The Hamill Family Play Zoo is celebrating its 25th anniversary this June!
The Hamill Family Play Zoo is celebrating its 25th anniversary this June! The Play Zoo opened on June 14, 2001, inviting kids to let their imagination go wild with a space designed uniquely for them. Bright, winding gardens engage the senses. Costumes, art, and kid-sized areas help little zookeepers practice caring for animals. Surrounded by creatures, kids can deepen their connection to the natural world.
When the Play Zoo first opened, its creators hoped to get kids outdoors as access to computers and television increased. Built on conservation psychology pioneered by Dr. Carole Saunders at Brookfield Zoo Chicago, each area and activity inspires our youngest guests to care about nature through play. Today, this mission matters more than ever as screen time surges, and wildlife faces rising threats. By building lasting relationships with nature, our youngest guests become invested in a sustainable future for the world around them.
Hamill Family Play Zoo is designed to let kids direct how they play and connect with nature. But here are some ways they can get started:
Get closer to the earth in the play gardens
The Play Zoo’s perimeter is speckled with gardens that help a variety of ages get their hands in the dirt. Through grass, twigs, gravel, leaves, and clay, these gardens bring kids closer to the earth and make-believe worlds. Kids can dig in a sandbox, climb through tunnels, add to a miniature garden, experience a sensory garden, and more.
Go for a Bug Walk
Along the south side of the Play Zoo, a leafy, bug-eyed willow tunnel leads kids to a path lined with plants and insects. Pollinator flowers and native plants draw bees, birds, and butterflies. Herbs and other charismatic plants show kids how to use their noses in nature. They can pick up rocks and logs to spot bugs teeming in the dirt, or touch the leaves of plants like lamb’s ear. These tactile experiences help kids be curious about bugs and their ecosystems.
The Bug Walk also opens into the open backyard of the Play Zoo where you can stop by a chicken coop.
Pretend to work at the zoo
Kids can imagine themselves as a part of zoo operations with an Animal Hospital and Director’s Office. The hospital has a lab and examination room, complete with animal plushies, animal medical history on a computer database, and real animal x-rays for up-and-coming veterinarians to study closely. Little details educate kids on what it takes to keep animals healthy while letting them choose the cure, from hugs to medical procedures.
The Director’s Office helps kids look at the big picture: what makes a good home for the animals. Interactive maps and books teach little zoo directors about habitats and what animals around the world need. Kids can design their own zoo with spaces where animals can eat, drink, rest, and play. The Director’s Office also connects kids to Brookfield Zoo Chicago’s global conservation work, showing them where we make a difference on the map.
Visit Feathered Friends and Herp Homes
Lots of species call Hamill Family Play Zoo home! Kids can visit creatures that are close to their size throughout the Play Zoo, including birds and herps (or reptiles and amphibians). Spot a Dumeril’s boa, ball python, uromastyx, toucans, red-legged seriemas, and more in the north wing of the Play Zoo. Species are labeled with both official Zoo identification and kids’ drawings, giving Play Zoo guests a sense of ownership over the space!
Explore the creatures and tunnels of Zooscape Mountain
Zooscape Mountain is a tall rock structure that zigzags through the open entry of Hamill Family Play Zoo. Little grottoes and nooks and crannies have windows to species like a Brazilian salmon tarantula, an emperor scorpion, and Madagascar hissing cockroach.
A nearby Tot Spot designed for kids ages 2 and under gives the Zoo’s youngest guests a safe place to play separated from more active, older kids.
Care for plants in the Greenhouse
Some kids connect more with green things than wiggly animals. Hamill Family Play Zoo’s greenhouse gives kids a chance to learn how to care for and identify plants. Spray bottles for misting plants and child-height worktables help kids feel a part of the sunlit space.
Many of the plants in that kids cultivate in the Play Zoo’s greenhouse are used throughout the Zoo’s grounds and habitats!
Catch an Animal Ambassador
Keep an eye out for visiting Animal Ambassadors, such as bunnies or snakes! Kids can learn new facts about the ambassador from a volunteer and feel fur, scales, shells, and more, depending on the day.
Enjoy peace and quiet in the Sensory Room or out in nature at the Woody Knoll
Not everyone enjoys a noisy day in nature. The Zoo’s sensory room is inside the Play Zoo and offers a low-sensory environment where guests can take a break if they are overstimulated. The room has dimmable lights, a variety of fidgets, and comfortable seating.
If you prefer to find a quiet spot outside, the Woody Knoll is tucked back behind the Play Zoo across from the backyard. It’s surrounded by trees, creating a quiet nook with little paths and wooden structures.
These sensory-friendly spots represent the Hamill Family Play Zoo’s long history of supporting our Zoo for All initiative by expanding access and inclusion for our guests. For more sensory tools, grab a KultureCity sensory bag at North or South Gate ticketing.
See beehives up close (and safely).
Ever wanted to see the inside of a beehive? Now you can with two rescued and safely secured beehives inside the Play Zoo. Through clear panels, watch the hive care for the queen and make honey. The bees can come and go through the outside wall of the Play Zoo, gathering pollen from plants around the park and bringing it back to the hive.
After observing them up close, kids can pretend to be bees with costumes and a honeycomb play structure. A board of colorful hexagons helps kids envision their own hive while teaching them about the different cells and life stages of the bees.
Inspiring Conservation at the Hamill Family Play Zoo
The Hamill Family Play Zoo was designed by a range of experts, from Chicagoland kids to educators in environmental learning and childhood development. We collaborated with other zoos looking to create innovative childhood experiences in nature. Each Play Zoo area is informed by a wide variety of research, offering hands-on, personalized learning experiences for infants through age 10.
25 years later, the Play Zoo has created countless memories and inspired kids to continue connecting with nature beyond Brookfield Zoo Chicago’s grounds. This is how conservation leaders are born — hands in the dirt, eyes wide with curiosity.
