Sprouts Series

Sprouts Series are for the youngest zoo enthusiast. These classes are designed for the child only and offer a fun, enriching learning environment where 3 and 4 year olds can explore the animal world. Classes include songs, games, a zoo tour, an up-close animal encounter, a craft activity, a light snack and more. Class sizes are strictly limited to provide a safe and fun learning environment. Student to teacher ratios are 5:1. **All children must be completely self-sufficient in the bathroom. Diapers and pull-ups are not permitted. 

$20/Member/class  $22/Non-Member/class  Thursdays & Fridays, 9:00am-11:30am

Register Registration will open August 1 at 8:00am. 

Spring 2020

Sprouts will return in the Fall of 2020. For pre-school programming in Winter/Spring of 2020 please look into our Winter in the Woods program. 

Fall 2020

Detailed class information including dates and themes will be posted in summer. Registration opens August 1. 

Fall 2019

Each week the Sprouts will explore outdoors in the zoo as they learn about animal classification through live animal observation, exposure to quality fiction and nonfiction texts, exploration of biofacts, and an up-close, hands-on animal encounter.  We will focus on the 4 Bs of vertebrates and also get close to some invertebrates too. Please join us for 1 class, a few classes, or the whole series! 

September 12, 13: Beautiful Birds - Sprouts will visit our variety of birds and learn about what makes a bird a bird!

September 19, 20: Marvelous Mammals - Your small scientists will get to see many types of mammals, from otters to tigers, followed by an opportunity to touch a couple of different mammals.

September 26, 27: Reptiles Rock - Learners will take a stroll through our Natural Treasures building as we notice what type of body covering reptiles have and compare it to what we learn in our books as well as what we feel when we get a chance to touch some real reptiles!

October 3, 4: Awesome Amphibians - This week your Sprout gets to jump around and view some fabulous frogs, slimy salamanders, and terrific toads.  Though we can’t touch our ambassador amphibians without possibly harming their sensitive skin, we will get to look as closely as possible as we talk about what we are noticing.

October 10, 11: Fabulous Fish - Our Michigan freshwater stream and aquarium are homes to some really cool fish and invertebrates.  We will be learning about how these different animals can live underwater all of their lives. How do they breathe?  How do they stay safe? Kids will ask and discover! 

October 17, 18: Incredible Invertebrates - Insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and more!  The Sprouts will get a chance to notice, wonder, and think about what it might be like to wear an exoskeleton and crawl around with 6-8 legs!

October 24, 25: Wide World of Animals - We will use these last 2 weeks to investigate any animals we may have missed along the way, revisit some of our favorites, and make up for a few who may have been unavailable earlier in the Sprouts series.

October 31, November 1: Wide World of Animals - We will use these last 2 weeks to investigate any animals we may have missed along the way, revisit some of our favorites, and make up for a few who may have been unavailable earlier in the Sprouts series.

** Last two weeks has same theme but will focus on different animals for the two different weeks.