Zooper Kids: an Early Start
When Megan Loeb and her three-year-old
daughter, Olivia, aren’t at the Zoo, they’re probably
at home making “honey slime,” paper plate snakes
or other activities they learned about through
Zooper Kids.
This program for children ages two to four began
in 2007 as “Animal Crackers” and has continually
grown, serving just shy of 500 participants in 2019
alone and more than 1,800 since 2016. Zooper Kids
gives toddlers (accompanied by their parents) a
“first taste” of nature and wildlife through crafts,
activities and animal encounters.
The Loeb family moved to Viera, FL from central
Texas in 2018 after Megan’s husband retired
from the military. On their first visit to the Zoo,
Megan recalls falling in love with the facility and
immediately purchasing a membership.
“We come here at least once a week—and that’s
not including our Zooper Kids classes,” she said.
Megan heard about the program from a friend
who participates and knew she had to get Olivia
involved. Since then, they’ve attended every
weekly class. Olivia enjoys pulling out plush animals
at home and demonstrating the “two-finger touch”
(the practice of softly touching an animal with two
fingers) that she learned at Zooper Kids. One of
Megan’s favorite parts of the program is watching
Olivia build up the courage to pet some of the
scalier animals that are brought out during class.
“She is always so proud of herself afterwards,”
Megan said.
Olivia and classmates are welcomed to each class
with a song before completing a science-based
lesson, making a craft, eating a snack, meeting an
animal and going for a walk around the Zoo.
“Our family has always been big animal lovers,”
Megan said. “Zooper Kids allows me to share that
passion with my daughter. It gets Olivia outside
to understand the conservation messages that
the Zoo shares.”
“She learns
things here that
she couldn’t learn
anywhere else.”
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