KidZooU – Philadelphia’s New “Zoo Within a Zoo”

(America’s first zoo) is an unforgettable adventure of wildlife trails and places to mingle with exotic species of all types. The innovative Great Ape Trail and TreeTop Trail enable primates to travel and explore via a system of elevated passageways and lookouts situated among the treetops, providing a safe yet interactive experience for visitors and animals to encounter one another from a new perspective.

There is also an extensive variety of animal exhibits, and engaging attractions such as the Amazon Rainforest Carousel, Channel 6 Zooballoon Balloon Rides, Camel Safari, Pony Rides, Swan Boats and the PZ Express train.

Philadelphia’s KidZooU

Now, Philadelphia Zoo has added to their list of exciting attractions The KidZooUKidZooU, Hamilton Family Children’s Zoo and Faris Family Education Center, which offers year-round educational and recreational programming for children of all ages from toddlers to tweens.

The new KidZooU 2.5-acre wildlife academy merges a world-view education center with an up-close and personal children’s zoo, providing an indoor and outdoor experience with dynamic displays, opportunities for hands-on learning, rare and unusual goats, sheep, chickens, and ducks, and much more. According to the KidZooU website, the center is “aimed at nurturing curiosity and sharing ways in which we can all protect wildlife in our everyday lives, here at home and around the world.”

Here are some of the exciting exhibits and programs available at KidZooU:

Indoor Exhibits

• Butterfly Habitat – a glass-enclosed butterfly exhibit housing different species of butterflies in a habitat that mimics their native wild tropical forests.
• Budgies and Recycling – a very active and colorful flock of budgies (parakeet) at the Australian Outback budgie exhibit. (Find out how you can help save them by recycling!)
• Marine Fish and Saving Electricity – a challenge to find your home’s electricity wasters in this innovative interactive exhibit. Learn how saving energy at home and in your daily life helps fish in the sea.
• Animal Action Lab – a mini-lesson on how you can “Save Energy to Save Wildlife”.
• Domestic Rats –  a rat gymnasium!
• Ants – the ants go marching through naturalistic tunnel system, forage for food and carry food back to underground chambers.
• Amazing Insects – surprising creatures from all over the planet, including giant walking sticks, exotic flower mantises, jewel beetles, water bugs, and more.
• Tiny Tot Barn – a special space devoted to toddlers ages 1-3 and their caregivers.
• Wildlife Workshop – get your hands messy doing things for animals!

Outdoor Exhibits

• Goat Bridge and Tower –  children can climb ramps parallel to sure-footed goats, learning about balance and the unique ability of rare breed goats.
• Pigeon Loft – discover surprising things about this under-appreciated species. These are not your everyday pigeons!
• Duck Pond – a delightful opportunity to feed the ducks.
• Rare Breeds – learn about rare breeds of endangered farm animals, (sheep, goats and chickens to name a few).
• The Barnyard – grab a brush and visit the contact yard to have an up-close encounter with gentle goats and sheep.
• Chicken Coops – explore the amazing diversity found in chickens.
• Rare Breeds Nursery – viewing area for goat kids and sheep lambs born at the KidZooU.

These are just some of the fun and interactive activities for the kids at KidZooU – there’s so much more to experience here. And if you run out of time to do it all in one day, you can even spend the night! That’s right… Zoo overnights are a great way to see the animals in “nocturnal mode”. But be sure to make your reservations early, as space is limited and fill up quickly.

For a full list of attractions, prices, hours of operation and anything else you want to know about spending a day at the zoo, visit the Philadelphia Zoo Website.

Philadelphia Transportation to KidZooU at Philadelphia Zoo

If you want to make your child’s trip to the Philadelphia Zoo a special memory to last a lifetime, consider a Philadelphia car, limousine or van service to transport your family to and from KidZooU. Not only will it make your child’s day unforgettable, but for parents the trip can be so much more enjoyable when you don’t have to simultaneously juggle the navigation of heavy traffic with the monitoring of children in the back seat, (all you parents out there know exactly what we’re talking about!)

If you’re visiting the Philadelphia area while the kids are on break from the school year, you and your children can enjoy some quality time during the trip by leaving the driving responsibility to an experienced hired driver who’s familiar with the area’s attractions, Philly streets and best travel routes to get wherever you want to go.

Check out how easy it is to get an a chauffeured Philadelphia car, SUV or van service to take over the driving duties and give Mom and/or Dad a break!

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