Pica’s Nest — a forest experience for the whole family

The NMBE is very much a family museum. It already offers a wide range of events and experiences that children and families can explore on their own. And now, the institution, which is owned by the municipality of Bern, is expanding its range of experiences to include a place that many parents, grandparents, godparents and other supervising adults have probably dreamed of: a sanctuary for families. Here, you can do whatever makes you happy: children can enjoy unstructured play with their parents, other children or on their own; touch objects; give free rein to their urge to move around; and perhaps make a bit more noise than usual – all in a way in which everyone feels safe and comfortable.

60 animals in a giant beech tree

Pica’s Nest is an innovative new museum concept. It is a children’s exhibition tailored to the needs of our small visitors. However, it’s also a retreat for families, where accompanying adults can play with the children or enjoy a moment of peace and quiet. It’s named after Pica, the cheeky magpie who is the mascot for the Natural History Museum’s educational programme.

At the heart of Pica’s Nest is a huge beech tree, with around 60 woodland animals hiding in its roots, trunk and leafy canopy. Some of the taxidermised animals are hidden in the tree, while others sit prominently on the branches. On the walls, you can spot loveable creatures created by the renowned children’s book illustrator Kathrin Schärer.

An exhibition without any exhibition text

The Pica’s Nest concept is designed so that children are not overwhelmed with information; the exhibition does not aim to be educationally intense. Instead, children gather knowledge in a fun way: as they play, they discover more about the biodiversity of the forest. Children decide for themselves which animals they want to know more about. The objects have no labels – Pica’s Nest does not feature any exhibition texts. For those whose curiosity is piqued, however, there is a book filled with short, entertaining texts about all the animal species – children can read it themselves or have it read aloud to them. Thanks to the fun short texts, they’ll learn that the brimstone butterfly can freeze itself in winter or that the male robin knows up to 275 song melodies.

The beech tree, which once towered at 35 metres, comes from eastern Switzerland. It had to be felled for safety reasons. Transporting and drying the tree proved to be a major challenge for the creators of Pica’s Nest. Due to its immense size and weight, the tree had to be sawn into several pieces, though these still boast impressive dimensions – for example, the root is more than two metres tall.

Who created Pica’s Nest?

This forest experience was designed by the Natural History Museum’s education and design team in collaboration with the Swiss branch of the German company Kukuk, which builds unique play and activity spaces throughout Europe; Kukuk is also behind the popular playground in the Elfenau Park in Bern, among others.