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Nature’s Ninjas Brings Hands-On Learning Back For Children Nature’s Ninjas Brings Hands-On Learning Back For Children

Nature's Ninjas offers families in-person learning during COVID-19.

By Daniel Baldwin

DANIEL BALDWIN: Meet three-and-a-half-year-old Jayden Kelly. According to his parents, Jayden, like most young kids, learns best when he can see, smell, and touch things.

O’NEIL KELLY: To have it come close and then to be able to touch it, it literally just, I mean, he didn’t want to leave the animals alone.

ASHLEY KELLY: It was totally something new and awesome and exciting, and Jayden hasn’t stopped talking about it since we got home.

BALDWIN: And that’s the whole point of Nature’s Ninjas at the Museum of Science and Technology. Here, most of the animals stay behind plexiglass, but a few lucky ones get to venture out and say hello. Families like the Kelly’s can enjoy a day out while getting up close to exotic animals.

KELLY: We didn’t know what to expect. So having that opportunity for him to touch and have that tarantula touch him was huge. I mean, in my whole life, I don’t think I’ve ever touched a tarantula, so this was a first for all of us.

BALDWIN: These interactions make the day memorable for kids.

GIRL: He’s a cutie.

BALDWIN: Marketing Director Stephanie Herbert says touching the animals is the key to the exhibit’s success.

STEPHANIE HERBERT: Being hands-on is so important when you’re a child because you don’t really understand the full concept of something unless you touch it.

BALDWIN: Jayden’s parents confirmed Herbert’s belief in the importance of hands-on learning.

KELLY: That whole interaction thing is huge for him. So being able to physically touch it, it brought everything home.

BALDWIN: While many schools are still in online learning, Herbert believes the exhibit’s hands-on learning has something for everyone.

HERBERT: It’s really nice to see kids and parents and people of all ages really, I mean, we have teenagers coming in here and screaming about the fact that we have a porcupine and a really big snake. So it’s exciting for everyone.

BALDWIN: Jayden loved the exhibit so much that his parents said Nature’s Ninjas should be a model for other museums to follow.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – O’Neil Kelly, a Central New York father, was hoping for a fun day out with his wife and 3-year-old son, Jayden, before moving from to Florida. He got more than he bargained for when he took his family to the Nature’s Ninjas exhibit at the Museum of Science and Technology and got to touch a tarantula.

“In my whole life, I don’t think I’ve ever touched a tarantula, so this was a first for all of us,” Kelly said.

Nature’s Ninjas, a visiting exhibit at the MOST, has brought hands-on learning back to Syracuse.

The exhibit offers a live show twice a day that allows families to learn fun facts about exotic animals such as conures, tarantulas and armadillos. Families even get to pet them during the show.

“Being hands-on is so important when you’re a child because you don’t really understand the full concept of something unless you touch it,” said Stephanie Herbert, marketing and communications coordinator for the MOST.

That’s the whole point to Nature’s Ninjas, according to Herbert. Touching and interacting with the animals allows younger children, and even adults, to internalize the experience. Kelly agreed, saying touching the animals was the highlight of Jayden’s day.

Tarantula
An instructor brought animals around the theater for people to physically touch and examine them up close.
© 2021 Daniel Baldwin

“That whole interaction thing is huge for him,” Kelly said. “So being able to physically touch it, it brought everything home.”

Kelly explained it was even more special for his son since schools have been online most of the past year due to COVID-19.

“He didn’t want to leave the animals alone,” Kelly said.

Kelly even admitted that petting the animals helped the experience resonate with him more than it would have if they just sat and watched a presentation.

“Having that opportunity for him to touch and have that tarantula touch him was huge,” Kelly said.

Nature’s Ninjas offers a walk-through display where animals are kept behind plexiglass in case some children did not want to touch the animals. Herbert claimed this is the perfect alternative for people who don’t want to get up close to animals like tarantulas.

“Kids are just as excited to look at them,” Herbert said.

The live Nature’s Ninjas show is scheduled for 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The exhibit leaves the MOST on April 3.

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