Set up a fun and educational Wildlife Hospital play space using our printable Wildlife Hospital Pack and this guide to help you.
This pack can help explore the heroic ways people in the community work together and make a difference to save our wildlife.
Here's how I created a Wildlife Hospital play space for the my children.
Create your own Wildlife Hospital sign using cardboard. Paint however you'd like, glue on decorations such as burlap or other materials. Write your hospital name on and then decorate with dried leaves, flowers and anything else you'd like to add.
Make ID tags by getting a piece of cardboard. Cut out a bit of burlap or material and glue it on one side. Print out a small photo of your child and glue it onto the burlap/material. Write your details on and make your own barcode. On the back attach a strip of material by gluing either end. Next slide a large paperclip onto the material. You can use this paperclip attachment to slide the ID tag onto a pocket of a doctor/vet costume. A kids science lab coat would also work well for costume.
I put their small wooden table near a power-socket where I could plug in their light panel. If you don't have a light panel, you can also find drawing light boxes to work well. If you fancy a DIY job, you can build your own light table or place lights inside a storage/sensory tub.
I used a kids hat/coat rack that we've had for years to create a little indoor tree by wrapping kraft recycled brown paper around it, with a little paper tape in places to hold it together. Then adding some leaves around to create a wonderful place for patients such as koalas, birds and bats.
Using a small shelving unit to create a work station, I added:
- A document holder to store animal x-rays in
- A clipboard for the printable Wildlife Hospital paperwork
- The printable Wildlife Hospital animal fact cards, cut out
- A pencil holder with a few pencils and a ruler
- Functioning stethoscope
- A basket with wooden and felt food suitable for animals that may come into their hospital, and wooden bottles
- Some story and information books on Australian animals
- Their post box for important mail to their hospital
- A doctor bag (we used one I made some years ago) with dress ups and bandages. You can make your own bandages by cutting strips of muslin
- A thrifted wooden bowl for a patient to rest in
Woodslice and log cushions made a great addition as well as some little knitted blankets. Thrifted baskets, dolls beds and bowls can make great animal beds and food/water bowls for a hospital play space.
Animal x-rays can be purchased online.
Further ideas
- Toy Doctor/vet tool set
- Koala mask - Wild Mountain Child has a beautiful one available
- Doctor/Nurse outfits
- Bird houses - we got ours pictured, from Bunnings. You can make your own or use alternatives available to you
Recommended book idea:
- Kookaburra Kookaburra by Bridget Farmer
- Fauna by Tania McCartney
- Bitsy by Nicki Greenberg
- Flood by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley
- Fire by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley
- Drought by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley
- A is for Australian Animals by Frané Lessac