A couple of weeks ago, Kieran and I decided to try something new. Instead of heading into the main zoo at Central Park, we opted for the children’s zoo right next door. We moved here last August, and I honestly have no excuse for not checking it out until now. In fact, my husband told me after the fact that he was convinced I would never get there. The admission is included in our annual membership, but for some reason, it never occurred to me until we were on our way to someplace else. Upon entry, I decided to let Kieran lead the way. First stop, pig-nosed turtles. Or should I say, turtle. A bit of a slow start, but there was tons of fun for Kieran to be had once we passed through the large plastic curtains.
We made our way inside, crossed over a little bridge and came to a fake log “tunnel” that was perfect for crawling. From there, it was the bunny statue, where your kid is the star. Walking a little further, we came to the farm animals. Kieran wanted to feed them, in theory. She was afraid of having them eat out of her hand, so she opted for throwing the pellet-type food at or near them. There was a cow, goats, and sheep that would eat out of your hands if you let them. There were also a couple of pigs Kieran could throw the food at. She had a great time and thought it was quite hilarious to throw the food over the fence, and thus keeping her hands a safe distance from their mouths.
In the feeding area, they also had a web-crawler, in the more literal sense. This rope structure was fun at first, but with much larger kids on it she decided to get off. It’s too bad, as she usually loves those structures—just not with 10-year-olds on it!
We were lucky enough to watch the ducks being fed as we were leaving. The zookeeper showed us the bowl of cut up fish and shrimp she was feeding them from one bucket, and the live mealworms she was feeding them from another. Lucky me, Kieran reached right into the bucket of worms, grabbed one without fear, and tossed it in the water for the ducks! I even captured that moment on video. She also had fun leaping from lily pad to lily pad over the stream. This was a great experience for us and we can’t wait to go again! Expect to spend no more than 2 hours there, depending on how long you feed the animals. Whether you are visiting or live in the city, it is an experience not to be missed for the under 10 crowd.
Visit http://www.centralpark.com/pages/attractions/children-s-zoo.html for more info.
Kieran visiting a sheep at the Tisch Children’s Zoo
thatsITmommy friends, Heather & Kieran
1 comment
I’ll have to visit the Children’s Zoo on my next NYC visit. Thanks for sharing!