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How to Plan a Zoo Themed Road Trip

This blog article was originally posted on my first blog In Our Pond.  I started out trying to put all my travel content on my homeschooling blog, but it grew to be too big.  So, I'm moving all the road trip stuff over here!  It'll probably take me a while to move all the posts, but I'll also be posting new content on here as well.  In Our Pond will now be exclusively for homeschooling and parenting content, while this blog (Party Through the USA) is for all the family travel posts.  Check them both out!


How to Plan a Zoo Themed Road Trip from In Our Pond

As I was growing up, my family used to spend our vacations road tripping to zoos in our area.  We'd drive to a city, stay in a hotel with a pool, do a day at the zoo, and drive home.  It was the perfect way to spend a long weekend.



Now that I'm the mom, I get to share my love of zoos with my children.  Although we don't have any zoo trips planned for the future, I've put together this post as a guide for next time.  I always tell my husband that I'm just one grocery trip away from a road trip!



How to Plan a Zoo Themed Road Trip from In Our Pond

I'm writing about a zoo vacation, but I think this process of creating themed road trips (or a Party on Wheels) can be used for other themed trips as well.  I've already written about a dinosaur themed one, and I think a Disney one would be really easy to host.  Perhaps you're heading to the beach, so you'd like to plan a pirates or beach themed road trip.  Or a historical-period theme for a road trip to a battleground or famous house.  There is only the limit of your imagination as you plan your party.



How to Plan a Zoo Themed Road Trip from In Our Pond

If you type in "zoo party food" into Pinterest, all sorts of fun ideas come onto the screen.  There's healthy foods like tiger-striped oranges, hummus and pepper lions, and birds made of of fruit.  And, there's cute foods like banana penguins, snake hot dogs, and avocado alligators.  Even easy food like licorice jungle vines, animal crackers, zebra cakes, peanuts, and bananas.  All of them would make great party snacks.

For lunches, look at "zoo bento boxes," for lots of fun ways to pack basic foods.  I like how sweet this elephant one is and how simple this lion one looks.




How to Plan a Zoo Themed Road Trip from In Our Pond

I like to divide my activities into three groups: in the car, at the rest stop, and at the destination.

CAR

REST STOP

DESTINATION




How to Plan a Zoo Themed Road Trip from In Our Pond

A great way to get into the mood for a themed road trip is with costumes.  They can be as simple as a mask or hat, or as elaborate as a full costume.  With the zoo theme, you have even more options, because you could be an animal or a zookeeper.  I found these neat DIY masks that the kids could color in the car.  And, here's an easy way to dress comfortably and still look like a zookeeper.  If you don't want to go too elaborate, themed t-shirts for the whole family are an easy way to go (plus it's safer to all wear the same outfit in public).




How to Plan a Zoo Themed Road Trip from In Our Pond

With a themed road trip or any party, the easiest way to set the mood is with themed stuff.  Set the table at the hotel with these animal plates and these nose cups.  Stick these animal toothpicks in your bento lunches.  Run around the rest stop blowing these zoo bubbles.  If you know about the trip a few weeks before you leave, you can have a lot of fun searching at party stores, dollar stores, and thrift stores for fun swag for your Party on Wheels.


I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and have found it interesting and motivating.  If there is a specific road trip theme that you'd like to see me do, write about it in the comment section below.




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How to Plan a Zoo Themed Road Trip from In Our Pond

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