Zoo Summer Camp

2024 Zoo Summer Camp

If your child has a disability, please contact the Baton Rouge Zoo for accommodations.

 Session 1: May 27-31

• Globetrotters / Ages: 5-7 - Pack your bags! Grab your passports! The entire world is only a hop, skip, and jump away for our questing campers. Let us take them on a whirlwind tour of the world as we explore exotic habitats and cultures. 
• Where in the World? / Ages: 8-10 - Campers will travel the world to discover the animals and cultures found on different continents. From Africa to Asia, Europe to Australia we learn what adaptations allow animals and their human neighbors to call these continents home. 

Session 2: June 3-7

• Flora + Fauna / Ages: 5-7 - There is a great cycle of energy dispersed through the world. From the plants to the animals and back to the plants, all is connected in a constant song and dance that helps to balance nature. Campers will learn how the flora and fauna in an environment depend on each other and influences that can disrupt that balance. 
• Decoding Nature / Ages: 8-10 - Nature is full of covert messages and hidden symbols if you look hard enough. Scratches on trees, scat left on a rock, and intricate vocalizations may all indicate more than meets the eye, or nose, or ear! Campers will learn the clues left by animals that provide the secret language of territory, dominance, coexistence, and resource distribution. 

Session 3: June 10-14

• Home Sweet Habitat / Ages: 5-7 - Oceans, deserts, swamps, and savannahs; where do you call home? We’ll visit animals from all over the globe and find out what makes them feel at home! 
• Down by the Bayou / Ages: 11-13 - Campers will become wetland scientists right here in the Zoo. Did you know the Cypress Bayou runs through your Baton Rouge Zoo? The Bayou is home to many wetland creatures, and campers will get a firsthand look of our native animals and plants. 

Session 4: June 17-21

• Diet Riot / Ages: 5-7 - Eat your broccoli or you won’t get any dessert! Why is it so important that we eat our vegetables, and is it that way for all animal life? One thing is for certain, we all have to eat. In this session campers will discuss what different animals eat and why. Let us take your campers on an educational smorgasbord and answer the question WHERE’S THE BEEF? 
• Have it Your Way / Ages: 8-10 - Do you know how much a rhino eats in a single day? Ever wondered what’s on the menu for our tigers or tapirs? This session will teach campers about animal consumer groups. Whether it’s an herbivore, omnivore, or carnivore, campers will learn the different adaptations that make animals predators or prey. 

Session 5: June 24-28

• Wet + Wild / Ages: 5-7 - Water makes up about 75% of the Earth’s surface; how many animals call that water home? Campers will embark on an aquatic investigation to learn more about aquatic habitats and the animals that depend on them. From the microscopic to the larger than life, campers will get wet and wild, while learning all about animals of the deep. 
• ZOO-ology / Ages: 8-10 - Did you know that it takes way more than just a shovel, a hose, and some food to keep our animals happy? Come explore some behind the scenes areas of the Baton Rouge Zoo and learn about the funny, cute, and sometimes just plain icky aspects of working in a zoo! 

Session 6: July 1-5 

• Oh, Grow Up! / Ages: 5-7 - Which came first, the chicken or the egg? All animal life starts similarly, but the ways that various organisms grow, develop, and live vary drastically. Campers will process what makes up the Circle of Life and how wild animals’ life cycles may differ from their own. 
• Bringing Up Baby / Ages: 8-10 - Tadpoles become frogs, caterpillars become butterflies, and babies become adults… every life on earth has to start somewhere! Animals grow and develop in a variety of ways that may be familiar or completely weird to us. Campers will discover the ways in which animals’ lives are similar and different to their own childhoods and learn what it takes for a young organism to grow up.

Session 7: July 8-12

• Tales of Tails / Ages: 5-7 - Have you ever stopped to think about why we eat cereal endorsed by tigers and toucans, or why we cheer for a football team with a loveable elephant mascot? Animals are a huge source of inspiration for human stories, inventions, logos and more. Campers will spend some time considering the symbolic representation and cultural importance of various iconic animals in our everyday lives. 
• Keeper Kamp / Ages: 11-13 - Do you have what it takes to be a zookeeper? Join us at Keeper Kamp and find out! Campers will get to see behind-the-scenes action of what goes into keeping our animals happy and healthy. They’ll take part in making healthy diets, providing enrichment, and more as they learn what it means to be a zookeeper.

Session 8: July 15-19 

• Clockwise / Ages: 5-7 - Most people go from sunrise to sunset, with work hours of nine to five. If you’re an animal, your schedule may be different! Many animals certainly benefit from sleeping and waking at “odd” hours of the day. Campers will pick apart how an animal’s daily routine may differ from their own. 
• Happy Feet / Ages: 8-10 - Flippers, fins, and everything feet. Just like you may wear different shoes for different activities, animals' feet are adapted for specific purposes. They help nutria swim, hawks hunt, and cheetahs run. Learn all about the different ways animals get moving in their environment in this week’s feature on feet! 

Session 9: July 22-26 

• Native Neighbors / Ages: 5-7 - Here in Louisiana, we live amongst a wide variety of wildlife. Campers will learn about where to find our native neighbors and what roles they play in our environment as they meet an array of species that can be found in our backyards if you know where to look. 
• We All Live Downstream / Ages: 8-10 - Campers will get to explore aquatic life in oceans, rivers, lakes, and swamps. They’ll learn how all pathway ways lead to the ocean and how important water is to all living beings, including us! 

Session 10: July 29-Aug. 2 

• In This Corner / Ages: 5-7 - Claws. Teeth. Strength. Speed. Camouflage. In the day-to-day battle for survival, campers will look at what skills and characteristics animals bring to the ring, and may be able to answer that age-old question: Who would win in a fight? 
• Nature Thought of it First / Ages: 8-10 - Think you have a great invention? Then come to camp and see how your ideas stand up against Mother Nature’s. Velcro, cleats, camouflage, and airplanes are some things that we use every day, but did you know that these things were inspired by common instances in nature? Campers will identify where the ideas for many of our best inventions originated.