Animal experiences or ‘adoption’ for 9yo

[Legoless]

Actually for bday but this chat area is the best. Things like London Zoo keeper for a day are for older kids plus too expensive.

Can anyone recommend any animal experiences - not petting zoos or creepy crawlies, more like feeding or keeper experiences, for a 9yo.

Or any good adoption packages where you get a cuddly toy and certificate and updates etc for 9yo gift.

https://www.virginexperiencedays.co.uk/product/junior-keeper-experience-with-lunch-and-admission-to-south-lakes-safari?opti_key=pla&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD64ISPklOQc8P5qivSwxl_frJKGu&gclid=CjwKCAjwooq3BhB3EiwAYqYoEhqbYFnKzz1EYolb2W7bL1ZmhWsADiXAZoroI9FcoYKhNrShUAwyoRoCIqcQAvD_BwE

not sure where you're located but this looks good was considering for my dd.

WWF do child's adoptions

https://support.wwf.org.uk/adopt-an-animal

If you're looking at London zoo then you're not handy for Edinburgh Zoo (!) but they have younger/shorter experiences.
So I imagine you should be able to find similar closer to home.
https://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/events-experiences/keeper-experiences

(the staff are AMAZING with the kids & mine all talk about their keeper/animal experiences years later)

Several zoos local to me (SW) have Junior Zookeeper experiences. We've bought one for DD for her birthday at Exmoor Zoo.

Lots of choice at Chessington and each one states age on this page so easy to see what you can pick from

www.chessington.com/tickets-passes/vip-experiences/vip-animal-experiences/

Battersea Zoo has a few. Not the biggest zoo in the world but the staff are super.

This is all brilliantly helpful thank you

Monkey World!

https://monkeyworld.org/our-primates/adopt-a-primate/

They do brilliant work rescuing abused primates - ex pets and performers etc.

Is Colchester doable? DD did the zookeeper one when she was 9. Not sure how much cheaper it is compared to London though.

She also did adoptions from Chester (she was addicted to Secret Life of the Zoo) and from London. No cuddly toy but we bought one to match the adopted animal, came out a lot cheaper.

colchester definitely doable so will look into that - thank you.

Ah Colchester is 14+

This one if younger
https://www.colchester-zoo.com/gifts-and-experiences/animal-experiences/kids-zoo-academy/

Look under Age

If you're near-ish Kent then Port Lymnpe is incredible for experiences. We did a Rhino experience which was for age 5+ (my daughter was 6) and she got to feed and stroke the Rhinos as well as have a safari tour. They have loads of different ones such as giraffes, gorillas etc

WWF adoption packages are good, they get a cuddly toy and regular updates through the post

For something really simple, you might like Mudchute Farm.

www.mudchute.org/farm-animals

You can buy a bag of feed at the window and go around feeding the animals for which it is appropriate (goats etc).

It's a really informal place, but it's nice if you just want to stroll around and give out handfuls of food.

I've just realised that they have introduced actual bookable Animal Experiences too, which I didn't know.

www.mudchute.org/animal-experiences

If you want to make a massive treat, and maybe link it to a week's holiday in Cornwall if you are near London, Newquay Zoo have fantastic junior keeper days. There is a choice of animal specialism and if your child has a specific fave animal in the zoo, it's worth saying as in our family's experience they will see what they can do!...

https://www.newquayzoo.org.uk/?s=experience