Lincoln Park Zoo

Some things must be experienced to be fully appreciated: Hearing a symphony orchestra perform Beethoven. Flying a kite on a breezy spring day. Skipping a rock across the glassy surface of a lake.

Walking in the woods.

“Reading about nature is fine,” observed George Washington Carver, “but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books…”

The Pritzker Family Children’s Zoo presents the possibility of that experience to people of all ages, but most especially to children.

Animals and children go together like sun and shine. A natural combination. That’s why a visit to the North American exhibit is guaranteed to bring a smile to every child’s face. It is designed to make kids feel “At Home in the Woods,” where many of them will encounter wolves, bears, otters, beavers and some species of snakes, turtles, insects and birds for the first time. What they will discover is that animals enrich our lives and the planet we share.

Any day of the year a child can now visit a woods rustling with wildlife. And when she does so, she can do as George Washington Carver suggested: Walk, listen and learn. With a smile.