COMING SOON!
The young and young at heart can enjoy an entirely new outdoor play experience!
Bask in the sunshine surrounded by ponderosa pine trees in the outdoor playscape at the Museum! The area engages children’s playful side while encouraging them to learn about the lifecycle of a ponderosa pine tree. At every stage of the tree’s life — from cone to seed to adult — it plays an important role in the forest’s ecosystem. Even after the tree’s death, the pine tree remains in the forest as a snag or log and provides critical habitat for plants and animals.
Evoking a “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” feel for visitors, the playscape’s central feature is a Pinecone Portal, a pinecone large enough for an adult to walk through carved by Sisters artist J. Chester Armstrong. Armstrong also carved a dozen different forest creatures into another feature, the Discovery Snag. Twelve-foot pine needle bundles, a life-sized log jumble and a seed pod stage invite visitors to explore, climb, learn and play at every corner of this macro-sized ponderosa pine adventure!
The Ponderosa Playscape replaces the Dig, Crawl, Climb area and is the first significant renovation project at the Museum since the update of the Autzen Otter Exhibit in 2016. It’s located near the former Dig, Crawl, Climb location above the Autzen Otter Exhibit.
Playscape Party on Saturday, April 19
Join us on Saturday, April 19 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm as we mark the opening of the E. L. Wiegand Ponderosa Playscape! Grab your friends and let’s celebrate this fun, whimsical new addition to the Museum with special treats and pet pinecone making art projects! This event is free with admission.
The playscape is made possible by
