides a map and information about statues (and other 3D art), murals (and other 2D art), and curated gardens across the zoo. This includes work from celebrated British and international artists, as well as a variety of more commercial art. We hope this trail inspires and engages you across our site.
STEM
The below STEM activity pack is specifically focused on the wider range of STEM at the zoo and includes pre-trip and post-trip activities and worksheets relating to engineering, structural design, developing hypothesis, physics, medicine, and lots more! To focus specifically on maths, the Maths Workbook provides in-depth at the zoo worksheets using a variety of mathematical skills including: estimation, graphing, measuring, and real world problem solving.
There are a variety of independent worksheets and activities in the packs for a range of ages. Please pick and choose which worksheets to complete based on the level of your students.
Business and Tourism Resources
Resources for Business or Travel and Tourismschools groups learning about Colchester Zoo.
Business and Tourism Activity Pack: activities relating to business and tourism coursework, including worksheets and research at the zoo and follow-classroom activities.
If your students are completing surveys oncustomer service, visitor opinions, etc. while at Colchester Zoo, please ensure they comply with our Business Survey Guidelines.
Sensory Resources
A downloadableVisual Social Story (click to open in a new tab). This resource uses images and concise text to explain what to expect during a visit to Colchester Zoo.
Downloadable sensory trails to help you explore the zoo. The LONG Sensory Trail (click to open in a new tab) includes exploration around the entire zoo. The SHORT Sensory Trail(click to open in a new tab) explores the Familiar Friends farm section of the zoo.
Children’s University Resources
Packs designed for families and groups to use independently during your visit to the zoo. If your child is a member of Children’s University, they can earn CU hours and passport stamps! See inside the packs or the Essex Children’s University website for details of how to get involved.
Please note, you can earn a maximum of 6 hours per day by completing worksheet pages. You can mix and match to complete worksheets from different packs to earn your hours.
Please note, in order to qualify as Children’s University hours these workbooks should be completed outside of school hours (either at home, or as part of a before or after school club). Complete the entire workbook to earn 2 CU hours.
Information Packs
These information packs provide in depth background information on a range of topics. Great for homework and coursework!
Click on a pack title to open the PDF in a new window.
We have tried our best to cover all topics of interest here at Colchester Zoo. However, after looking through the information, if your question remains unanswered, please contact the Education Team by email: education@colchesterzoo.org
This is a trial mp3 audio version of Colchester Zoo’s Endangered Species information packs. If this mp3 format is popular, we will endeavour to create audio formats of all our available information packs. Click on a link in the below list to open the mp3 in a new tab, or select save as to download it to your computer. If you have any comments or feedback regarding this audio format (including the voice selection, pacing, etc.) please let us know at education@colchesterzoo.org.
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