We literally just had the coolest experience of the entire year!! THE ENTIRE YEAR! We all know this past year has been tough on everyone, but especially the kids. With most kids going back and forth between hybrid and remote learning and having all their class trips and field trips canceled for the foreseeable future has left little, if any, anticipatory excitement in their lives. Gone are the days when children would rush home with their permission slips begging mom and/or dad to hurry up and sign it, chaperon, and then literally countdown the days until the field trip. Hands-on learning experiences are definitely a thing of the past for kids, or are they? Sure maybe schools can no longer provide such opportunities for students, but that doesn’t mean parents can’t facilitate an epic hands-on learning experience for their children. But where would parents even begin? Let’s start with animal encounters.
Indian Creek Zoo Animal Encounters
Address: 2744 Consear Rd, Lambertville, MI 48144
Phone:(734) 224-0390
Website: https://indiancreekzoo.com/
Hours: (Zoo is closed, only encounters are open now-March) Giraffe Encounters are available daily at 1 and 1:30pm and Sloth Encounters at 11am daily by reservation ONLY
Cost: $25 per person for the Giraffe Encounter (perfect for younger kids) and $65 a person for the Sloth Encounter (max of 4 people…must be 10+)
Reservations: Sloth Encounter- https://indiancreekzoo.com/sloth-encounter Giraffe Encounter- https://indiancreekzoo.com/giraffe-adventure
Indian Creek Zoo located just over the state line in Lambertville, Michigan, is offering animal encounters. More specifically, they’re offering Sloth and Giraffe Encounters year-round, even during their off season, (January-March). Kids and kids at heart will enjoy getting up close and personal with giraffes and/or sloths. During the encounter children will learn everything there is to know about the animals, their preferred climate, environment, habitat, dietary needs, reproduction, lifespan, preditors, sleeping habits, metabolism, animal adaptations, etc. and all questions are welcome, yes, even those regarding flatulence, farting, and bowel movements/poop. Not only will children be able to ask all those questions they might have been afraid/uncomfortable with asking in front of their entire class, they will also have the opportunity to feed, pet, and get as many pics as they wish, including a selfie with a sloth!!
And kids aren’t the only ones who’ll enjoy the anticipatory excitement of this amazing hands-on enrichment experience, this momma was beyond thrilled and elated to finally check off, “A Selfie with a Sloth” from her bucket list!! Thx for the pic, Pokey! 🙂
This is an experience unlike any other, not only is it a great way to provide a hands-on learning opportunity for your kids it also makes for an epic bday gift or even a fun date day activity….so if you’re looking for a unique and exciting way to spend an afternoon look no further than Indian Creek Zoo. But do make reservations ASAP, these encounters will fill up fast!!
And what kind of an enrichment field trip would it be without testing your/their knowledge afterward? Here’s some links to test kids on their comprehension of their encounter…
https://www.beano.com/posts/trivia-quiz-how-much-do-you-know-about-sloths
https://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz18892115a21c0.html
https://kidskonnect.com/animals/sloth/
Mom on the go in Holy Toledo 
So cool!
I did a sloth encounter at Animal Adventure Park in NY. They were in a climate controlled building . If I remember right it was warm with high humidity. Interesting animals.
The climate controlled environment is definitely inviting in the winter…you’re totally right, it’s very warm & humid, we ended up taking off a few layers during our visit. They are very interesting creatures…from their slow metabolism to their poop dance, practically everything about them is a bit unusual, lol!
The slow mo animal.