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, weather boat, herb garden, flower ‘bed’, strawberry maze, sunflower house, evaporating art easels, and vegetable garden. 

This space is also seasonally available as a private rental. What You Learn:

  • Direct observation of natural forces
  • Nature advocacy through exposure
  • Seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, tasting
  • Water flow/water play (summer season)
A child standing in the H2Oh! area using a pulley system to get water in a metal bucket from a small rock well.

Make predictions and experiment in the H2Oh! section of Our Backyard.

Two children wearing bathing suits in the H2Oh! area playing at the water table with metal buckets and plastic boats.

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.

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