BOO at the Zoo? Combining two of kids’ favourite things – Halloween and animals. Sounds a simple recipe for success, doesn’t it?
And judging from our trip to Twycross Zoo recently, that’s exactly what it is.
The zoo says the ‘spook-tacular’ is its biggest-ever Halloween event – and it was certainly popular when we visited.
The biggest problem was that there’s too much to do to fit it all in! As any parent who has taken their kids to a zoo knows, you’re never short of things to do.
To give you a taste, there’s broomstick training, a singing pumpkin show and a visit to the witch’s coven to listen to some scary-tales (not fairy-tales).
But the parts our children loved best were the spooky walkthroughs of the lemur habitat, which included a fun activity trail, and the Borneo longhouse.
The trouble with zoo animals is that you can never guarantee where they are going to be so sadly we did not see any lemurs – but plenty of other ‘creature comforts’ made up for that.
The lorikeet feeding was especially popular with my three-year-old daughter – while a bit apprehensive at first, she soon relaxed and let the bird perch on her hand and feed from a little cup.
Zoo staff were really helpful and supportive with this and my daughter loved being so close to the pretty little birds she could actually touch them!
Twycross has always been famous for its wide range of primates and they seemed to be enjoying the Halloween fun too – it’s always lovely to see some of the baby apes.
The zoo has this year welcomed new Sumatran tigers – which sadly were not in the mood to show their faces during our visit – and a black female rhino.
While younger kids often just love to look at the animals, older ones sometimes need something else to keep them occupied – and the ‘Ride-on Safari Cars’ were just the thing for our seven-year-old son.
Children get to steer and accelerate the vehicles – although parents need not panic: you get to walk alongside them with a remote control that can cut the power!
There’s a great soft play facility too in case the weather isn’t great. All in all, with so much happening it’s certainly well worth over the Halloween period.
Visit https://twycrosszoo.org/boo-at-the-zoo/ to find out more.
Boo at the Zoo runs until Sunday November 3.
Admission is priced £15 for adults and £10 for children.
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