Garden opens May 4, 2024; included with general admission. H2Oh! water play area opens June 1, 2024. Our outdoor exhibit may temporarily close due to weather concerns to ensure the safety of our visitors.
Our Backyard is an interactive outdoor exhibition that invites visitors to create and answer questions about the natural environment using all their senses. Visitors to Our Backyard will be able to observe, make and understand the connections between plants, animals, weather, water, soil and themselves to gain a more personal appreciation for their world. The outdoor space includes a gravel pit, sand pit, picnic table, herb garden, flower ‘bed’, strawberries, sunflower house featuring flowers native to Long Island, evaporating art easels, and a permaculture vegetable garden.
New in 2024! A brand new working greenhouse, contained butterfly habitat to observe the butterfly life cycle, and hands-on mud kitchen. We suggest a change of clothes or saving this experience for the end of your visit.
What You Learn:
- Direct observation of natural forces
- Nature advocacy through exposure
- Seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, tasting
- Water flow/water play (summer season)
Make predictions and experiment in the H2Oh! section of Our Backyard.
Water play encourages the refinement of eye/hand coordination through pouring, squeezing, stirring and squirting.
Visitor Tip for Summer Fun
Stay dry… Save this gallery for last! Bring towels, bathing suits or a change of clothes. Note: H2Oh! water play re-opens June 1, 2024.
Host an Event
This space is seasonally available as a private rental.
Continue the Fun at Home
Go on a nature walk in your own neighborhood. Explore the outdoors using your senses. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell? What can you build or create using natural materials you find on your walk?
Take photographs of your favorite flora you discovered at the Museum. Can you find these plants out in your own neighborhood?
Inspiration
Richard Louv Last Child in the Woods