A Nature Spot for Tots

Exhibit Connects Toddlers with the Natural World

Tiny explorers dig, climb, get wet, and a teensy, weensy bit dirty as they uncover and discover nature's wonders at Kronkosky's Tiny Tot Nature Spot. The Zoo's newest offering is the perfect place for children under five and their parents to "Grow with Nature."

While visiting Kronkosky's Tiny Tot Nature Spot, children will be encouraged to get out of their strollers (and in many cases their shoes and socks) for a hands-on encounter with real, wild, life! Specially designed areas and well-trained staff, called Playleaders, will help children and their families immerse themselves in nature. Because different activities will be planned each day, no two visits to this exhibit will be the same. On one day, children may participate in a nature scavenger hunt. Later that same day, or on another visit, they may uncover shells, play in a riverbank, or make bird feeders.

Kronkosky's Tiny Tot Nature Spot consists of seven major areas with a total of 19 sub areas. At the Pier and Pond, kids will play in a boat, feed the fish and explore pond life. Traveling through the Underwater Adventure, children can get face-to-fin with giant fish. My Backyard features gardens where children can plant seeds, water and transplant seedlings, and compost. At the Coati/Sloth Hang and Dig area, young adventurers climb and hang like a monkey or dig and tunnel like a coati. There's even an oversized sloth that kids can climb! In the Campground, kids will explore tents, play in the stream, and become a backyard birder. And, at the Riverbank, tiny tots will play in the water, dig in the sand, and climb on giant tortoise shells.

Located in the center of Kronkosky's Tiny Tot Nature Spot is the Discovery House, an interior exhibit that features three distinct exhibit rooms, each connected to the outside by wall-sized windows. In Explore Your Underground, children can get up-close and personal with prairie dogs. In the Explore your Pond room, they can play in an indoor pond, or enter a child-sized aquarium. Another unique feature within the Discovery House is the Explore Your Zoo room, which encourages children to discover the various jobs, functions, and roles of Zoo staff. Props allow them to become Zookeepers, Veterinarians, and Maintenance staff as they dress up, build enclosures for the animals with blocks, and care for animals. In each of these exhibits, children are encouraged to play, pretend, and share their understanding of the natural world with parents and Playleaders.

During each and every visit, children will be immersed in nature experiences that encourage the senses, as well as the sense of discovery. Whether feeding the fish, uncovering pretend tortoise eggs, wading in the stream, holding a worm, climbing like a monkey, creating a leaf collage, looking for insects, floating twigs down the stream or meeting a frog for the very first time, each experience will enhance the child's emotional, physical, and social development. BUT WAIT, the exhibit is not just for kids! Parents are an integral part of Kronkosky's Tiny Tot Nature Spot. As a child's first teacher, the Zoo encourages parents to explore, to get wet, to get dirty, and to play with their children. By encouraging parents and young children to rediscover and explore the natural world, Kronkosky's Tiny Tot Nature Spot will not only help develop physical social, cognitive, and emotional awareness, but also environmental consciousness, and that benefits everyone.

Philosophy During the first 5 years of life, children learn and develop faster than at any other time in their lives. As young children play and interact with nature, they will learn to process information, develop knowledge and reasoning and create strong bonds that lead to empathy for the natural world. Kronkosky's Tiny Tot Nature Spot is designed to allow children to explore and play in a variety of natural habitats. Through early immersion with nature, the San Antonio Zoo encourages children to develop an understanding of and an appreciation for nature. Children who GROW WITH NATURE will appreciate nature. MAKE PLANS TO COME PLAY TODAY.

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