Habitat Park

The great outdoors opens up to Museum visitors in our 2-acre nature park and landscaped children’s exhibit area.

Things to Do: 
  • Use your senses or sight, touch, hearing, and smell to examine characteristics of various plants in our sensory garden.
  • Wander through winding paths to explore a 9-piece interactive sculpture collection.
  • Roll down the gentle berms.
  • Go underground through a giant tunnel.
  • Find your way through the prairie grass maze.
  • Pretend to live in a natural dwelling in the imagination hut.
  • Watch for birds and small animals that may live in the natural area.
  • Search for pine cones, flowers, and colored leaves.
  • Go on a bug hunt to find ants, worms, or insects that may live in the park.
  • Observe natural energy being collected through a wind turbine and solar panel.
  • Peer through special binoculars to see how they change your view of the park.
  • Weave fabric strips through the slats on the fence.*
  • Discover how animals move using special climbing and spinning structures.*
  • Paint designs with water on slate walls and watch them evaporate.*

* These activities will not be available from late fall to early spring.

Please note that Habitat Park is a weather-dependent exhibit. For safety reasons, all or part of the exhibit will close when the heat index is above 90º F, the wind chill is below 20º F, ground conditions are wet, or after dusk.

Learning Outcomes: 
  • Explore a compelling, innovative yet simple outdoor natural environment.
  • Experience colors, textures, scents, sounds and properties of nature.
  • Learn the importance of caring and respecting the environment.
  • Discover that man-made and recycled materials can help preserve natural resources.

Underwritten by the Diana M. and Bruce V. Rauner Family. Sculpture Trail given by the Shaw Family in memory of Charles H. Shaw. Additional support provided by the Public Museum Capital Grants Program, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Illinois State Museum; the Institute of Museum and Library Services; the Souder Family Foundation; Anonymous; Tom and Louise Flickinger & the Edward E. and Marie L. Matthews Foundation; Anderson Pest Solutions; and the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation.

Activities in Habitat Park

  • Small Talk: Solar Power
    Monday, July 19, 2010 - Sunday, August 1, 2010

    Children will discover that the sun’s heat and light produce solar energy which can be used to power objects that we use in our daily lives.

  • Habitat Park Activity: Objects in Motion
    Monday, August 2, 2010 - Saturday, August 21, 2010

    What can you kick? Where will it go? See how different objects move as you kick them around Habitat Park.

  • Small Talk: Plants
    Monday, August 2, 2010 - Sunday, August 15, 2010

    Join us in Habitat Park to learn about what plants need to survive outdoors. Explore the different types of plants in our Sensory Garden.

  • Small Talk: Observational Flower Drawings
    Monday, August 16, 2010 - Sunday, August 29, 2010

    Use your observation skills to discover and draw the details of flowers in Habitat Park.

  • Habitat Park Activity: Zig Zag
    Monday, August 23, 2010 - Saturday, September 18, 2010

    Keep on moving! Skip, jog, leap, hop, and walk your way through designated paths in Habitat Park.

  • Small Talk: Cloud Gazing
    Monday, August 30, 2010 - Sunday, September 19, 2010

    Look up in the sky, what do you see? Come learn about different types of clouds and go on a cloud gazing adventure.

  • Habitat Park Activity: Charades
    Monday, September 20, 2010 - Saturday, October 2, 2010

    Use your body to act out different activities, such as such as brushing your teeth or eating ice cream.

  • Small Talk: Wind Power
    Tuesday, September 21, 2010 - Sunday, October 3, 2010

    Use pinwheels and pocket kites to explore the force of wind and learn about the wind turbine located in Habitat Park.