Outreach Programs
The Queens Zoo offers quality community outreach programs, serving children and teens at schools, parks, childcare centers, and after-school programs located in the borough of Queens. Outreach programs are offered as a two-part program, including an off-site presentation with a follow-up visit to the Zoo. For multiple sessions or to develop customized outreach programs for your group, please contact us at 718-271-7045.
Fee: $300 for one class; $150 for each additional class. Fee includes admission to the Zoo for the follow-up trip.
Programs for Pre-K
Circles, Triangles and Squares: How Animals Shape Up
Whether it’s an elephant’s long, rectangular legs or a butterfly’s small, circular wings, there are all sorts of shapes to see in the bodies of animals. Find out how shapes help animals to survive. Sing a “Shapes” song and use different shapes to make your own animal.
The Colors of Critters
Why do animals have so many different colors? Play the “To Eat or Not To Eat” game to explore how colors like orange and yellow help an animal to survive. What do colors like green and brown do? Touch a peacock feather and create a “camouflage” craft.
Programs for K–2nd Grade
Chirp, Stomp, and Hiss: How Animals Talk
Rattle like a snake, stomp like a bison and whoop like a gibbon during this session on animal sounds. Do animals make sounds just by using their voices? Hear some unique wild animal sounds and find out why they are important to a creature’s survival.
Web of Life
How are humans connected to caterpillars? Have you ever wondered where energy comes from? Find out about our planet’s variety of habitats, plants, and animals, including everything from flowers to foxes and beetle to bison, and how they are interconnected in a fragile web of life. Play the Food Web game and discover how you can be connected to life on the prairie. Then create your own food chain mobile.
Programs for 3rd–5th Grade
Adaptations: How Do Animals Survive?
What is bison hair like? How can you tell the skull of a mountain lion from that of a coyote? What is it that makes an eagle’s foot special? Become a scientist and answer and ask questions while closely examining the skulls, teeth, fur, hair, feathers, and feet of real wild animals.
Dancing with Deer
The Yaqui people danced to give praise and thanks before they went out to hunt deer. Hear the Native American’s story about how the deer dance came to be. Then find out the meaning of the words “predator” and “prey,” and learn more about North American animals by playing the Eat or Be Eaten game. Help match each predator in the game with its prey species.
Programs for 6th–12th Grade
Suitcase for Survival
What type of suitcase has shark jaws, tiger bone plasters, monitor lizard pocketbooks, and more? The Queens Zoo’s Suitcase for Survival. Come and see many of the wildlife products that are taken away from smugglers at airports and U.S. borders. Find out how the illegal wildlife trade endangers animals around the world. Can using products made from animals ever help to conserve them?
Wild, Wild, Work: Careers in Wildlife Conservation
If you have a love for animals or enjoy spending time in your local park, you may enjoy a career working with wildlife. Calculate your own career profile and investigate some wildlife related jobs that might be suited to your interest. Play the Wildlife Careers Matching game to discover what people are doing in the field of wildlife conservation. Make your own wildlife name-tag for your wild dream job.
Outreach Program Registration
- To make a reservation, please call the Education Department at 718-271-7361 , Monday through Friday, between 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Reservations for school programs are handled by phone only at this time.
- Maximum program class size is 32 students. Schools are not allowed to combine classes to reach a class size of 32 students. One adult for every ten students is required, with a maximum of four adults.
- We welcome students with special needs. Please be sure to mention special needs or disabilities. We require one adult for every two students in special education classes (maximum class size of 12 students).
- Once your information has been processed, a contract will be mailed to you.
- A confirmation letter with program information, including session dates, times, and classroom locations, will be mailed to you. Please sign a copy of the contract and either return it by mail or fax it to 718-271-4441 . Present this letter at the front entrance gate to the Zoo on the date(s) of the scheduled session(s) for free general admission for your class, and three other adult chaperones. Instructors will meet you at this gate to bring you to the appropriate classroom for your program.
Payment Policy
Fee-based programs must be pre-paid by the school or district (purchase orders accepted). Under no circumstances will classes be offered without full payment or purchase order and a signed contract which must be returned within three weeks of receiving the contract.
Cancellation Policy
All cancellations must be received by the Queens Zoo Education Department in writing, by mail or fax (718-271-4441). Cancellations made at least 4 weeks in advance will receive a 50 percent refund. There are no refunds for programs canceled less than four weeks prior to the scheduled date of program. Please note that any request to reschedule your class is equivalent to a cancellation.