What is it?
Interactions with animals can vary immensely; they can range from big establishments with no animal contact such as zoos, small animals at a farm park.
What does it involve?
The basis of all encounters with animals is to interact with them! Sometimes it may be from a distance to ensure safety on both sides, but you can often get up close; you can train and even ride some animals.
Why do it and what are the benefits?
Spending time with animals has been proven to be beneficial in many aspects of life and development - it can teach things such as compassion, responsibility, and discipline for both yourself and others.
What equipment do we need?
Depending on what sort of animal encounter it is, the equipment involved will vary. For example, riding a horse requires a lot more specialist equipment than stroking a cat! Make sure to check with your destination to see if you need to bring anything.
Who is it suitable for?
Animal encounters are suitable for pretty much anyone - always be careful with smaller children though, as they may not understand how to handle them properly.
Costs?
Can vary from free to reasonably expensive. Grounds that are open to the public and free to enter can often have wildlife roaming around to admire, but more extravagant establishments such as zoos with many more animals will undoubtedly cost more!
Issues/Things to think about? (unsuitable for age groups, medical conditions etc)
Be aware of allergies when it comes to animal encounters; although mild allergies are much more common, the risk of a student having a severe reaction means you should exercise caution if there is going to be physical contact with an animal.
How do we include?
It will depend entirely on the type of animal encounter, but in general these kinds of activities will be great to include all students in, as everyone can interact with an animal in some manner.
Doing it abroad?
The variety of animals abroad will often vary greatly from our own, and encountering them can be a once in a lifetime opportunity! Foreign nature and safari parks can be great places to visit, so make sure to check out your destination thoroughly to see if there's one you can take a trip to.
Main website:
Check out individual websites for specific information on what's available for you to do!
What is your favourite sea creature?
The awesome Sharks, the scary Piranhas or perhaps is it the cute Seahorses that you love the most? Are you a Bonnethead Shark lover? Perhaps it’s the Clownfish or the clever Octopus that you love the most. Maybe you simply can’t decide!
The SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium Underwater Zoo Education program is delivered by trained and passionate marine educators who deliver face-to-face teaching sessions focusing on a range of specialised topics.
SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium is one of Sydney's most popular school excursion venues. See the world's largest collection of Australian aquatic animals on display. There's over 13,000 animals to see representing some 700 different species!
There is so much to see and do at Mary Arden's Farm! Step back in time for all the sights, smells and sounds of a real Tudor farm and explore the house where Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden, grew up.
Experience for yourself the daily routine, skills and crafts that the young William would have known from visits to his grandparents in the 1570s.
Take advantage of the SEA LIFE Hannover as an attractive, non-school setting for school class visits. Motivate your students with a trip to where they experience native and tropical habitats of the oceans up close and learn with all senses.
Take advantage of the SEA LIFE Oberhausen as an attractive, non-school setting for school class visits. Motivate your students with a trip to where they experience native and tropical habitats of the oceans up close and learn with all senses.
Take advantage of the SEA LIFE München as an attractive, non-school setting for school class visits. Motivate your students with a trip to where they experience native and tropical habitats of the oceans up close and learn with all senses.
Take advantage of the SEA LIFE Konstanz as an attractive, non-school setting for school class visits. Motivate your students with a trip to where they experience native and tropical habitats of the oceans up close and learn with all senses.
A school trip to SEA LIFE offers children the opportunity to discover the submarine world through experience. They can feel how strong a mussel is, hold a shark’s egg or see up close how a shrimp swims. By watching and exploring they discover a world of new facts.
Connect your PUPILS with the natural world by visiting Knowsley Safari or in your own classroom through booking our outreach team.
Knowsley is a great place for kids to discover more about the natural world and it's a fantastic opportunity to bring the curriculum to life. Prices start from just £7 per pupil and this includes a safari school educational workshop.
Discover the fascinating and beautiful marine world in SEA LIFE Scheveningen. The world of shrimps, starfish and crabs, stingrays and sharks. Discover the beautiful fish from one of the worlds largest rivers in Amazonia, where you will meet the dangerous piranhas.
School and Club Visits
Bristol Aquarium welcomes schools, youth groups and clubs throughout the year. With over 40 displays and over 4,000 aquatic creatures in themed geographical zones, Bristol Aquarium offers a fun and inspirational day out for children of all ages.
Book an Aquarium Safari
SEA LIFE Loch Lomond Aquarium is just 30 minutes from Glasgow, situated on the stunning Loch Lomond Shores. Explore an amazing underwater world and take a fascinating journey from the Loch Lomond shores to the ocean depths through 7 themed zones, including our Tropical Ocean Tunnel.
Take advantage of the SEA LIFE Königswinter as an attractive, non-school setting for school class visits. Motivate your students with a trip to where they experience native and tropical habitats of the oceans up close and learn with all senses.
With over 5,000 creatures on display, a visit to SEA LIFE Charlotte-Concord Aquarium will engage your students' senses. In addition to the spectacular view from the underwater tunnel, children can get involved at the interactive rockpool by holding a crab or even touching a starfish.
Dive in a Ship Wreck and find fish as beautiful and strange as the leaf fish, the puffy fish or the rock mover wrasse. Dory, from Finding Nemo, is also around. Discover her scientific name.
Feel like a real fish in the water, inside our Oceanic Tunnel, the first and only in our country!
Take advantage of the SEA LIFE Timmendorfer Strand as an attractive, non-school setting for school class visits. Motivate your students with a trip to where they experience native and tropical habitats of the oceans up close and learn with all senses.
The Manly SEA LIFE Sanctuary education program is delivered by trained and passionate marine educator officers and it’s this, combined with our commitment to marine conservation, which makes us the Northern Beaches' leading school excursion venue.
The centre, with its dedicated classroom, is a great base for exploring the wonderful heath and woodland of Witley and Milford Commons. It has all the facilities you will need, including a fire circle, dipping ponds and den building area. There are toilets and large sinks for washing little hands, and parking for coaches.
ACTIVITIES:
Begin your journey into the astounding underwater world by taking a look at the Giant Spider Crab and the Giant Pacific Octopus. These aquatic creatures amaze us with their ability to camoflage themselves with surrounding rocks and other ocean features.
The Lakes Aquarium brings your group face to face with a vast array of creatures from the furthest reaches of the globe – from fierce piranha and dainty seahorses, to menacing pike and diving ducks.
The Bushcraft Company offer residential school trips with a difference, taking students into the wild and giving them real back-to-nature experiences they will never forget.
A 15-year-old boy fell 60ft over the edge of a cliff whilst on a geography school trip, miraculously only suffering minor injuries.