First time to the zoo..

[~~Snoogans~~]

We took Miss H for her 1st Birthday She LOVED it! was in absolute awe of the animals and we try to go at least twice a year!

We have planned to take Miss Z for her 1st Birthday in October as well

Kids love the outdoors! and what kid (of any age) DOESN'T love animals???

Take her! She'll love it!

Now I wanna go too...

[Calluna]

18months. He loved it! I popped him in the sling so he could see well and he was happy to sit in there and just take everything in the whole way around the zoo!

[jackrose]

I think the main thing is that kids love outings generally. Most importantly, they love spending time with their parents. Kids also love animals, so it makes sense that the zoo is a win/win/win situation!

I have taken my girls regularly, my oldest from 18 months and my youngest from birth. Both girls have thoroughly enjoyed the experience even if it is just being out for a walk, pram ride or picnic with the animals as a side attraction.

My advice though is that you may not make a full day of it with your DD at her age. We make a point of only seeing a few animals each time, judging by how the kids are handling it. We try to make sure it is a fun happy day and go home as soon as the kids seem to be getting tired. Best keep it fun and short than have tired cranky kids with horrible memories! In my opinion that is better value in the ticket than screaming around to see everything and having a howling toddler in tow

Don't forget to pack a picnic. There is something quite cool about eating lunch within earshot of roaring lions!!

[*LittleMissSummer*]

Don't forget to pack a picnic. There is something quite cool about eating lunch within earshot of roaring lions!!

We're having a little party/picnic, we have invited SIL and her kids.

We are going to break it down into bits as i know how tiring it can be plus i'm massively pregnant and won't be able to do a great amount of walking either! And if we miss anything thats ok, i wont say no to going again and again!

[feeb]

DS1 we went to zoo on his 1st birthday. DS2 was about 8 weeks old! DS2 went to aquarium at 2 weeks off age!

[Shanti]

Is your friend serious? Of course they'll have fun!!! (maybe she's jealous )

I regularly take my girls (3yrs and 13mths) to the local wildlife sanctuary which is like a zoo and we feed the kangaroos, feed the birds, look at the koalas, the snakes, the shows, so much to do!!!! We always LOVE it! We ride the train.... it's such a fun thing to do and we get so much out of our yearly pass. I have been taking DD1 since she was 18mths and we NEVER tire of it.....

Have fun! It's so educational for them.

[Trillian]

the first time we went to the zoo the kids were 4, 2 and 9 months. It was just canberra zoo which i thought was a good one for kids that age. Then we did Dubbo zoo when the kids were 8, 6, 5 and 2 and it was fine. DS2 still remembers some of it and we have all the photos too. So what if you have to eventually do it again some day so they actually remember going to the zoo? Just because you go once doesn't mean you can't go again. I don't understand that logic. If you waited till they were old enough to remember doing something, you'd never do anything!

[*LittleMissSummer*]

Thanks for the replies!

I knew i wasn't the only one! I've always done things with DD, her first ferris wheel ride was at 8 weeks of course she wont remember it but i do and i can tell her. Her first petting zoo experience was at 7 months, we went again when she was 15 months. She loves animals, which is important to me that she does as i do also and i grew up around all sorts of farm yard animals. I of course don't expect her to be excited over exotic animals but the whole experience will be fun for her.