Reptile Park at Home

With Covid happening this year holidays were quite different. I normally survive the holidays by taking the kids on adventures - they are so good when we’re out and about. But this couldn’t happen this year. Every holiday we tend to head to the Reptile Park but under the circumstances it wasn't open. Instead I came up with a crazy idea to bring the Reptile Park to us!

Turns out the kids have a lot of soft toys that came in handy. Here is a tour of the reptile park - one is a guided tour by the kids, the other is a visual tour. 

We transformed the upstairs space into the Reptile Park. Before we sent the kids upstairs we told them that it was up to them to make the most of it. The more they got into pretending it was the Reptile Park, the more fun they would have. They were amazing! 

We went to the hallway and pretended to clip ourselves into the car. 

I printed off a picture of Ploddy so we could wave hi to him on our way. 

The entrance to the stairs had a print out of a frilled neck lizard above them, like the entrance at the Reptile Park. The kids were very excited to see it!

Our stairs had dinosaurs on it, like the stairs that go down to the entrance. 

The night before I made a spider that could dangle from the window and be made to dance. When the kids came up and saw it I played a video of the Spider World song. There were boxes that had pictures of spiders in it. The kids were right into it. 

Daniel was quite excited that there were kangaroos in the open area.

The kids then visited the Koalas.

Alexander was excited to see Elvis the Crocodile. He even worked out that they could sit on the chairs beside Elvis like the stands around the real enclosure.

They spotted Hugo and went over to say hi and pat his shell.

They had a look at Frog's Hollow and really liked how there was a frog on the side of the walls.

 They went over to give Randall the echidna a pat and watch him waddle along.

They were excited to see the wombats - including a baby wombat like Hope who was just born at the Reptile Park.

They had a look at the dingoes and the bird enclosure (which is kinda an owl enclosure).

We went downstairs to watch the live stream of the Lost World at the Reptile Park (we all loved watching the live streams).

We then headed back upstairs to visit our version of the Lost World. It was fun to see their excitement again as they went upstairs.

We set up a photo location that the kids really took to. What made it even better though was that James took on the role of being the Reptile Keeper and photographer. He spoke about being gentle with the animals, he referred to how to sit for the photos. He even had them lift up their arms to hold the snake, like Tim, Rach and Arlene did when we took them to the Reptile Park.

'I want to hold it'

Arms up

Gentle

Say 'snakes'

Why do they smile better in these fake photos than when their getting their photo taken at the Reptile Park?

Daniel and Alexander wanted to get a photo on their own with the snake.

Alexander wanted to take Ashton the dingo for a walk. We made a leash to put around his neck and off Alexander went. Daniel and Eliza were also keen to take him for walk.

Then it was snack time. I set up the Hard Croc Cafe in the kitchen, made a menu and gave the kids some money ($1.50 each) that they could spend. (I added 30c for kangaroo food after taking this photo).

They also had a free drink voucher and a complementary photo to use (although they had more photos).
Each of the kids came and I took their order.

Please give me a chuppa chup.

They then sat down in the loungeroom to enjoy their morning tea, and their babychino (made by their barista Daddy) while watching some more of the live Reptile Park videos.

The kids then headed back upstairs with their kangaroo food to feed the kangaroos. Daniel was so keen to do this!

Alexander wanted to feed the baby wombat (like we saw on the Reptile Park video).

And Eliza was keen to feed the koalas.

She then wanted to get a photo with the koalas.

James helped her to take a selfie with the koala

We then headed downstairs to watch Elvis the crocodile feed on a live feed. Alexander loves watching him feed! We then headed upstairs to have a unique opportunity to feed Elvis the Crocodile themselves. (I made an Elvis the crocodile the night before with egg cartons). Alexander was first. He was so excited! I put Pewee the Kiwi in a coat hanger to be able to feed Elvis safely (like the chicken that Elvis has at the real Reptile Park).

Then it was time for the kids to just play in the Reptile Park how they wanted to. Daniel was very attached to Ashton the dingo. He wanted to take him for walks around the house and have some photos with him.

They all were keen to feed the baby wombat again.

They wanted to feed Elvis the crocodile again. I especially loved seeing them play it together. The kids each had a turn at being Elvis and a turn at feeding him.

 Eliza and Daniel then headed out to ride their bikes but Alexander was still keen to play the Reptile Park. We headed back upstairs but this time I was the guest at the park and he was one of the keepers. He was so cute explaining the different animals, telling me how you hold them, what he feeds them, how to look after them. It was really cute to watch.

Say cheese!

Click

Taking photos of the animals

Showing me how you feed Elvis the crocodile

Daniel also wanted to join in on being the photographer.

Daniel realised that I missed something at the Reptile Park. He noticed I didn't have a gift shop at the end so he went around the house and Reptile Park and put together some things to be in the gift shop. I love that he set it up too.

I love that they had a blast at the Reptile Park. I love that they embraced the concept and had so much fun. Their creativity was great. The next day, Alexander wanted to head back up to the Reptile Park. He had a great time revisiting it and playing around it. Hopefully this has made long lasting memories.
(Today, even Alexander asked to play the Reptile Park again. We set it up in the loungeroom and explored it. Pretty cute to do).