Penguins were not but very interesting to watch anyway.
A giraffe was one of the characters in the story Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock. His fruit was stolen right out from under him by a mischievous arachnid. To our surprise and delight, the zoo's giraffe pavilion's background was covered with Egyptian hieroglyphs (one of our current areas of study.) We have not found any evidence yet that giraffes lived in Ancient Egypt, however. We will be investigating hieroglyphs and murals to see if these (and other animals) migrated throughout the continent of Africa over time.
Zoo docents were readily available throughout the park to provide hands-on sensory experiences such as touchable zebra skins and a a section of a very large neck bone. Zebra's were characters in both Anansi stories and the Aesop's Fable, The Kangaroo and the Zebra. I recently found out, however, that 'zebra' is really pronounced like the name Deborah/Debra.
The Australian Outback offered a realistic depiction of a walkabout with the potential of a pouched friend to hop across our path at any time. The weather proved to be too hot for such activity so we practiced our own jumping instead. We found it impossible to match a kangaroo's ability to leap 27 feet in just one hop!
A train ride provided an opportunity to receive a panoramic preview of the landscape.
The seal had the best idea in 80+ degree weather, cool water, sunbathing and a nap!
A ground-eyed view offered a ground level view of animal habitats and habits. Human gophers/groundhogs, however, are so much more adorable than the real ones!
The Kindergartners were glad to be at the zoo but even happier to learn that we only had to walk a short distance back to the bus thanks to strategic route planning!