Poop Happens

It’s not something people like to talk about. Still, the topic has been popularized by the famed children’s book Everybody Poops, and the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is teaching the same lesson through Sept. 12 at its newest summer exhibit, “The Scoop on Poop!,” based on another children’s book of the same name.

Although I don’t necessarily agree with the zoo’s billing of “the exciting world of excrement,” I do think that children will love this exhibit and it’s a great way to teach kids — and adults — that it’s more than just a bathroom function.

Children will also enjoy hands-on exhibits that won’t require sanitizer. Play the “Dung Beetle Derby,” a racing-style game where two people maneuver their beetles to push a ball of poop to the finish line. Or check out the “turd trivia,” which asks questions like, “Is there DNA in poop?” Flip a wooden plaque over to reveal the answers. (Spoiler Alert: This one is a “yes.”)

It’s not just fun and games, though — scientific facts are woven in throughout the exhibit, and visitors learn that animals use poop to build homes and even attract mates, while people (thankfully) use it differently — as fertilizer, power-plant fuel and for medical diagnoses.

For more information, visit clemetzoo.com.