Year 1’s Animal Adventure to Colchester Zoo

Year 1 enjoyed autumnal sunshine and the chance to see a range of animals at Colchester Zoo. Caitlin demonstrated for us the all the special features a penguin possesses by putting on flippers, webbed feet, goggles, a set of warm feathers and a waterproof layer. This showed us how penguins have adapted to their environment. All she needed was some fish! We didn’t know that penguins have an extra eyelid to help them to see and to protect their eyes under water. We were extremely impressed with these flightless birds who can swim underwater for 20 minutes whilst catching fish, flipping them round with their tongues and eating them, all under water. We got the chance to view them up close swimming, resting and having their lunch and also seals swimming all around us in the huge panoramic aquarium.

Next, a stop in the Kingdom of the Wild. A busy morning made us hungry but we left time to get on board the Lost Madagascan Express train. We spotted grey wolves and competed with them to see who made the best howls. We discovered that it is the shrimps they eat that turn the flamingos we saw pink and the train also provided a premium vantage point to observe leaping lemurs. One lemur expertly peeled and ate a leek and one took a liking to Irina leaping onto her coat. We got a close up encounter of the fierce komodo dragon slithering and looking for its next meal and we saw the vulture devouring its lunch. Mrs Taylor made sure she got to see her favourites – the tigers. We got a perfect view of three tiger cubs play fighting and enjoying a splash in their pool. They were splendid and drew gasps of admiration from all. This rounded off a perfect day, which is sure to be the absolute highlight of Year 1.

This is what some of the pupils said about the day out:

Enis – “My favourite part of Colchester Zoo was the tigers. The mummy was sleeping and the babies were play fighting.”

James – “My favourite part was seeing the penguins because they swim on their tummies!”

Caitlin – “My favourite part was the penguins because they waddle funny.”

Irina – “My favourite part about the day was when a lemur jumped on my shoulder. His tail was black and white and he was big.”

Kelly – “I liked the butterflies because they were beautiful. My favourite was purple, orange, yellow and red. He was a small baby one.”