June 13, 2023 — The Westchester County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation recently received the Matt M. Dolan Innovative Program Award and Grant from the Westchester Recreation and Park Society, Inc. (WRAPS) for the Dinosaur Garden exhibit at Lasdon Park and Arboretum in Somers.
Westchester County Executive George Latimer said: “We are excited that Lasdon Park and Arboretum has been acknowledged by an extremely respected organization that pays tribute to people and organizations for their contributions to parks and recreation in Westchester County. The Dinosaur Garden continues to be an entertaining and wonderful learning experience for children. This a testament to the commitment and dedication that has gone into making Lasdon Park and Arboretum a true gem for the community.”
Westchester County Parks Commissioner Kathleen O’Connor said, “We are thrilled to be the recipient of this coveted award and generous grant from the Society. To receive such recognition is a tribute to the hard work of our enthusiastic Parks staff. This is quite an honor and incredible source of pride for us all.”
One of Lasdon’s most popular exhibits, is the walk-through Dinosaur Garden, which was created to encourage children to enjoy nature through a fun yet educational interactive experience. Life-like statues of dinosaurs were placed throughout the garden pathway along with prehistoric vegetation such as Ferns, Ginkgo Trees, Monkey Puzzle Trees and Umbrella Pines.
To bring the prehistoric exhibit into the modern era, a free-to-download app for cell phones, ZAPPAR, allowed the user to scan exhibit signs and retrieve fun and interesting facts about dinosaurs as they journeyed through the garden. Visitors learned about how large dinosaurs were, what they ate, how they hatched from eggs, how dinosaur fossils formed and about how Paleontologists study dinosaurs. Children were excited to meet and interact with our very own dinosaur character, Lexi, who was created to add an additional layer of interest for the kids. At the end of the walk, children were able to take a virtual photograph with Lexi as a keepsake.
A satellite program that included hands-on activities was coordinated with the Dinosaur Garden and run seasonally reinforcing the lessons learned. Children were given an official Lasdon Dino-a-Day Activity Bag filled with tasks. They colored hatched pet dinosaurs, prepared Paleo-pouches, completed crossword puzzles, created and dug for fossils, dug for fossils, compared their footprints to those of different dinosaurs, made dinosaur masks and pretended to be dinosaurs. Once the activity bag was completed, each child received a certificate stating that they were an, “Official Lasdon Dinosaur Garden Paleontologist!”