Critters Abound This Summer with SoCal Museums’ New Creature Crawl—June 15–September 2, 2019

03 Sep Critters Abound This Summer with SoCal Museums’ New Creature Crawl—June 15–September 2, 2019

Los Angeles, CA (June 12, 2019)—SoCal Museums announced today its summer Creature Crawl, an activity for kids and families that lets them explore the many museums that currently have animal-themed exhibitions on view. Participants can collect puzzle pieces at each of the five participating museums and use them to create a mythical beast that kids can design and color. Families can upload their creations to www.socalmuseums.org and win prizes for their work at the end of the summer.

“The idea for this project came about when we realized that there are so many exhibitions happening this summer that revolve around the animal world, and we should find a fun way for families to visit them all,” says Jennifer Caballero, president of SoCal Museums and marketing director at the Skirball Cultural Center. “This activity gives families a great reason to explore Southern California’s museums in the summer months and collect beastly mementos along the way.”

Creatures featured include fabled unicorns in medieval manuscripts at the Getty Center, a beautiful garden of butterflies at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, dinosaurs from Antarctica at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and much more.

With support from UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital, kids at the hospital who are unable to travel to the museums will receive their own package of activities so that they can also participate in the fun.

UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital is the Presenting Sponsor for Creature Crawl.

PBS SoCal is the Media Sponsor for Creature Crawl.

Please check museum websites for individual hours and admission.

On view at Creature Crawl museums this summer:
Getty Center
Book of Beasts: The Bestiary in the Medieval World
Through August 18, 2019
Getty.edu | @GettyMuseum

Explore the throngs of animals that tumble, soar, and race through the pages of the bestiary, a popular medieval book that describes the beasts of the world. Through vibrant and fascinating images, the pages of these bestiaries will bring creatures to life before your eyes – with some escaping from the pages to inhabit the Getty’s galleries!

Pick up your creature’s head at the Museum Information Desk. The Getty is always free.

Los Angeles Zoo
Ongoing – Summer Creature Features
LAzoo.org | @LAZoo

Explore the L.A. Zoo and discover thousands of creatures with remarkable features, Iike purple-tongued giraffes, pink-and-preening flamingos, super-floofy golden lion tamarins, and fabulous neon-colored frogs. Along the way, you’ll do more than just see these animals, many of which are endangered. You’ll get a glimpse of the world through their eyes and, thanks to daily keeper-led presentations, you’ll understand more about them. Best of all, your visit will help save them, by supporting vital conservation
work.

Pick up your creature’s back frog legs in the International Marketplace gift shop.

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Antarctic Dinosaurs
Through January 5, 2020
NHM.org/dinos | @NHMLA

Gear up for the expedition of a lifetime! Follow the footsteps of past and modern-day paleontologists who excavate fossils beneath Antarctic ice and stone. Discover hands-on activities, specimens, and media touch screens that reveal what these science adventures are really like. Be transported back millions of years to the warmer habitat where exotic dinosaurs lived, including the 25-foot-long, cold-crested Cryolophosaurus!

Pick up your creature’s body at the Museum Store.

and

La Brea Tar Pits
Ongoing – Mammoths and Mastodons
Tarpits.org/mammoths | IG: @TheLaBreaTarPits

The museum at the Tar Pits is experiencing a takeover of mammoth proportions. Discover these magnificent beasts from the Ice Age in a whole new way. Get up close to La Brea’s real fossils as well as new life-sized replicas. Take part in interactive experiences that will give you a hands-on understanding of the science behind excavating and analyzing these fascinating creatures.

Please note, the creature puzzle piece is only available at the Natural History Museum, not at the La Brea Tar Pits.

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
Butterflies Alive!
Through September 2, 2019
Sbnature.org | @SBNature

Walk through a beautiful garden while nearly 1,000 live butterflies flutter freely around you. The exhibit features a dazzling variety of butterflies, from local favorites to exotic tropical varieties. Learn about the life cycle and behavior of these spectacular invertebrates while observing them up close. Built in 2018, the Sprague Butterfly Pavilion features plants butterflies love and comfortable spots to relax and enjoy the atmosphere.

Pick up your creature’s butterfly wings at the Museum Admissions Office.

and

Prehistoric Forest
Through September 2, 2019

Take a stroll back in time and come face-to-face with dinosaurs on the banks of Mission Creek! Meet a Tyrannosaurus rex, the formidably armored Stegosaurus, high-crested Parasaurolophus, and Triceratops and Ankylosaurus mamas with their young. These hand-crafted moving animatronics spark the imaginations of dinosaur lovers of all ages.

Pick up your creature’s butterfly wings at the Museum Admissions Office.

Skirball Cultural Center
Ongoing – Noah’s Ark at the Skirball™
Skirball.org/noahs-ark | @Skirball_LA

From your first sight of the floor-to-ceiling Ark to a close-up encounter with a whimsically designed creature, Noah’s Ark is sure to spark wonder no matter how old you are. You’ll play, climb, build, and explore aboard the Ark, and you’ll leave with a greater appreciation for the value of building community and caring for the world. Make memories that will last a lifetime — this summer at the Skirball.

Pick up your creature’s front zebra legs in the Rainbow Gallery at the conclusion of your visit to Noah’s Ark.

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SoCal Museums (SCM) is a group of marketing and communications professionals from museums all over Southern California. The mission of the organization is to foster dialogue between marketing and communications museum professionals in Southern California in order to learn from each other, network, conceptualize and execute ways to increase visitation to and awareness of museums in Southern California, and develop collaborative opportunities between museums.

UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital cares for the physical and emotional well-being of children, from newborns to young adults, providing critically ill children with sophisticated, compassionate care in an environment that is both welcoming and healing to children and their families.

The mission of the UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital is to provide state-of-the art treatment for children in a family focused atmosphere, as well as conduct research that improves the understanding and treatment of pediatric diseases and to train the next generation of leaders in pediatrics.

PBS SoCal is the primary PBS station for more than 18 million people across six diverse Southern California counties, and a content channel of the Public Media Group of Southern California, formed by the 2018 merger of PBS SoCal and KCETLink Media Group. Our Mission is to foster a love of LEARNING, CULTURE and COMMUNITY using the power of public media.