Zoos & Aquariumsin Nassau County, NY
Animals and nature up close. 19 venues listed.
Grandparent tip: Allow extra time for grandkids to linger at favorite animals. Weekday mornings are much less crowded than weekends.
- 🎯 Animal Bingo — Spot: a sleeping animal, one eating, one near water, one with babies, and the biggest animal you see all day.
- 🏅 Animal Olympics — Debate: which animal in the zoo would win at running? Swimming? Climbing? Best argument wins.
- ✏️ Sketch an Animal — Bring a small notebook. Spend 5 minutes sketching one animal each. No talent required — effort counts.
- • Annual memberships pay for themselves in 2 visits and often include reciprocal entry at other zoos and aquariums nationwide.
- • Pack your own snacks — zoo food runs 3x the normal price. Most allow outside food at designated picnic areas.
Make it a memory, not just a trip
The questions grandkids ask at the zoo are the best conversations you'll ever have.
Ask this today
"If you could talk to one animal here today, what would you ask it?"
🆓 Free memory-making ideas
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Spirit Animal Pick
Everyone picks a 'spirit animal' from whatever you see today and has to explain why. Grandkids pick for grandparents too. 'You're the sea turtle because you move slowly but you always get there' is a compliment and a roast at the same time.
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Draw From Memory
At home, 30 minutes after the visit: draw three animals you saw from memory, without looking anything up. Imperfect animal drawings are better than accurate ones — put them side by side with a photo of the real animal.
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Animal Facts Debate
Pick one animal everyone stops at. Each person states one fact they know — or thinks they know. Look them all up after. Being wrong about animal facts is equally educational, and considerably funnier.
🎨 Arts & crafts to do together
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Paper Bag Animal Masks
Use paper bags, colored paper, and glue to make masks of your favorite animals from the visit. Put them on and reenact the zoo — grandparent narrates like a nature documentary, grandkids are the animals. Film ten seconds. You will watch it every year.
Supplies: Paper bags, colored paper, scissors, glue — free or $2.
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Clay Animals
Use air-dry clay to sculpt the animal that made the biggest impression today. Keep it when it dries. It will look approximately nothing like the real animal. That's what makes it perfect.
Supplies: Air dry clay — see product below.
Shop: Crayola Air Dry Clay ($8–10) →
🎒 BYOF — Bring Your Own Fun
Crayola Air Dry Clay
Make somethingSmall pieces travel well in a zip-lock bag. Make a quick clay figure of your favorite animal on the bench in front of the exhibit, or at the café after.
Rory's Story Cubes Classic
Best sellerRoll the dice on a bench between exhibits and build a story where all the animals you saw today are characters. The stranger it gets, the better.
Crayola Colored Pencils for Adults (50ct)
For sketching animals on the move. Colored pencils work in the sun and don't need water — the most practical drawing tool for any outdoor outing.
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