Nature offers abundant learning opportunities. More importantly, these can be adapted for children of all abilities, including those with developmental needs or behavioural challenges.

Allowing children to explore at their own pace builds their self-esteem and confidence and can positively impact learning, notes Ms May Lok, Vice President (Education), Mandai Wildlife Group. She elaborates, “Activities like observing wildlife and identifying plants stimulate curiosity, imagination, problem-solving skills and much more. As children ask questions and engage in discussions, they build up language and communication skills and expand their understanding of the world around them.”

Wildlife parks offer sensory experiences with varied textures, sounds, smells and visual stimuli. Ms Lok notes this setting supports children with sensory processing issues, helping them develop skills to receive and respond to information from the senses.

She adds, “Nature-based activities have been linked to better regulation of emotions and improved emotional well-being. They can help calm and soothe children and reduce their anxiety and stress.”

DESIGNED FOR ALL CHILDREN

Mandai’s wildlife parks have integrated the principles of universal design, creating accessible and inclusive environments for all. This approach ensures that children, regardless of abilities and needs, can enjoy positive experiences with nature and animals.

Animal activity sheets are crafted for children with diverse needs and abilities.

For example, the amphitheatres have dedicated areas for visitors with mobility aids. The KidzWorld zone at Singapore Zoo provides various play opportunities, including sensory and water play, as well as up-close interactions with animals. The Pangolin Playground at Mandai Wildlife West has wheelchair-accessible play equipment.

Each wildlife park has a sensory map highlighting rest areas and quiet corners as well as locations of enclosed places with free-ranging animals. Children prone to overstimulation or sensory issues can seek respite from the crowds and noise.

In addition, social scripts — which use storytelling techniques, simple language and images — allow children to get acquainted with the sights and encounters at the wildlife parks prior to their trip. This is especially helpful for those on the autistic spectrum, as preparing them for what to expect will help reduce stress or overwhelming feelings during their visit.

LESSONS AT BIRD PARADISE

In 2023, PCF Sparkletots Preschool @ Serangoon Blk 226 organised an excursion to the Bird Paradise wildlife park. It complemented the centre’s theme on wildlife, which covered animals and their young, their habitats, movements, diets and physical characteristics.

The self-guided visit was supported by the park’s website, which provided teaching resources, activity ideas, facts about avian species, and information on bird-spotting locations within the park.

The Ocean Network Express Penguin Cove was a hit with the PCF Sparkletots preschoolers.

The Ocean Network Express Penguin Cove was a big hit with the children. Teacher Ms Sheryl Chua observed that the exhibit impacted various learning domains:

• Language and literacy. Children practised conversational skills while discussing different penguin species and their features.
• Numeracy. Children learned spatial concepts like direction and depth by observing penguins moving on land and diving into the water.
• Motor skills. Children practised locomotor skills such as balancing, bending and turning their bodies while mimicking the penguins swimming and waddling.
• Discovery of the world. Seeing the penguins up close stimulated children’s curiosity. Interactive touch-screen games also provided interesting trivia about penguins.

Back at preschool, Ms Chua extended the children’s learning with follow-up activities. “I printed photographs taken by the children and they shared their experiences,” she says. “The children also created collages of their favourite birds and made books about birds, drawing and documenting the key characteristics observed.”

Children documented their visit by making bird books and artworks.