KIds Trails in Fairfield Connecticut include zoos, aquariums, & more

Beardsley Zoo

1875 Noble Ave. Bridgeport, CT 06610 Phone: 203-394-6565

This zoo exhibits hundreds of animals, from tigers to monkeys and everything in between. Habitats for children to explore include a South American rainforest and a New England farmyard. For quite time, there is a picnic grove, carousel, Victorian greenhouse, and café. Summer programs include Animal Tales and A Day at the Ocean.

Discovery Museum

4450 Park Avenue Bridgeport, CT 06604 Phone: 203-372-3521

Open: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, noon-5 p.m.; open Mondays in July and August. Closed major holidays.

An interactive science museum with hands-on displays, changing exhibits, gift shop, and food court. Challenger Learning Center features computer-simulated space missions. A planetarium and CineMuse Hi-Definition Theater both with daily shows. Children will find themselves getting excited about science with help from this museum’s physical science exhibits, planetarium programs, and Challenger Learning Center. Programs for kids cover topics like space travel, robotics, and ocean exploration. Admission: Adults, $8.50; seniors and children, $7; extra fee for Challenger missions.

Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk

10 North Water St. Norwalk, CT 06854 Phone: 203-852-0700

Kids and parents can visit nose-to-nose with sharks, seals, river otters, wrinkly sea turtles, and stinging jellyfish. Educational public cruises, changing exhibits, a working boat shop, hands-on touch tanks, toddler play area, and an IMAX movie theater with a screen that’s six stories tall make this a place of seafaring adventure.

Stamford Museum & Nature Center

39 Scofieldtown Road Stamford, CT 06903 Phone: 203-322-1646

This museum offers something for almost all kids, from helping farmers care for the animals on Heckscher Farm to star shows in the planetarium. Hands-on farming activities include animal grooming, gardening, and aquaculture. Children can attend planetarium shows and look through telescopes at the observatory. Check for seasonal changes in hours and programs.

Stepping Stones Museum for Children

303 West Ave. Norwalk, CT 06850 Phone: 203-899-0606

With five galleries (one for toddlers only) and scores of activities, this museum offers fun and discovery for children ages 10 and younger. Among other adventures, kids may build a racecar, talk through the Message Tube, fly a simulated helicopter, submerge in a submarine, explore a gorilla’s nest, and learn the dynamics of the water cycle.

The Barnum Museum

820 Main St. Bridgeport, CT 06604 Phone: 203-331-1104

The museum’s core exhibits include Baby Bridgeport, a mounted elephant born in 1882; a three-quarter-inch scale model of a circus with more than 3,000 miniatures; an exhibit about Barnum’s protégé, General Tom Thumb; an Egyptian mummy, and exhibits on 19th-century Connecticut life. Gift shop sells circus books, posters, prints, and toys.