Now that Massachusetts is starting to open back up, I’ve been jumping at any safe activity I can do with my kids that’s outside of our own backyard. We took Wyatt and Reese to Franklin Park Zoo in Boston this week & it was so great to have a change of scenery in a way we felt comfortable with: outdoors, distance, masks & plenty of sanitation.
Both Zoo New England locations, the Franklin Park Zoo & Stone Zoo reopened to the general public this month with new protocols in place to ensure visitors are able to stay safe, and we were certainly impressed with the execution.
Reservations are mandatory, which meant that when we showed up for ours at 10am, not only did we get in without having to wait in line, but there was a contactless system where our tickets were just scanned through a partition & we were on our way!
Upon entering the zoo, safety measures were clearly laid out & easy to follow. People inside, both employees & patrons, were definitely being respectful of them. For those wanting to venture out into the world with kids, but are unsure of how that might look, here are some of the measures that the zoo has in place that I felt made our outing safe:
- Timed-ticketing reservations and reduced capacity. You have to buy timed tickets online in advance. We never felt like we had to get close to anyone at any time, there was plenty of space everywhere we went, both when stopping to look at animals and on walkways.
- Required mask wearing. Everyone over the age of two is required to wear a mask. People were absolutely respectful of this rule, children included, Wyatt (3) was actually surprisingly compliant even in the 85 degree heat.
- Marked one-way paths. Most of the zoo was a series of one-way paths that weaved throughout the exhibits to cut down on traffic & to keep the flow moving. The one-way loop was actually a nice way to see the zoo without having to know where you were going.
- 6 foot markers. Where there might have been a congregation of people, 6 foot markers were on the ground so distance could be kept.
- Hand sanitizer. There was hand sanitizer EVERYWHERE, and in thoughtful places, like where you might touch a door handle or outside of the playground.
As a mom, I’ve been desperate for activities that are different from what we’ve been doing for the past few months in quarantine. A trip to the zoo was a breath of fresh air, even if it was through a mask! If you’ve been to the zoo before, a visit now will certainly look different, not every exhibit is open and you aren’t encouraged to go off the laid out loop, but the added level of safety & cleanliness measures in place definitely got my stamp of approval for a pandemic field-trip out! Some of our favorite animals we saw were the giraffes (mom), zebras (Reese), prairie dogs (dad), and lions & tigers (Wyatt)…and Wyatt being the 3-year old he is, was obsessed with the huge playground as well!
This was one of the first times really taking both kids “out” somewhere & it went surprisingly well! And I have to say, it was refreshing to see other parents all in the same boat being super respectful of each other and their boundaries as well. I had a moment when negotiating with Wyatt to keep his mask on where I caught the eye of another mom who just nodded as if to say, “I feel you.” It was nice to get back into the world (safely) around strangers…parents, moms, children, any people that weren’t the ones in my bubble for the past few months, a nice change of pace with a day at the zoo.
This post was created in paid partnership with Zoo New England. All content & views are my own. Thank you to Zoo New England for sponsoring this post.
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