First of all, we are extremely grateful to the voters of Lucas County, who approved the Zoo’s Capital Levy request in 2006. In doing so, they have provided us with a great opportunity to reinvent our current Children’s Zoo. We can now create a year-round facility that connects children with nature and provide meaningful educational experiences, using our current understanding of how children learn most effectively.

Studies show that young children learn best through play-based activity. Throughout Nature's Neighborhood, children will have an opportunity to use open-ended play to imagine what it’s like to be an animal. In doing so, we’re confident that they’ll make a connection to the natural world that they wouldn’t receive through traditional academic models.

Even with all the emphasis on play, though, this is far more than just a playground. Nature's Neighborhood will also allow children to encounter, and in many cases interact, with dozens of species of animals, both familiar and exotic. Visitors can expect to see not only the goats, raptors and guinea pigs that have been so popular in our current Children’s Zoo, but also exotic birds, turtles and much more. And they’ll be given a unique perspective on these animals through the sort of innovative exhibits you’ve come to expect from your Toledo Zoo.

When Nature's Neighborhood opens in 2009, children and their families will find a whole new way to be inspired to consider and care for animals and the world they inhabit.