Play Zoos

By Wendy Cole

TREND Zoos are creating spaces where kids can cavort with animals, build habitats, plant gardens and otherwise mix with nature

HOW IT STARTED Like many parents, zoo curators are looking for ways to give kids unstructured playtime and a connection to nature

JUDGMENT CALL Perfect antidote for the overscheduled child Dinner in Bed

Going to the zoo used to mean gawking at giraffes and, if you were really lucky, peeking at a panda. But the newest concept in zoos aims to connect kids to nature by encouraging them to get down and dirty with it: in between their animal encounters, the kids can slosh in mud, explore caves and hunt for bugs. Brookfield Zoo, outside Chicago, will open its play zoo this week, offering children (for a $2 fee; $4 for adults) the chance to dress up as lemurs as they swing alongside real ones, or build a house made of sticks for an armadillo. The Dallas zoo opened a similar hands-on facility last year that includes a nature exchange where kids can swap their favorite rock for a snazzier sea shell. Seattle has plans for its play zoo, called Discovery Village, to open in 2004.

Play zoos go far beyond petting zoos by offering kids a wide range of ways to interact with nature. "We're opening up whole new areas of interactive play by letting kids dress up as birds, plant gardens or examine animal X rays," says Keith Winsten, Brookfield's education curator. Rather than try to impart scientific data, these zoos promote unstructured play--something in short supply for many kids today. Says Winsten: "We are providing a place for kids to do the kind of exploring that was basic to their existence a generation ago."

--By Wendy Cole