Lincoln Children's Zoo Review

We visited the Lincoln Children’s Zoo on a rainy day in 2017, as we stored up strength for the Omaha Zoo the following day. We have since returned in 2019 to see their new additions. This zoo is a bit smaller, and truly is built for kids. Every exhibit, and even the spaces between exhibits are designed with kids in mind. More than other zoos we’ve visited, they had a lot of animal structures for kids to climb on. They also have a “paper-eating lion” machine that talks to kids, and encourages them to pick up littered paper – this was the cleanest zoo I’ve seen! This zoo also has lots of shade, which is very nice being in the middle of Nebraska. The new additions were very well done, and really vaulted this zoo up on our list.

Highlights:

Kid-friendly – as mentioned above, this zoo has kids in mind. Tons of interaction opportunities with the animals, and things to run and climb on. The zoo is small, so just a little loop to walk around, and it’s perfect for toddlers.
Secret Jungle – this is probably the best designed indoor play area we’ve seen at a zoo. The building includes the spider monkey exhibit, as well as a large climbing area for kids. The climbing area includes ball pit balls, with tubes for kids to slide the balls into. These tubes connect back into the structure, or into a cloud-like machine near the ceiling. After a while, the lights flicker, and the cloud machine “rains” the balls down onto the kids. The building also has an ambassador animal area, where they rotate animals to be on display and interact with zoo guests.
The Hive – This is a small building with insects and lizards. The building is staffed with young interns, who rotate the animals to interact with guests. During our visit, 4 animals were out for interaction. This is very engaging for little kids.
Animal Kingdom building – This building has a lot of animals that you don’t normally get to see at zoos, such as tree kangaroos, bats, sloths, and naked mole rats. This isn’t necessarily a key attraction, but it’s very enjoyable to see these animals. The setting is done well with music and colorful animal paintings.

Lows:

Additional Staff – Areas with animal interactions were properly staffed for the event, such as the penguin feeding. However, the giraffe feeding really needs proper staffing. Not only were guests frightening the giraffes, one guest poked it with a stick.
Needs more for older kids – The new additions definitely chipped away at this. However, at its core I’d still say this zoo is designed for kids 10 and under. That’s not a problem – just something to take note of if travelling with adults or teenagers.

Click Here to read more about the Lincoln Children’s Zoo.