Exhibit Descriptions

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The Tree Houses

Explore two accessible indoor tree houses and look for signs of the animals that call a tree home. The wobbly bridge connecting the two houses is a preschooler favorite. (Flexible layout: ramps and stairs can be configured many different ways).

The ramps and stairs can be configured for many different layouts.

Animal Signs

Become an animal tracker! Hunt for signs left by raccoon, woodpecker, bear and other tree dwellers: touchable models of footprints, scat and claw scratches.

Animal Mounts

Find some animals that might surprise you in the branches above: a pine marten, porcupine and wood duck are up there with a pileated woodpecker. Peer into a periscope to get face-to-face with a flying squirrel taking off on a long glide.

Crow’s Nest

Scramble into the Crow's Nest to get closer to the animals above. Look into a periscope for a glimpse of a skunk hibernating among the roots.

Lazy Susan Diorama

Peer into a hollow tree trunk model and see who moves into an old woodpecker's nest over the years: a screech owl, a black rat snake and a silver-haired bat.

Forest-Sound Dance Floor

Wave your hands or move your feet to create a symphony of forest sounds: bear grunts, woodpecker taps, turkey gobbles and more!

Stereoscopic Viewers

Stereo viewers show astonishing 3-D photos of the smaller life hidden in trees: spiders, insects, and tree frogs.

 

The Kitchen and Gallery

Learn about sustainable logging and use of trees in our homes. View real and imagined tree houses and then design your own tree house.

Morphing Kitchen

Do you live in a tree house? You might! The morphing kitchen shows you how the walls and kitchen chair are turning back into lumber and trees

Kitchen Drawers

Explore the kitchen drawers and decide: do you eat trees? Drink trees? You might be surprised: many fruits, nuts, and spices, even chocolate come from trees.

Turn a Tree into a House

Scroll through a film showing trees being cut down, turned into lumber and built into a house — then go backwards and turn the house back into the forest! Try it fast, or frame-by-frame.

Be A Forester

Play a touch screen game to fill your lumber truck with trees, while keeping the forest healthy and safe for the animals that live there.

Tree House Gallery Showcase

Find your favorite tree house characters: Winnie the Pooh and Owl, Swiss Family Robinson, the Ewoks, even Bart Simpson in his "Tree House of Horror."

Gallery Photos

Gallery photos show how tree houses are reaching new heights. The childhood scrap lumber tree fort has been joined by tropical eco-resorts and wheel-chair accessible tree houses built for a whole community to enjoy.

Build Your Own Tree House

Kids of all ages can build a small tree house! Keep it simple or make it as crazy as can be, using traditional wooden building sticks.