New zoo daycare in Kaiserslautern: Learn children with animals!

New zoo daycare in Kaiserslautern: Learn children with animals!

The zoo school in the Kaiserslautern Zoo, founded in 2002, has now become an important educational institution. Danny Stock, zoo educator at the facility, explains that children in particular show a high level of interest in animals such as rabbits and pythons. In these encounters, curiosity often overcome the fear of contact with exotic animals. The zoo not only offers entertainment, but also valuable learning opportunities.

In 2010, there was a remarkable event at the zoo school, which underlined the importance of animals in early childhood education. Even today, the zoo school is estimated for its innovative approaches in animal and species protection enlightenment. The Rhineland-Palatinate region benefits enormously from these educational offers.

extension by the zoo daycare

A remarkable expansion of the animal-assisted educational offers is the new zoo daycare center "Siegelbacher Waldmäuse". This facility recently found a permanent home in the Kaiserslautern Zoo. The delivery of the construction trailers as mobile daycare units was challenging due to winter temperatures and the demanding access. Millimeter work and heavy equipment were necessary to safely position the construction trailers. Thanks to the employees of F.K. Horn, the zoo staff and Nawalo GmbH for their support.

The idea of a zoo daycare center was designed in 2019 and implemented in reality by the city of Kaiserslautern in 2022. The aim of this facility is to enable children to access nature early and on topics such as animal and species protection. The daycare center combines modern pedagogical approaches to forest and zoo pedagogy, whereby space was created for 15 to 20 children, with the possibility of a future expansion.

pedagogical approaches and challenges

The focus of the zoo daycare center is on the promotion of child development through direct experience of nature. The planned extensions include extended opening times and the introduction of a joint lunch. Previously, the forest mice were housed in provisional rooms, which reinforced the positive response to the new, well -equipped construction cars.

In the context of zoo pedagogical work, visiting zoos for kindergartens is a popular and valuable experience. Here, the children can contact living animals. According to the Kindergarten education portal it is important that children not only see many animals, but also make qualitative observations. This could be done through targeted preparatory activities that collect stories about animals, pictures and include creative puzzle work.

Overall, both the zoo school and the new zoo daycare center in Kaiserslautern present an inspiring model for the integration of animal-assisted pedagogy in early childhood education. It remains to be seen which further developments and programs will be implemented in the future in order to continue to promote the children in their early learning phase.