Summer Programs Being Offered at Dinosaur State Park

is helping provide parents with something for their children to do this summer that is both fun and educational.

The Rocky Hill tourist destination is part of a consortium this summer with three other dinosaur attractions including Connecticut Science Center, Yale Peabody Museum and Nature's Art: The Dinosaur Place. By going to the following link, residents can learn what dinosaur-themed programs are being offered each day in Connecticut.

Each day, Dinosaur State Park will offer the following activities:

• Daily films
• Animal programs
• Track talks
• Guided nature walks (2.5 miles of trails with a picnic area for families)

Track casting is available for children, however visitors are asked to bring their own materials, which are 10 pounds of plaster-of-Paris and a 1/4 cup of cooking oil, for the activity. Mining areas are also open each day for an additional fee.

Every Wednesday, children can do a craft for no extra charge from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The staff at Dinosaur State Park is going through the bid process to receive funding to renovate its discovery room, according to Director Margaret Enkler in an email this week. Once the bid is issued, a vendor will be chosen and the new room should be "installed sometime this winter," she added.

The will be used for the following items:

• Display hundreds of specimens by using pullout drawers to address space issues. Many of the specimens were in storage and all of them could not be displayed at the same time.
• Remove stationary table and replace it with a rolling one
• Increase seating (small table for younger children, bench seating for parents and round tables instead of the rectangle ones that are in the room now)
• Specialty lighted displays and better ability to view animals easier and safer
• Make the space more handicapped accessible.
• Replace carpeting with one that has dinosaur footprints on it

"Pretty much everything will be renovated. The room will have a whole new look. It will be much more interactive, much more modern and much more space," Enkler has previously told Patch.

All summer programs, unless otherwise noted, are included with your admission. Adults (13 and up) are $6, youth (6-12) are $2 and children under 6 are free. The park accepts MasterCard, Visa and Discover.  

Discovered in 1966 and opened to the public two years later, Dinosaur State Park is one of the largest dinosaur track sites in North America. The park and museum were built after the discovery of 2,000 early Jurassic dinosaur footprints. More than 50,000 people visit the park each year.

For more information about Dinosaur State Park, call the park at 860-529-5816 or visit the website.

Enjoy reading Patch? Show us some love! Follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook.