Edmonton preschool gets wild with zoo programming

Over the last five months, the pre-kindergarten students in Jacqueline Novak’s class have grown close with the older, untamed students down the hall.

They visit regularly, present them with home-made toys, and even know them by name.

“We really love them,” four-year-old Pearl said. “We want to make them happy.”

It can be a tricky task because the objects of their adoration are mammals, reptiles, birds and amphibians.

The kids are taking pre-kindergarten at the Edmonton Valley Zoo. It’s part of the Edmonton Catholic School District’s 100 Voices program, which operates in numerous city attractions, schools and recreation centres.

Since the inaugural program started in September, the three and four-year-olds have learned about the animals by designing enrichments – or stimulation props – for them. They’ve built about a dozen of them, including a giant peppermint tea Popsicle for Lucy the Elephant, a cricket-filled cardboard maze for the meerkats, and a smelly, fur-covered caribou toy for the tigers.

“We brainstorm ideas of getting the animals excited and giving them some mental stimulation outside of what they get every day,” Laura Raich, educational interpreter at the Edmonton Valley Zoo, said.

“The kids often brainstorm what they would like … to play with and then we kind of interpret it and mold it to be good for the animals.”

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The enrichments haven’t always been a hit. The zoo’s resident gibbon, Julia, showed little interest in numerous fruit and raisin-filled boxes.

“She’s a picky eater. It’s tough with her,” Raich said.

Novak says her students actually benefit more when their enrichments need tweaking. It forces them to problem solve and come up with creative solutions.

“It makes us think harder if it’s a fail so it’s almost better,” Novak explained.

She adds that while the animals’ lives are improved by the enrichments, the students are the ones being enriched by the unique program.

“In my mind it teaches children respect for animals,” Novak said.

“We’re building a little generation of children who will grow up to save the world – to save the animal world – and I think that’s really special.”

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In fall 2016, the 100 Voices pre-kindergarten program will expand to two new locations: the Muttart Conservatory and the Kinsmen Sports Centre.