We couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate Family Friday and the end of the Week of the Young Child than with a freakin’ fantastic family-friendly freebee (see what we did there)! Thanks to the generosity of the folks over at ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain we’re sending one lucky MiniBury family to ECHO for FREE!
Click through to learn more about what’s new at ECHO for young visitors and enter our GIVEAWAY contest. Contest runs from 4.15 – 4.18. We will announce a winner on 4.19, just in time for April Vacation. Giveaway is for four (4) one day passes. Good luck!
After years of planning and months of construction, ECHO opened Champ Lane. Designed especially for our youngest learners, those ages 0-6, Champ Lane offers science skills at their level. From playing in the water to “driving” the research vessel, then allotting the right foods to turtles in our mini animal care lab, kids will find the best fit for their own interests. Because Champ Lane is aimed at Vermont’s youngest learners, we thought it would be the perfect place to send one awesome MiniBury following family.
From playing in the water to “driving” the research vessel, then allotting the right foods to turtles in our mini animal care lab, kids will find the best fit for their own interests.
ECHO staffers have coined the term “science play” to help explain their philosophy – making the world accessible to young minds as they learn and providing chances to interact, engage, and learn in this beautiful storybook-come-to-life setting.
To ensure a rounded experience for kids, a set of standards were created, called CLIPS for short. They focus on communication, logical thinking, inquiry, persistence, and science identity – all vital pieces of development.
So what will you see in Champ Lane? Here are some of the incredible exhibit features:
Climbing – Treehouse, bridge, and slide to provide a feeling of risk-taking in a safe environment.
Streetscape – A café, market, home and puppet theater, boats, and more offer the chance for social interaction and practice of emerging skills.
Animal Care/lab – An introduction to animal husbandry through role playing and scientific inquiry.
Book Nook – This “quiet space” will offer tabletop activities, books, and more for a calmer atmosphere with problems waiting to be solved. (Includes a semi-private nursing station.)
Thanks to our partners in this project, including Let’s Grow Kids and exhibit testers from the King Street Center, Greater Burlington YMCA, Burlington Children’s Space, Gan Yeladim Preschool, and of course our members, we are proud of the sense of community that exists in Champ Lane.
To learn more visit ECHO’s blog and Meet Champ Lane, and don’t forget to tag us in your own photos as you check out the space – we love seeing and sharing them!