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Audubon Greenwich’s Hilfiger Learning Center Reopens

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Tommy Hilfiger and Michelle Frankel cut ribbon at Audubon Greenwich’s Grand Reopening of its Hilfiger Children’s Learning Center.
Tommy Hilfiger and Michelle Frankel cut ribbon at Audubon Greenwich’s Grand Reopening of its Hilfiger Children’s Learning Center.

Audubon Greenwich celebrated the Grand Reopening of its Hilfiger Children’s Learning Center Jan. 8, including a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Tommy Hilfiger and his son Sebastian. Over two hundred visitors enjoyed a live animal show with Curious Creatures, storytelling, nature crafts, live music with Whitby school’s music teacher, Mr. Vinny, and a variety of other activities. Audubon Senior Naturalist Ted Gilman helped families observe winter bird behavior from the warmth of the Center’s large bird-viewing window, then learn how to enter their observations into a web-based citizen science database, Project Feederwatch. Students from Whitby School volunteered for the afternoon, helping younger children create animal figures using twigs, leaves and other items from nature.

The Hilfiger Children’s Learning Center, a wing of the Kimberlin Nature Education Center building on its main sanctuary at 613 Riversville Rd., is an engaging, hands-on indoor learning space that enables children and their families to learn about the wildlife and habitats that they can discover on the 285-acre sanctuary. The Learning Center was named for the Hilfiger Family when the Kimberlin Nature Education Center building opened in 2002, replacing the original nature center building that was located in a historic barn that is on the property. The Hilfiger Family Foundation contributed generously to the capital campaign.

“My family has been involved with the Audubon Center in Greenwich for many years, and the entire family continues to enjoy the lifelong connection to nature,” says Tommy Hilfiger. “The Hilfiger Children’s Learning Center is an inviting place to bring the family, where children can explore, discover, and have up-close encounters with animals.”

Hilfiger-Childrens-Learning-CenterAudubon refurbished the Learning Center as a result of a flood that took place three years ago. The new design of includes an inviting space for parents to relax while their children play, with comfortable sofas, coffee and fresh pastries available on weekends. “Our goal with this refurbishment is to make the Hilfiger Children’s Learning Center a regular meet up spot for parents and their children,” says Audubon Greenwich Director, Michelle Frankel. “The new exhibits and live animal displays are even more hands-on and designed to really spark children’s natural sense of wonder.”

Among the new exhibits is the Climbing Island where children crawl and climb through a forest scene—complete with native plants and sculpted animals—to get an up close view of the live animals housed within, including Eastern Box Turtle, Wood Frog, and a Black Rat Snake. Another new exhibit, “In Your Own Backyard,” invites children to transform a magnetic illustration of a typical sterile backyard into a healthy habitat for birds and other wildlife by adding birds and native plants, showing visitors the connections between what you plant and what can thrive in your yard. Nearby is more adult-oriented information on how to create a bird-friendly yard.

The Hilfiger Children’s Learning Center is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The trails are open 7 days a week from dawn to dusk.

For more information, please contact Michelle Frankel at 203-930-1350 or mfrankel@audubon.org.

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