The exhibit is located on the first level, next to the delightful butterfly exhibit. I took my nearly three-year-old son to brave the bugs, so my first challenge was getting him in to see the spiders, but once we were in, I don’t think he even realized that these marvelously hideous creatures are in the same family as your run-of-the-mill household spider.

Yes, they are hairy, and scary, but they are also really cool when you take the time to get to learn about them, and this exhibit provides plenty of means and ways to do so. From a history of the species, to many live specimens, families can explore how vast and various this version of arachnids are. The exhibit includes nearly 20 varieties from desert tarantulas to rainforest dwellers.

Our favorite part was the play area, where kids could actually dress up as tarantulas and run around a garden. Really, this was adorable, and the children there were having a great time. My son was mostly hesitant, although he did lose the actual fear factor. There was a feeding demonstration, which really piqued his interest, and I was very impressed with the history that the exhibit provided. I would definitely recommend checking it out if you can get over the initial fear and grossness of the whole spider thing.

It’s a fun exhibit with a minimal entrance fee beyond admission ($5), but my experience leads me to say that it is more suited for kids that are at least 5 years old. The education elements were not all that interesting to a young toddler, which comes as no surprise. However, little brothers or sisters would certainly have fun with older siblings, but the real appeal of the exhibit is definitely learning more about these wonderful beasts.