Crown Family Playlab

Illinois Woodland

Whether you live in a city, suburb, or rural community, at the Crown Family PlayLab you can step into a giant diorama to explore an Illinois Woodland.

Have you ever wanted to step behind the glass into one of those beautiful museum dioramas? Now you can! This Illinois Woodland is created with all the artistry and care that has for decades gone into the nature dioramas in our main exhibition halls. An original mural, mounted specimens, and a recreated oak tree—so detailed that it looks real—set the scene for what a northern Illinois forest might have looked like 300 years ago, before many people began living in the area.

What can you do?
	Try on a bat, skunk, cardinal, owl, turtle, or coyote costume and become part of the scene.
	Hear an owl hoot, a coyote howl, a cardinal chirp, and listen to other sounds of the day and night.
	Crawl through a hollow log.
	Find all the animals hiding and the wildflowers growing in the forest mural.

What can you discover? Animals that hunt at night are called nocturnal (nok-TURN-al) animals, and animals that are active during the day are called diurnal (die-URN-al) animals. As you explore the Illinois woodland, you might discover:
	Why animals like squirrels and chipmunks are colored so that other animals will have a hard time seeing them.
	How bats hunt at night and where they go during the day.
	Where animals might find shelter in a forest.

Want to see more at The Field Museum?
After leaving the Crown Family PlayLab, you can explore the Nature Walk or What is an Animal? exhibitions on the main floor and find other animals in their habitats.

Have more fun at home
You might not find a forest exactly like this today, but you can see these plants and animals when you walk in the woods. The next time you go outside, look closely at the plants and animals in your back yard, or a nearby park or woodland. What can you discover about how animals stay safe and find food in their habitats?

Exploration Interactive
Woodland Hide-and-Seek Find the animals hidden in the forest and hear the sounds they make.

To access the above features, you will need the Macromedia Flash Player 9 plug-in for your browser. Earlier versions will not function correctly.

Continue to Pueblo. >>