Saginaw Children's Zoo — Attraction in Saginaw

This is a perfect zoo day for a preschool or younger age kid. It is a good zoo day for an elementary through 6th grader. It is a pleasant place to spend some hours of family time for older kids.

I go with my toddler son. It is always quiet and super peaceful. He is mostly able to walk independently from exhibit to exhibit. There are only a few places where he could walk himself into trouble, like at the edge of the pond. He loves stretching his legs and I love that he can explore.

It is filled with beautiful little gardens done by volunteers and my son gets as much excitement out of the doodadds they display as the animals. It is 70% shady with the trees and gardens so walking around is pleasant and doesn't have to be rushed.

The zoo animal exhibits are small, the animals seem well cared for. I think this is where it shines for a little kid that can walk from exhibit to exhibit quickly and see a smaller selection of animals. I think as kids get bigger and they have more knowledge they get excited by more large exotic animals or involved exhibits. That's why I rank this as an excellent zoo for little kids but as they age they will grow out of it eventually.

There are great places for kids to play and parents to sit and watch them like playgrounds and a sand area for a dinosaur dig. The concessions are affordable and standard stuff like hot dogs and popcorn etc. The bathrooms are tidy and easy to access. I noticed a breast feeding private room by the concessions. I normally pack a lunch and there are great, shady places to eat.

There is a small train and carousel that cost a dollar to ride and are cute and fun. My son always wants to go on the train 3 or 4 times.

On a typical trip we spend about 4 hours. We start in a loop going left with the carousel then some animals and exploring the pond walk. We loop around and regroup eating a snack or lunch we packed by the side of the pond and relax in the shade. Then we move on to the other side of the zoo and see the animals before taking a long play break at all the interactive kids stuff and the train. The last thing we do is see the exhibits near the front entrance on the way to the car. It gives a good balance between animals and pauses so nobody feels rushed or gets overtired or restless.

The zoo is affordable but if you live locally I would consider a membership which is even more affordable. It covers all admission with unlimited rides. For a family it was 90 dollars this year. Going to this zoo isn't a huge project. It is just a nice way to spend half the day that leaves enough time in the rest of the day to keep a daily routine with young kids or do what you have to around the house. For my family, we generally drop in about once a month when we have a clear day to just spend some time together. If we want to take a bigger zoo trip, we can always use the membership to travel to several of the zoos/ aquariums that are a longer drive and bigger zoo at a free or reduced cost.

Hope that helps you know...

I came to the Saginaw Children's Zoo as a chaperone with 3 bus loads of first graders. There was also another school with a bus full of kids that arrived at the same time. I was nervous looking at that crowd outside the gate 15 minutes before they opened the gates @ 10. There were groups of 4 kids with each parent and we spread out all across the Zoo as soon as the gates were open. It was actually amazing how well it all worked out. Nothing ever felt terribly crowded and there are only a very few attractions even capable of forming a line. The animals were very cooperative and the workers were very friendly. We had a picnic lunch under a huge tent out near the horses in the back of the zoo and then went back to checking out all of the favorites again.

There is a train that goes around the property and for a dollar per person per ride it is a great way to see everything. The Carousel is also a dollar a ride, but those are the only 2 things that cost extra.

The gift shop has a lot of great low cost souvenirs. I spent $5 on 2 animal shaped bubble containers and the kids were ecstatic. They have some Zoo Branded merchandise that looked well made. They also have some snacks and candy here in case the kids have an unexpected hunger strike.

All in all it was a great experience and I will be taking my own...

A great, inexpensive, educational way to spend a day with the kids.

UPDATE: I have my own kid now, and did not when I first wrote the review above. We have a membership to the zoo and it has been a spectacular value. Last season and this season we've basically visited once or twice a week every week. We attend all of the special events. My daughter knows all of the animals and several staff by name. (Shoutout to Aleks, who always makes her feel special when we visit)

This zoo has several animals, but nothing super exotic. However, it also has a train, a large playground, a carousel, a baseball diamond, a wobbly bridge, a petting zoo, and an underwater cave. My 3 year old loves it, she loved it when she was 2, and I imagine we'll get at least another couple years of regular fun out of it.

At the beginning of the season, when the cold weather keeps some of the animals inside she asks where they are and when they'll be coming out. Since getting our membership we've also saved literally hundreds of dollars by visiting AZA zoos in Michigan, Indiana, and Missouri. The animals here are well cared for in spacious enclosures. They clearly put the welfare of the animals above their bottom line, and it it shows.

They're currently in the process of adding a reptile and insect house, and we can't...