Holidays at the Zoo

Our holiday programs at the zoo take place during Easter-, Whitsun-, Summer-, and Autumn holidays in Baden-Württemberg.

Children group with zoorangers in donkey enclosure

The 5-day event is targeted to school children at least 6 years of age and guarantees loads of fun with smaller and bigger zoo animals.

The children sometimes have the opportunity during the holidays to come in close touch with selected zoo animals, to play and craft things, to slip into the role of an animal care taker or to deal with nature in an exploratory-discovering way.

One time, the children put an original print of a lion´s paw in clay, another time the children can make an ice bomb for the Syrian brown bears or clean the enclosure of the raccoons; during this week, the children encounter the zoo animals intensively and learn many exciting things on the side…

The Holidays in the Zoo are split up in 3 programs:

  1. The Base Program is called Zoo-Ferien and takes place from 9.30am to 12.30am

    The Zoo Holidays can be topped up by the programs “Zoo hellwach” (Zoo Broad Awake)
    (8 – 9.30 am) and Zoo Holidays Plus (12.30am to 4.30pm). It is an event for school children
    with a diversified program (children can participate in the program more than once and
    experience each time new content and topics because there are 3 different weekly
    programs).
  2. Zoo Hellwach (Zoo Broad Awake) starts daily at 8am in the morning and can be booked
    supplementary to the Zoo Holidays.

    With this offer the zoo school intends to make a contribution to the better reconciliation
    between work and family in Heidelberg. This phase of the holiday program predominantly
    serves to start the day together. Activities include playing, drawing and crafting things.
  3. The afternoon program Zoo-Ferien Plus (including a warm lunch) lasts from 12.30am to
    4.30pm and can also be booked on top of the Zoo Holidays that take place in the morning.

    After a common lunch, participants primarily discover the zoo in an exploratory way.
    Groups make experiments, us the microscope and discover details using magnifying
    glasses; for example, the little creatures of a stream or in the soil are examined intensively.
Targetgroup: school children between 6-13 years
Duration: 5 days
Costs: Zoo-Ferien = € 85,- (15% discount for siblings)
Zoo hellwach = € 35,- (15% discount for siblings)
Zoo-Ferien Plus = € 125,- (15% discount for siblings)

Booking:

Advance booking of tickets at the zoo´s ticket office with registration form

 

Zoo Holidays for School Beginners

An additional Zoo Holidays week starts subsequent to the summer Holidays::

The Zoo-Ferien for School Beginners targets future school children that are put to school in autumn. In addition to and combination with this program the programs Zoo hellwach and Zoo-Ferien Plus can be booked, too.

Targetgroup: school beginners
Duration: 5 days
Costs: Zoo-Ferien = € 80,- (15% discount for siblings)
Zoo hellwach = € 35,- (15% discount for siblings)
Zoo-Ferien Plus = € 125,- (15% discount for siblings)
Booking: Advance booking of tickets at the zoo´s ticket office with registration form

You can find the most recent calendar with the holiday time periods here.

Please take into consideration our regulation on cancelation of tickets (for Holidays etc.).

You can find answers to FAQs concerning our holiday programs here.

By the way:

The zoo school is co-initiator of "FerienTicket - Betreuung ist Chefsache"!

In addition, as of now, the Feriengutscheine of the Stadt Heidelberg can also be redeemed in the zoo school (Zoo Holidays and Zoo Holidays Plus). Please bring your Feriengutschein to the ticket office when you buy your ticket for the holiday programs.