Educational Visits

We have around 35 animal species to choose from (including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates) and all our sessions are run by a fully qualified and experienced teacher. The workshops can be set up within your school or outside. Depending on the animal choice, we may need access to electrics and/or have enough space for a run if you choose rabbits, guinea pigs or chickens if inside your school.

Below are some examples of the most popular educational workshops we run or you can click here to see some of our key dates.

For more information, please feel free to contact us either by email at info@ouranimalworld.com, through the booking form on our website or by phone on 07519340788.

Science

• Pets and how to look after them
  A chance to meet and learn about many common pets and how to look after them properly including rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, budgies, bearded dragons and leopard geckos.
• Minibeasts
• Meet our wonderful creepy crawlies! We bring a collection of minibeasts to you, including sun beetles, various stick insects, giant African millipedes, giant African land snails, a giant vinegarroon, praying mantis, stag beetles and hissing cockroaches for the children to meet and learn about.
• Comparing animals first-hand
  Compare a variety of animals including a bird, reptile, mammal, invertebrate and amphibian having a closer look first hand to see the similarities and differences.
• Habitats
  We have a look at a wide range of different habitats and have a look at some of the animals that would live there- from deserts and savannas to rainforests and grasslands and then we look at how each of the animals we bring are suited to their own habitat.
• Identifying and naming a variety of common animals
  Meet a variety of our more common animals (such as rabbits, and tortoises) and learn how to identify them with their key features.
• Understanding the basic needs of animals
  Meet a variety of animals and learn all about each of their basic needs such as food, shelter from weather/predators and water and how they find these in their natural habitats.
• Adaption/evolution
  Meet a variety of animals and learn about the ways they are adapted to survive.
• Animal classification keys
  Meet a variety of our animals and create our own classification key to help group and identify them.
• Vertebrates and invertebrates
  Meet and learn about the differences between vertebrates and invertebrates and what invertebrates have instead.
• Life cycles of a mammal, an amphibian, an insect and a bird
  Meet and have a closer look at the life cycle of one of our mammals, amphibians, insects and a bird- looking at the various stages and getting hands-on with bird eggs and nests and sun beetles as adults, grub and cocoons!
• Understanding the differences between carnivores, herbivores and omnivores
  Meet a variety of our animals- some herbivores, some carnivores and some omnivores! Investigate their diet
• Food chains with producers, predators and prey
  Have a closer look at food chains and meet a variety of animals that are in them. Look at the chain from plant producers to the prey and predators above them.

Literacy

As an ex-teacher, Laura is very keen to help promote a love of both reading and writing. With the aid of the animals, an experience hook can be created as a part of ‘Talk for writing’ by Pie Corbett. See our sessions we offer below:

• Wild about reading 
  Laura will bring one of her favourite books along to read and will help bring the story alive with a few animal friends, including ones from her book! Then you can learn more about (and of course meet) the animals too.
  Please note*** This can be combined with 'have fun writing' and together, we can write a story map of our own story choosing different animals to be the main character or creating a new adventure for one of our animals.
• Have fun writing
  This can be an extension of our ‘Wild about reading’ or a standalone workshop.
  For the standalone workshop, we will meet the animals and together, write a story map of our own story choosing one of our animals to be the main character, thinking about describing our animal, creating their own personality and background, before story planning our very own story.
• Non-fiction
  Make non-fiction fun! We bring a variety of animals in to meet and learn about. Then we look at the features of non-fiction texts and create a plan for our own non-fiction text about one of the animals we have met.
• David Attenborough! (Public speaking)
  We bring a variety of animals in to meet and learn about. Then we have a go at being ‘David Attenborough’ and present your own animal program about one of our animals using the schools’ ipads/camera/etc. This is fantastic to help with public speaking and non-fiction.
• Poetry
  We bring a variety of animal poems to share, based on some of our animals we bring with us. Then, we look at creating our own poems based on some of our other animals we have brought in the style of one of the poems we looked at.

Geography

• Rainforests
  A chance to learn all about rainforests, including the 4 different layers, a variety of rainforests from different continents and meet some of the animals that call rainforests home including sun beetles, giant African millipedes, stick insects, praying mantis, royal python, crested gecko, blue tongued skink, chameleon, pacman frog and sugar gliders.
• Africa
  A chance to have a closer look at the African environment, exploring various different habitats that Africa offers and meeting some of the animals that call Africa home including the Royal python, sun beetles, giant African millipedes, giant African land snails, stick insects, isopods, Praying mantis, Berber skink and our African pygmy hedgehog.
• America
  A chance to have a closer look at the American environment, exploring various different habitats that America offers and meeting some of the animals that call America home including the giant vinegarroon, corn snake, pacman frog and guinea pigs.
• Australia
  A chance to have a closer look at the Australian environment, exploring various different habitats that Australia offers and meeting some of the animals that call Australia home including the Ackie monitor, bearded dragon, budgie, cockatiels, green tree frogs and sugar gliders.