A Day at the Zoo with a 4 Year-old

I don't know if I've ever said it here before, but I love the zoo.

Yesterday, Micaela and I went to the Toronto Zoo together for the first time. Deciding that it would be great to get a jump on the day, our plan was to leave as soon as she woke up...and that's exactly what we did (she awoke shortly after 10 and we were out by 10:45).

After enduring 401 traffic and a dirty-rotten-liar GPS, we arrived at the zoo at 12:15. Despite the slow start, for the next 4 hours we were in zoo heaven. Great weather, active animals, small crowds.

Here are a few vignettes and supporting pictures from the day...

The Map!

Micaela's first exciting moment was when we were handed a map at the front gate. She gleefully exclaimed, "I didn't know we were going to get a MAP!"

You see, as a long-time viewer of Dora the Explorer, it is a big deal to have a map in hand - especially when you're doing some exploring. So after renting a stroller (so that we'd have somewhere to store our map) we carefully charted our course towards the elephants, Micaela's pre-zoo favourite and primary destination.

Aside: This is the first time I've had a child who likes to plan things and who not only knows what a map is, but actually consults it. I've been accused of favouritism in some corners. Without commenting on that, I will say that traits like planning and map-consulting certainly weigh in her favour.

Primate Butts

Given that she's 4, it's only natural that Micaela delights in all things anal. We enjoyed encountering various primates, but especially loved when they turned around and revealed their big pink butts.

Here are a mother and son orangutan pair that we watched for a while.



For some reason, this portion of our zoo experience put me in mind of some Italian pastries that we enjoyed years ago at my niece's First Communion. I don't know what made me think of these pastries - perhaps it was the overall sweetness of the day.

I Want to Move It Move It

Shortly after the orangutans, we saw a gaggle (I think that's the word) of ring-tailed lemurs. With many, many people looking on in amusement, Micaela broke into a very loud rendition of "I Want to Move It Move It". I was so proud.

Animals Smell

One of our most profound discoveries of the day was that animals smell. All animals. When we finally made it to the elephants, Micaela learned that this sad truth even applies to these wondrous creatures. Note the face as she takes it all in.

Micaela's mom doesn't like zoos, farms, stables, or large gatherings of animals of any kind (including locker rooms) for this very reason. But unlike her mom, Micaela was able to note the smell, and put it behind her (tee hee).

A Peacock Interlude

Micaela is old enough to appreciate the beauty of a peacock, and young enough not to find the word funny. Good thing her older sisters weren't around.

Napping Animals

Despite the relatively cool weather and many of the animals being quite active, there were a bunch that looked pooped out. This pygmy hippo in particular...

Animals Aren't "Bad" or "Good"

Throughout the day, I had a dawning realization that Micaela has encountered many of these animals as animated characters long before discovering them in real life.  This led to several conversations that went something like this:

M: "What's a penguin again?"
D: "Happy feet."
M: "Where's that bird from?"
D: "That's Mufasa's helper in Lion King."
M: "What's that?"
D: "A pelican."
M: "No, that's the bird from Finding Nemo".
M: "What's that???"
D: "A hyena. The animals in Lion King that worked for Scar."
And so on.

The last question came up when we got to the hyenas, and once I identified the connection to Scar she asked "Are those animals bad?"

I patiently explained that animals aren't bad. Some are meat-eaters and some are plant-eaters. Meat-eaters aren't bad...they just eat meat to live. And that means sometimes they have to catch other animals...

Then the lady next to us said (still about the hyena) "Those things are VICIOUS!" So I stand corrected. Some animals are just bad. Hyenas in particular are exactly as depicted by Disney.

A New Favourite Animal

The highlight of the day came when we reached the penguins. We watched them outside the water. Then we watched them under the water. Then outside. Then under. And as we walked from the outside to the under and back again, Micaela adopted a penguin waddle. Again, she drew a little crowd.

At the end of the day, Micaela declared that her new favourite animal is the penguin. Get in line honey, everybody loves the penguins.

Micaela Takes a Chance

We did a great job of following the rules all day, but there was one moment where Micaela thought she'd test what happened if you did something you weren't supposed to. Luckily I stopped her in time and there were no consequences of her sticking her neck out in this way.

In Closing

A great time was had by all. The only complaints all day were about the slowness of the traffic getting to and from the zoo, and the occasionally very hot moments when the sun broke through the clouds. But Micaela ignored my complaints and had a thoroughly great time.

Thanks for joining us on our zoo adventure.

(A final thought, written after my final review / spellcheck: I have to wonder where Micaela gets the idea that bums and farts and poo are funny. I guess it's just a side-effect of being 4.)