Cub Club at the Lake Superior Zoo

DULUTH - "It’s all about animals and all about the world that we share with animals," Jessamy Schwartz, Educational Program Coordinator at the Lake Superior Zoo said. Cub Club at the Lake Superior Zoo is for children ages four to five to come together to learn about animals. "It’s all about getting the kids to connect with the animals here and hopefully they gain that appreciation for animals in the world that we share with them," Schwarts said. The kids do art projects and may even have the opportunity to meet with a zoo keeper. But the highlight of their day? The animals themselves. "It’s hard to beat live animals. So the kids here are really excited when we bring the animals out, it also gets them really talking about the animals it’s a really memorable experience," Schwartz explained. And zoo employess believe a hands on expereince is the best way to make Cub Club more memorable for them. "We have as much hands on with the animals as much as possible. They can’t go in with a tiger or any of those dangerous animals but we do have smaller animals that we do have here that they can see up close and they can be able to see them and touch them," Schwartz said. And the close knit environment is definitely a plus. "They get to know the animals more when they come to the class like this than a regular visit at the zoo," Schwartz explained. Each season they have a different theme to work with. "This fall session we’re learning about animal senses and so today we’ll be learning about animal ears. We’ll be learning about what animals use their ears for and how they use their ears for survival," Schwartz said. It’s a great way to interact closely with animals, especially if youngsters don’t have any pets at home. "It’s also important to connect with some sort of part of nature so that when they go home, they might not see a giraffe or a tiger, but they definitely will see animals that are similar," Schwartz said. All in all, it’s the ability the children have to connect with these animals that really makes this experience unique. "So by being able to visit a zoo like this one they’re able to connect that with the animals in their own neighborhood and hopefully that fosters an appreciation and care for animals all over their neighborhoods and all over the world. So that’s the ultimate goal, kind of a lofty goal but hopefully it can start a really young age like the Cub Club here," Schwartz explained.