Just one more weekend of Halloween inspired fun left this month! As one of my favorite times of the year, this makes me a little sad, but there is still time to create your own Halloween themed everyday adventure!
If you are looking for something in the Indianapolis area, check out ZooBoo at the Indianapolis Zoo. When the kids were younger, I always had a family membership to the zoo. It was a great option for a fun morning or afternoon with the kids. Even if the weather isn’t the best, some of the most interesting exhibits at the zoo (pet a shark anyone?) are indoors, so it is definitely a year-round option.
One event we got to every year was ZooBoo. The kids loved the trick-or-treating, I loved being outside and we all loved watching the animals.
However, as sports started taking over our lives, we have missed the last few years of ZooBoo. Each year, I’d try to fit in a visit and it just didn’t happen. This year we finally made it back!
I couldn’t believe how much ZooBoo has grown in the past few years. The old standbys were there – the pumpkin bowling, trick or treating on the plains and the carousel riding backward, but we also found some fun new additions.
Check out the mirror maze – I loved that the employee working held each group back a bit so we weren’t just following the person in front of us. Made for a much better experience.
The section of the zoo where most of the activities were held is much fancier than the white tent days when my kids were small. It was so well decorated and a pleasure to walk through.
What else I love about ZooBoo is the chance to check out the animals. We were there on a crisp but sunny afternoon, so most of the animals were active and fun to watch.
The Indianapolis Zoo has a world-class Orangutan exhibit – it is extremely well-done with multiple ways to interact with the orangutans. They are fascinating to observe.
In the mood for a snack? Everything from Scary Dipping Dots to Halloween themed treats were available – even adult beverages if that is your preference.
I think our favorite part of the day wasn’t actually Halloween themed, so it’s one you could enjoy many times of the year. The dog show. All the dogs were adopted from various humane societies and were so fun to watch. I love how much they were enjoying their handlers, catching the frisbees and performing for the audience.
My kids aren’t tiny anymore, but ZooBoo was still a fun way to spend the day as a family and a perfect everyday adventure!
Even if you can’t make it to ZooBoo this weekend (or your own local Zoo’s Halloween celebration), don’t forget to check out the Indianapolis Zoo next time you are in the area. We are lucky to have such a top-notch zoo near downtown Indianapolis.
ZooBoo Hours are 2 – 7 Thursday through Sunday and included with normal zoo admission, so go early and make a day of it!
Indianapolis Zoo; 1200 West Washington St.; 317-630-2001; https://www.indianapoliszoo.com/
Thanks to the Indianapolis Zoo for hosting our visit. We enjoyed the afternoon and made another wonderful family memory. All opinions, thoughts, and pictures in this post are my own.
Do you have a local zoo you love? Do you check out zoos when you are on vacation? (we often do). Please share your favorite zoo in the comments!
Don’t forget to pin this post as a reminder for the next time you are in Indiana:
What an awesome Zoo! I would love to visit here one day, it seems that o matter here I go I love to go to the zoo…It’s fun and relaxing! Thank you for sharing!!
Thanks Holly, it is a great zoo. We find them everywhere we go too!
I love anything that is spooky and fun!!!! What a great field trip!
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Jen, it was a very fun afternoon – I love all things Halloween too!
we have the Phoenix Zoo in Arizona and love it. We also like visiting other zoos in the places we visit.
I’ve been to Phoenix, but not to the zoo there – it was a short weekend getaway. I’ll have to be sure to check it out next time we visit.
This looks like tons of fun! I’m going to tell my son about it and maybe he can take his family there to check it out.
We had a fun family day, so hopefully, they will enjoy it too!
Zoo Boos are so much fun!! We used to do the one in Detroit when we still lived in Michigan.
I think so too – we’ve done a few others here and there – Nashville, TN; Ft. Wayne, IN and I feel like at least one more somewhere …
Wow I have heard of the Az zoo doing stuff for Halloween but just thought it was decorated with lights. I wonder if ours is as cool as that. I might have to check into it.
You should definitely check it out – I think more and more zoos are doing this type of thing.
This looks like a blast! I wish our zoos down here did something like this. Definitely going to have to make a trip to Indianapolis soon
We have a fantastic zoo in Indianapolis. And the Children’s Museum, and Art Museum, etc. Really a ton to do in the city!