Welcome
If you are a Zoo Member or have a promotion code, please enter this information at the time of ticket purchase checkout.

Scroll down for a complete listing of all Education Programs.
 
ZOO TROOP
Learning and growing is fun at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden! These 4 week series encourages the development of important skills and values that will allow your child to interact with peers while fostering knowledge and respect for wildlife and wild places. Through age appropriate, skill and wonder-building hands-on activities, close encounters with animals, Zoo hikes, and child-led projects, children learn biological concepts and become curious to explore the world around them and find their own answers. Come to Zoo Troop, where children can let their imagination run wild!

New skills and experiences are learned in each 4-week Zoo Troop series. Newcomers are welcome to sign up for each new series.

Please note: The Zoo cannot prorate Zoo Troop fees and gift certificates will not be issued for missed classes. Participants who withdraw from Zoo Troop will receive a gift certificate which never expires and may be used for any Zoo camps or classes.
Toddlers: Colorful Creatures
Regular Price: $80.00
Member Price: $65.00
Can you see the brilliant colors of nature? Join us in this four-week series as we take a closer look at the Zoo's beautiful plants and creatures and learn to identify their colors! 

IMPORTANT: These classes will be held outdoors, with shelter available in case of bad weather. Please plan for one adult to stay with your child during these classes.  We require adults accompaning their children to classes to wear masks to be in compliance with the governor's guidelines.

Capacity: 10 children, 10 adults
 
Toddlers: Movers & Shakers
Regular Price: $80.00
Member Price: $65.00
Does your child like to jump, hop, crawl, or climb? Learn how animals are movers and shakers just like them! This is our time to discover how animals get from place to place, using their bodies to maneuver about their homes. We'll learn about animal locomotion while we move around the Zoo, meet animals, and act like animals with our friends.

IMPORTANT: In-person classes will be held outdoors, with shelter available in case of bad weather. We require adults accompanying their children to classes to wear masks to be in compliance with the governor's guidelines. Please plan for one adult to stay with your child during in-person and virtual classes.

Capacity: 10 children, 10 adults
Pre-K: Finding Food
Regular Price: $80.00
Member Price: $65.00
What would you do to get your hands on your favorite food? Let's discover what it takes for an animal to find their next delicious meal. Join us on a journey around the Zoo while we find other animals that are really good at finding food! 

IMPORTANT: These classes will be held outdoors, with shelter available in case of bad weather. Please plan for one adult to stay with your child during these classes.  We require adults accompaning their children to classes to wear masks to be in compliance with the governor's guidelines.

Capacity: 10 children, 10 adults
Session Pre-K: Finding Food: Sat, Sep 26, 2020 - Sat, Oct 17, 2020 10:00AM - 11:00AM UNAVAILABLE
Pre-K: Ani-Moves
Regular Price: $80.00
Member Price: $65.00
Have you watched a caterpillar inch across a leaf or a rabbit hop through the grass? From crawling like a caterpillar to hopping like a bunny, we will mimic the movement our animal friends make and learn about what makes them special. Join us in this four week series as we discover how animals can fly, jump, hop, swing, and dive!

IMPORTANT: In-person classes will be held outdoors, with shelter available in case of bad weather. We require adults accompanying their children to classes to wear masks to be in compliance with the governor's guidelines. Please plan for one adult to stay with your child during in-person and virtual classes. 

Capacity: 10 children, 10 adults
Kindergarten: Beasty Feasts
Regular Price: $85.00
Member Price: $70.00
Are you a picky eater? So are some of the Zoo animals! During this four week series, we'll take hikes in the Zoo, meet some special animal friends, and play games that will help us learn about the crazy variety of animal diets and what is on the menu for our Zoo animals.

IMPORTANT: Parents are encouraged to allow their children to experience these classes independently.  We require children attending class to wear masks during animal demonstration to be in compliance with the governor's guidelines.

Capacity: 12 children
 
Session Kindergarten: Beasty Feasts: Sat, Sep 26, 2020 - Sat, Oct 17, 2020 10:00AM - 11:30AM UNAVAILABLE
Kindergarten: I Like to Move It Move It
Regular Price: $85.00
Member Price: $70.00
Do you scurry like a squirrel or swing like a siamang? Do you run like a rhino or paddle like a penguin? We'll hike through the Zoo and meet some new animal friends as we discover (and try out) all of the amazing ways animals move through their world.

IMPORTANT: Parents are encouraged to allow their children to experience these classes independently.  We require children attending class to wear masks during animal demonstration to be in compliance with the governor's guidelines.

Capacity: 12 children
1st-2nd Grade: Tasty Treats
Regular Price: $85.00
Member Price: $70.00
Every living thing needs energy to survive. Animals get energy from the food they eat! Joins us on our journey to  study the food chain and figure out what some of our Zoo animals like to eat. 

IMPORTANT: Parents are encouraged to allow their children to experience these classes independently.  We require children attending class to wear masks to be in compliance with the governor's guidelines.

Capacity: 12 children
Session 1st-2nd Grade: Tasty Treats: Sat, Sep 26, 2020 - Sat, Oct 17, 2020 2:00PM - 3:30PM UNAVAILABLE
1st-2nd Grade: Walk This Way
Regular Price: $85.00
Member Price: $70.00
Creep with eight legs, crawl with six legs, sprint with four legs or walk with just two...join us on this journey as we investigate how animals move! In each class, we will explore animal movers around the Zoo, challenge ourselves with activities and experience up close animal encounters.

IMPORTANT: Parents are encouraged to allow their children to experience these classes independently.  We require children attending class to wear masks to be in compliance with the governor's guidelines. 

Capacity: 12 children
3rd-4th Grade: Feeding Frenzy
Regular Price: $90.00
Member Price: $75.00
From teeth to talons, animals have a lot of adaptations that help them to find and eat their food. Join us for this four-week series as we investigate what animals eat and how they find their food with zoo hikes and animal visitors.

IMPORTANT:  We require children attending class to wear masks to be in compliance with the governor's guidelines.

Capacity: 12 children

 
Session 3rd-4th Grade: Feeding Frenzy: Sat, Sep 26, 2020 - Sat, Oct 17, 2020 1:30PM - 3:30PM UNAVAILABLE
3rd-4th Grade: Animals on the Move
Regular Price: $90.00
Member Price: $75.00
From gibbon brachiation to penguin paddling, we will take a look at animal locomotion and learn about the adaptations that allow animals to move in different ways. We will also test some of our locomotion skills and see how we measure up when compared to some wild movers and shakers around the Zoo.

IMPORTANT: We require children attending class to wear masks to be in compliance with the governor's guidelines.

Capacity: 12 children
5th-6th Grade: Eat Like an Animal
Regular Price: $90.00
Member Price: $75.00
Learn about the adaptations animals have to find and eat their food, their role in the food chain, and how our eating habits compare to theirs. We will also learn about how our Zoo nutritionist makes sure that our Zoo animals eat a diet that mimics that of their wild counterparts. Of course, animal visitors, Zoo hikes, and other activities will play a big role in this 4-week series as we learn and explore what it means to eat like an animal.

IMPORTANT:  We require children attending class to wear masks to be in compliance with the governor's guidelines.

​Capacity: 12 children
Session 5th-6th Grade: Eat Like an Animal: Sat, Sep 26, 2020 - Sat, Oct 17, 2020 1:30PM - 3:30PM UNAVAILABLE
5th-6th Grade: Prowl Like a Predator
Regular Price: $90.00
Member Price: $75.00
Whether you hunt with talons or teeth, stealth or speed, when you are at the top of the food chain, you have to be fierce. We will explore the meat-eaters of the mountains, carnivores of the canopy, savanna stalkers, and polar prowlers to learn how predators in different habitats are specially adapted to find and/or catch their food in the places they call home.

IMPORTANT: We require children attending class to wear masks to be in compliance with the governor's guidelines.

Capacity: 12 children
7th-8th Grade: Zoo-vivor
Regular Price: $90.00
Member Price: $75.00
In the wild, it is all about survival and you are either the hunter or the hunted. During this four week series, we will learn about the adaptations that animals and plants can employ to survive and thrive in a wild and unpredictable world. We will also learn about the role that humans play in forming and changing the rules and the roles of wildlife in their habitat.

IMPORTANT:  We require children attending class to wear masks to be in compliance with the governor's guidelines.

Capacity: 12 children
Session 7th-8th Grade: Zoo-vivor: Sat, Sep 26, 2020 - Sat, Oct 17, 2020 1:30PM - 3:30PM UNAVAILABLE
7th-8th Grade: Animal Olympians
Regular Price: $90.00
Member Price: $75.00
We often focus on who is the strongest or fastest human, or which person can jump the highest or the farthest. This series will focus on how those Olympian talents apply to the animal kingdom and how these athletic skills translate into survival skills for wildlife. We will even test our own skills and, on the last week, those of our visitors, against those of our animal Olympians to see who would bring home the gold.

IMPORTANT: We require children attending class to wear masks to be in compliance with the governor's guidelines.

​Capacity: 12 children
 
VIRTUAL ZOO TROOP
Join us online for Virtual Zoo Troop
These 4 week series encourage the development of important skills, values, and knowledge, all done through virtual video conferencing live at the Zoo! Virtual Zoo Troop offers an online experience with a knowledgable Zoo Educator delivering age appropriate online activities, close encounters with animals, and Zoo hikes. These programs seek to foster knowledge and respect for wildlife and wild places, and encourage kids to become more curious about the world around them, teaching them the tools to find their own answers. Join Virtual Zoo Troop, where children can let their imaginations run wild!

New skills and experiences are learned in each 4-week Zoo Troop series. Newcomers are welcome to sign up for each new series. Each class is live but is recorded. If you can't join the live class you can always catch up later.

Please Note: You need an internet connection and a device (computer, smartphone or tablet) to access the online platform. Programs are live and occur at prescheduled dates and times but are recorded for later viewing. The Zoo cannot provide technical support before or during the program. A link to our Virtual Zoo Troop Portal and a password to access will be located on your ticket. The portal is accessible for approximately 1 week before and after the Zoo Troop series.
Pre-K: Finding Food
Regular Price: $80.00
Member Price: $65.00
What will you do to get your hands on your favorite food?!? Let's discover what is takes for an animal to find their next delicious meal. Join us on a journey around the Zoo while we find other animals that are really good at finding food! Animals find food by using their hands, eyes, ear, nost and mouth, just like we do!

This is a virtual, online program. An adult must participate with every Pre-K child. There is no charge for adult participants. A link to our Virtual Zoo Troop Portal and a password to access will be located on your ticket. The portal is accessible for approximately 1 week before and after the Zoo Troop series.
Session Pre-K: Finding Food: Fri, Sep 25, 2020 - Fri, Oct 16, 2020 11:00AM - 11:45AM UNAVAILABLE
Pre-K: Ani-Moves
Regular Price: $80.00
Member Price: $65.00
Have you watched a caterpillar inch across a leaf or a rabbit hop through the grass? From crawling like a caterpillar to hopping like a bunny, we will mimic the movement our animal friends make and learn about what makes them special. Join us in this four week series as we discover how animals can fly, jump, hop, swing, and dive!

This is a virtual, online program. An adult must participate with every Pre-K child. There is no charge for adult participants. A link to our Virtual Zoo Troop Portal and a password to access will be located on your ticket. The portal is accessible for approximately 1 week before and after the Zoo Troop series.
Session Fridays: Fri, Oct 30, 2020 - Fri, Nov 20, 2020 11:00AM - 11:45AM AVAILABLE
Kindergarten: Beasty Feasts
Regular Price: $85.00
Member Price: $70.00
Have you ever been as hungry as a horse? If so, what did you eat? Are you a picky eater? So are some of the Zoo animals! During this four week series, we'll take hikes in the Zoo, meet some special animal friends, and play games that will help us learn about the crazy variety of animal diets and what is on the menu for our Zoo animals.

This is an virtual, online program. A link to our Virtual Zoo Troop Portal and a password to access will be located on your ticket. The portal is accessible for approximately 1 week before and after the Zoo Troop series.
Session Kindergarten: Beasty Feasts: Fri, Sep 25, 2020 - Fri, Oct 16, 2020 3:30PM - 4:30PM UNAVAILABLE
Kindergarten: I Like to Move It Move It
Regular Price: $85.00
Member Price: $70.00
Do you scurry like a squirrel or swing like a siamang? Do you run like a rhino or paddle like a penguin? During this four week series, we'll play games, hike through the Zoo, and meet some new animal friends as we discover (and try out) all of the amazing ways the animals move through their world.

This is an virtual, online program. A link to our Virtual Zoo Troop Portal and a password to access will be located on your ticket. The portal is accessible for approximately 1 week before and after the Zoo Troop series.
Session Fridays: Fri, Oct 30, 2020 - Fri, Nov 20, 2020 3:30PM - 4:30PM AVAILABLE
1st-2nd Grade: Tasty Treats
Regular Price: $85.00
Member Price: $70.00
Every living thing needs energy to survive. Animals get energy from the food they eat! Joins us in this four-week journey to figure out what some of our Zoo animals like to eat. Some animals eat plants, while some animals eat other animals. Let's study this food chain by meeting some animals in the classroom and our in the Zoo!

This is a virtual, online program.
A link to our Virtual Zoo Troop Portal and a password to access will be located on your ticket. The portal is accessible for approximately 1 week before and after the Zoo Troop series.
1st-2nd Grade: Walk This Way
Regular Price: $85.00
Member Price: $70.00
Creep with eight legs, crawl with six legs, sprint with four legs or walk with just two...join us on this journey as we investigate how animals move! In each class, we will explore animal movers around the Zoo, challenge ourselves with classroom activities and experience up close animal encounters.

This is a virtual, online program. A link to our Virtual Zoo Troop Portal and a password to access will be located on your ticket. The portal is accessible for approximately 1 week before and after the Zoo Troop series.
Session Mondays: Mon, Oct 26, 2020 - Mon, Nov 16, 2020 3:30PM - 4:30PM AVAILABLE
3rd-4th Grade: Feeding Frenzy
Regular Price: $90.00
Member Price: $75.00
From teeth to talons, animals have a lot of adaptations that help them to find and eat their food. Join us for this four-week series as we investigate what animals eat and how they find their food with hands-on activities and animal visitors.

This is a virtual, online program. A link to our Virtual Zoo Troop Portal and a password to access will be located on your ticket. The portal is accessible for approximately 1 week before and after the Zoo Troop series.
3rd-4th Grade: Animals on the Move
Regular Price: $90.00
Member Price: $75.00
From the brachiating arms of a gibbon to the hopping feet of a rabbit, and from the flapping wings of a bat to the paddling wings of a penguin, animals are adapted to move through all kinds of places in all sorts of ways! During this four week series, we will take an up close look at animal locomotion and learn about the adaptations that allow animals to move in different ways. We will also test some of our locomotion skills and see how we measure up when compared to some wild movers and shakers around the Zoo.

This is an virtual, online program. A link to our Virtual Zoo Troop Portal and a password to access will be located on your ticket. The portal is accessible for approximately 1 week before and after the Zoo Troop series.
Session Tuesdays: Tue, Oct 27, 2020 - Tue, Nov 17, 2020 3:30PM - 4:30PM AVAILABLE
5th-6th Grade: Eat Like an Animal
Regular Price: $90.00
Member Price: $75.00
When it comes to finding food, the rules of the wild are eat or be eaten. Come and learn about the adaptations animals have to find and eat their food, their role in the food chain, and how our eating habits compare to theirs. We will also learn about how our Zoo nutritionist makes sure that our Zoo animals eat a diet that mimics that of their wild counterparts. Of course, animal visitors, Zoo hikes, and other activities will play a big role in this 4-week series as we learn and explore what it means to eat like an animal.

This is a virtual, online program. A link to our Virtual Zoo Troop Portal and a password to access will be located on your ticket. The portal is accessible for approximately 1 week before and after the Zoo Troop series.
5th-6th Grade: Prowl Like a Predator
Regular Price: $90.00
Member Price: $75.00
Whether you hunt with talons or teeth, stealth or speed, when you are at the top of the food chain, you have to be fierce. During this four week class, we will explore meat-eaters of the mountains, carnivores of the canopy, savanna stalkers, and polar predators to learn how predators in different habitats are specially adapted to find and/or catch their food in the place they call home.

This is an virtual, online program. A link to our Virtual Zoo Troop Portal and a password to access will be located on your ticket. The portal is accessible for approximately 1 week before and after the Zoo Troop series.
 
Session Wednesdays: Wed, Oct 28, 2020 - Wed, Nov 18, 2020 3:30PM - 4:30PM AVAILABLE
7th-8th Grade: Zoo-vivor
Regular Price: $90.00
Member Price: $75.00
In the wild, it is all about survival and you are either the hunter or the hunted. During this four-week series, we will learn about the adaptations that animals and plants can employ to survive and thrive in a wild and unpredictable world. We will also learn about the role that humans play in forming and changing the rules and the roles of wildlife in their habitat.

This is an virtual, online program. A link to our Virtual Zoo Troop Portal and a password to access will be located on your ticket. The portal is accessible for approximately 1 week before and after the Zoo Troop series.
Session 7th-8th Grade: Zoo-vivor: Thu, Sep 24, 2020 - Thu, Oct 15, 2020 3:30PM - 4:30PM UNAVAILABLE
7th-8th Grade: Animal Olympians
Regular Price: $90.00
Member Price: $75.00
We often focus on who is the strongest or fastest human, or which person can jump the highest or the farthest. This series will focus on how those Olympian talents apply to the animal kingdom and how these athletic skills translate into survival skills for wildlife. We will even test our own skills and, on the last week, those of our visitors, against those of our animal Olympians to see who would bring home the gold.

This is an virtual, online program. A link to our Virtual Zoo Troop Portal and a password to access will be located on your ticket. The portal is accessible for approximately 1 week before and after the Zoo Troop series.
Session Thursdays: Thu, Oct 29, 2020 - Thu, Nov 19, 2020 3:30PM - 4:30PM AVAILABLE
Media Release Agreement
By participating in a Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden program, all participants grant the Zoo permission to use and publish photographs, video, or audio, written statements and/or verbal interviews from participants. The Zoo is allowed all rights, title, and interest in the finished work and may transfer or broadcast the same to any individual, business, TV, radio station, or print media.

If you are not able to tune in during the live program we are recording the classes. If you would like a recording of the class please email us (education@cincinnatizoo.org) and we will share that class recording. Because these are recorded it's important you are
 
ZOO TROOP T-SHIRTS
Zoo Troop Shirts (optional)
Price: $15.00
If your child is participating in Zoo Troop and you would like to purchase a Zoo Troop T-Shirt for your child, please do it here. Your child will recieve the shirt on the first day of class.
 
GIVE THE ZOO EXPERIENCE TO KIDS IN NEED
Support Low Income Students Visiting The Zoo
 
Other Amount: $
Donate today and support low income students visiting the zoo.

The Living Classroom Education Access Fund began in 2012. Since that time the fund has brought 60,000 low-income children and their teachers to the Zoo for a free, fun, standards-aligned daytime or overnight field trip.You can give EVERY child the opportunity to be inspired by wildlife everyday and enjoy the essential Cincinnatian experince of visiting this top zoo.

An entire grade of young people can visit the zoo for $1000.00
Provide a zoo experience to a bus full of students for $500.00
Send an entire classroom to the Zoo for $250.00
Any donation amount could help! Please donate today.

Learn more about the Living Classroom Education Fund here- http://cincinnatizoo.org/lceaf/
 
EDUCATION GIFT CERTIFICATES
Zoo Education Programs make a perfect gift. You can even redeem your Education Gift Certificate online! When making a purchase online with an Education Gift Certificate select the Gift Certificate option in the payment screen and enter the barcode number.
$10.00 Education Gift Certificate
Price: $10.00
Gift Certificates only redeemable for Zoo Education Programs.
$50.00 Education Gift Certificate
Price: $50.00
Gift Certificates only redeemable for Zoo Education Programs.
$100.00 Education Gift Certificate
Price: $100.00
Gift Certificates only redeemable for Zoo Education Programs.
$225.00 Education Gift Certificate
Price: $225.00
Gift Certificates only redeemable for Zoo Education Programs.
 
Promo Badge
Promo Badge 2
FOR MEMBER DISCOUNTS
Enter your Member No.: