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Elmwood Park Zoo is DINO-mite!

Look out Norristown- a Brachiosaurus is headed your way!

Twenty six years after the release of the original Jurassic Park movie, and hundreds of millions of years since “terrible lizards” roamed the Earth yet few things capture our attention like dinosaurs. If this is true for adults then it is exponentially true for children! Now more than ever children are as intrigued by these beasts and it may be because everywhere we look we are given the opportunity to see realistic representations both on screen and in real life. (Except on Halloween, then we see those creatures everywhere!)

 

This summer we have a brand new chance to go back in time! Elmwood Park Zoo will debut their brand new dinosaur exhibit on Friday July 19. Their (moving!) Brachiosaurus stands 35 feet tall, and 65 feet long, and lives inside the new exhibit space near the carousel. Dino lovers will love the photo opps (who doesn’t love a prehistoric photo bomber??), dino dig, and other replicas. This exhibit is open to all zoo goers and is only temporary, so go now before this Brach is extinct (again!)!!

 

 

Elmwood Park is asking for your help in naming this new addition, vote here!!

 

Does your kiddo love dinos? Can’t get enough? Here are some more local spots they can satisfy their prehistoric predilections!

 

The Academy of Natural Sciences: Dinosaur Hall contains over 30 species that include skeletal mounts, dinosaur eggs, footprints, sculptures, tools, and more. Take a trip up the staircase to the surrounding gallery to become a paleontologist at The Big Dig, and even watch staff uncover real fossils brought back from digs around the country! Currently you’re in for an even bigger treat when you check out their Dinosaurs Around The World exhibit, read about it on Philly Family.

 

North Museum: This Lancaster museum of science has a Paleontology department that features thousands of local and international Paleozoic fossil specimens. One of their most prized possessions is a fossil found locally that is one of a kind, a Sphodrosaurus pennsylvanicus. 

 

Dutch Wonderland: Exploration Island is home to life size dinosaurs that you can check out while strolling down Prehistoric Path, plus a Dino Dig, and a Gondola ride around the island!

 

The State Museum of PA: A little further away, but still doable for a day trip, this Harrisburg museum contains history, science, and more! Their dinosaur exhibit is called Life Through Time and contains the Marshalls Creek Mastodon, one of the most complete specimens of its kind in North America. 

 

Jurassic Quest: This traveling exhibit makes its rounds at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center typically every winter. There are rides, exhibits, and the largest dinosaurs ever found on Earth with more than 80 showcased. Fossil digs, dinosaur rides, science stations and more make this one fun filled day! Travelling this summer? Perhaps you’ll cross paths with the Quest!

 

Photo and video courtesy of Elmwood Park Zoo.

Content Director, Main Line Parent & Philadelphia Family. Email me at pamela@familyfocus.org

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