A somewhat educational roadtrip

On Saturday we visited the Ecotarium in Worcester, MA. Due to our constantly changing weather and the promise of rain, we chose the Ecotarium because it had outside things to do and inside things to do.

The Ecotarium is a learning center mainly focused on animals and the MA environment.

From their site:

Inside the museum
Exhibits - Three floors of interactive learning
Wildlife - Meet some of the animals in our care
Alden Planetarium - Stellar shows under simulated skies
Discovery Room - A place for preschoolers to play
Museum Store - Stocked with gifts, learning tools and toys
Hirsh Telecommunications Center - A great space for educating and entertaining

Outside the museum
Wildlife - A polar bear, bald eagles, foxes, owls, river otter and more
Interpretive Nature Trails - Woodlands, wetlands, and a beautiful meadow
Tree Canopy Walkway - Go out on a limb to explore the treetops (guided programs)
Explorer Express Train - A delightful tour of the grounds
Observatory - Housing one of the region's most powerful telescopes

It has a few lonely animals in cages outside (which made me sad more than anything) including bald eagles and polar bears.

I saw the bald eagles and my immediate thought was anger and then sadness. These poor things are all cooped up in an avarium that could never be even close to their habitat. Might as well put them in a closet.



Inside there are exhibits that help kids get in touch with things like animal tracks and their habitats. They have some stuffed African animals too.

The moment we stepped out of the car KD decided she was not into the trip and proceeded to cry through much of the exhibits! Poor baby, I don't get it. She started crying in the parking lot long before we even got close to any of the buildings.

What follows are pics of some of the happy moments :-).

Ferret exhibit in the Discovery Room - Q shows KD the ferrets.



A closer look



Crazy ferrets



Contemplating ferrets



Activities in the Discovery Room



In the gift shop - KD with a butterfly mask



Q with a polar bear mask



A lot of the stuff to do there is not appropriae for a toddler in the middle of an extended tantrum/ yucky mood. We will go back when she is over this phase!

At the end we bought a stuffed animal snake and that was the most appreciated thing about the day!
:: >