Master Plan: Hasbro's Our Big Backyard
Master Plan: Hasbro's Our Big Backyard
Budget:
$5.5 million
Timeframe:
Construction began Spring, 2010
Grand opening of Our House, The Backyard and the CVS All Kids Can Tree House: June 4, 2012
Estimated completion date for Beyond the Fence: 2014
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A New Zoo Experience for Children
A major new area of the Zoo will open on Monday, June 4. This exciting space, called Hasbro’s Our Big Backyard, is especially designed for kids and their families to enjoy the outdoors and it will be unlike anything else found in our region.
As you arrive at the exhibit area, go inside Our House to find the “Nature Swap”, a special place where children can trade items that they’ve collected when out exploring nature. When a child shares an item like a pinecone, sea shell, or plaster cast of an animal track and tells our Nature Swap staff about the experience of finding the item, the child will be awarded points. These points can be used right away to swap for items that other children have brought in, or they can be saved up to swap for larger items at a later date. It’s all about encouraging kids to go outside, experience the natural world, and then share those experiences. In addition, there is an activitiy room that will everything from interactive story times and up-close animal encounters to birthday parties.
Then enter The Backyard to discover its three different activity areas. The Drip Drop Water Garden offers a raised streambed to float things down, and a whimsical fence covered in hoses and tubes to channel water through infinite configurations dreamed up by your kids. The Sticks & Stones Building Zone will feature a variety of frames for building forts and other special places. The Creativity Corner will include a stage for impromptu performances, games and events like puppet shows and sing-a-longs.
Then head through the hole in the backyard fend to go Beyond the Fence. You can wend your way along the nature trail to the CVS Caremark All Kids Can Tree House, a fully accessible tree house filled with interactive activities to engage all of your child's senses!
The Beyond the Fence experience will be enhanced by the opening of a New England animal exhibit area in 2014 including a fabulous new home for our river otters, wild turkeys, great horned owls, lynx, and porcupine, all promising lots of Zoo fun all year long.
