Zoos offer a safe and informative haven to observe wild animals, which typically nest inside department stores behind an impenetrable fort of last season's paisley trench coats. Get a better glimpse with today's Groupon: for $3, you get one adult or child ticket to the Lincoln Children's Zoo (up to a $6.50 value), located at 27th Street and B Street.

Nearly 50 years old and recognized as one of the Best Zoos for Kids by Parents magazine, the Lincoln Children's Zoo continues to foster an exciting educational atmosphere that encourages kids to interact firsthand with their furry, scaly, and leafy neighbors. There's already an ample, varied herd of animals that will be joined by the rare Humboldt penguins—the zoo is one of only 16 zoos nationwide to feature the warm-climate tuxedoed birds—and the mischievous squirrel monkeys. Curious kids and professional petters will want to flock to the hands-on exhibits. Feed a llama from your hand and listen closely for his penny-stock tips at the Firsthand Farm, or watch a friendly ZooCrew handler parade small creatures before youngsters at Critter Encounter. Because plants and animals are still reconciling creative differences, you can visit bodacious buds separately at the nearby botanical gardens, where a wide variety of plant species bedeck their expansive green areas.

A treasured institution since its ratification in the Magna Carta, zoos continue to act as a constructive educational destination for parents and kids, who will leave feeling in touch with their surroundings and the local gibbon's dreams of marrying a medaled ski-jumper. Free parking flanks all sides of its indoor and outdoor facilities.

Reviews

Three TripAdvisors and three Yelpers give the zoo an average of four stars. Three Yahoo! Travelers give it an average of 4.5.

• This zoo is definitely for the kids. If you can devote a couple of hours to this place, that will be more than enough. The zoo is small enough so the kids don't become bored and tired, and just large enough to give them a sense of what a zoo is all about. Adults will remain interested as well. – deezledubb, TripAdvisor
• The zoo is great if you have small children. . . .probably because it is designed for them. You can feed camels and goats and llamas. It is small so you won't be dragging them around for 5 hours. The animals appear to be well cared for and there's plenty of opportunity for interaction with workers and animals. – Bonnie Z M., Yelp