A day spent in Zoo Negara

It was my first field trip with the children since I started teaching in the kindergarten. We headed to Zoo Negara in the morning by the school bus. The children were so excited and they did not know that I felt the same way. In the bus, we clapped, sang animal songs and could not wait to reach our destination.

The principal asked me to guide team B. Each team contained between nine to ten children. My team B and I walked behind team A and in front of team C.

 We saw all kinds of animals that day. We observed and moved to the other animals one by one. We saw monkeys, tigers, insects, hippopotamus, birds, baboons, zebra and so much more. I told stories about some of the animals, like How Monkeys give birth and Why we cannot have a pet lion at home. The children were so excited and asked me a lot of questions. I couldn’t answer some of the questions they asked but I told them, "Let me do some research and I will tell you soon."

We were lucky that there were animal shows during our visit to the zoo. We watched parrot, seal and monkey shows. One of the children, Azeem, had a chance to hold a parrot. He was very nervous at first but we all encouraged and later praised him for the job well done. He was all smiles after that, being able to have enjoyed such experience.


Before we went back to school, we sat together in the cool place and had some refreshment. Everybody opened up their food basket and shared with each other. After sometime, we walked to the bus and headed back to the school. During the ride back home, I asked the chidlren about the animals they saw in the zoo. Most of the children replied me and share with their friends about their trip to the zoo despite their tiredness and sleepiness.

Field trips are fun. In my opinion, it give children an opportunity to experience new environment and socialize. However, it takes a handful of patience and some dedication to manage children during field trips. In a group, there will be some excited children, some children who kept quiet because they may not be comfortable with the new environment and some children who do not think twice about crying. I say, even if we have planned everything perfectly we still need back-up plan.

I was so grateful to my colleagues and principal who have helped me to handle the children. This field trip did not just give a wonderful experience to the children but also to me.

Experienced by: Tengku Zainab Zanariah