Chesterfield nursery gets wild with art to help Chester Zoo

Staff and children from Kids Planet in Sheepbridge, raised additional funds for Chester Zoo by organising an in-house art sale.

The children spent the day painting penguins, lions, cheetahs, crocodiles and giraffe canvases.

Throughout the summer, Kids Planet – which now includes Kids Allowed – has launched a fundraising campaign to support Chester Zoo, which has faced significant losses during the Covid-19 pandemic.

And because of drastic restrictions on visitor numbers their struggle is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

Every nursery is involved in raising funds and learning about the animals and their habitats and have held special events to celebrate international days of the elephant, tiger, lion and orangutan.

Sarah Jones, nursery manager, said: “The children loved learning about all of the different animals at Chester Zoo.

"We placed the canvases outside of the nursery and the parents were eager to purchase their child’s beautiful artwork.

"It was a fun experience discovering animal features and showing them to the children.

"We even had animal models out on the tables so the children could replicate their favourites.”

“I’d personally like to thank our generous parents for collectively donating £100 to our fundraiser.

"We still have some canvases to sell but we’re looking forward to hosting our next fundraising activity.

"It has been a fantastic opportunity to support Chester Zoo and I hope all our efforts can help them through these uncertain times we are experiencing.”

Local families can contact the nursery or Kids Planet office to join in on the many fundraising early years-child-centred activities in the area.

To make a donation or get involved please go to the Kids Planet summer stampede crowdfunding page here.

You can also join the Kids Planet team on Facebook and Twitter or visit the website here.