Life's a Journey, not a Guided Tour: The Wildlife Experience~

I really wanted Katelyn to have a new experience before school started. On my list of "things to do with my girl", which I update seasonally, was taking a trip to "The Wildlife Experience" down in Parker. Not just around the corner, mind you, but close to where Shelbey lives so we invited her & Sean to join us on Aug. 10th.

I've said it before, but it bares repeating: if you're lucky enough to be raising a family in Colorado, count your blessings. There is a never-ending list of family-friendly things to do in our state & now at the top of mine is The Wildlife Experience. SO worth the hour+ drive to Parker, if you haven't taken your children yet, you must put it on your list. Check out their website at: www.thewildlifeexperience.org.

One of the coolest educational exhibits I have ever encountered at any museum is at The Wildlife Experience. "Globeology" is the 1st live-action 3D exhibit in our country. You wind around a 1/4 mile path that leads you from "biome" to biome. "Biome" was a new term to this teacher, I had always referred to them as "habitats", but hey you learn something new everyday! There are 8 featured biomes: rainforest, tundra, savanna, temperate forest, Asian highlands, coral reef, desert, & wild Colorado. Each biome features state-of-the-art animatronics(and I'm not exaggerating:STATE-OF-THE-ART), interactive touch screens with biome-specific facts and trivia games, and 3D movie screens that show real animals living in their biome-feels SO real that you try to reach out and touch them!! Nothing I write here, nor will the pictures I post, adequately describe this exhibit-you'll just have to go see it for yourself!!

We also toured a temporary exhibit at the museum (through January) called "Crittercam". Crittercam is on loan from the National Geographic Society's scientific field research department. Crittercam(s) are video & data-gathering cameras worn by animals in the wild. So you actually get to "experience the world from the animal's point of view." VERY cool!!

The museum has a wonderful cafe that is the most reasonably priced I have found-Katelyn & I ate a delicious lunch for under $10-much less than the zoo etc. We also saw "Wild Ocean" on the museum's "extreme screen"(similar to an IMAX). There is so much to do at the museum, we maybe saw 1/2 of it and were there from 9-3:30. Trust me, your kids won't be bored!!

Shelbey, Sean, & Katelyn~

The grounds at the museum are absolutely gorgeous. Featuring a "wildlife walk" and beautiful bronze statues, you can meander around the path on a nice day & really enjoy yourself.

There are 2 areas for children to experience interactive play. The "Discovery Den" is geared towards kids 6-12 & the "Cubs Corner" is for kids 5 and under. Here Katelyn is pretending to be a crocodile in the "Den". (We took in a storytime at the "Cub's Corner" & she liked it just as well.)

Crittercam~

Demonstrating how Crittercam would be worn by a sea turtle~

These 2 animatronic chaps are African tribesman found in the "savanna" biome. Using the interactive touchscreen, you decide what kind of information you want to know about their life on the savanna & then they repond.