Survival is never easy, especially if you're hungry. On Sunday, December 8 from 1- 4 pm, Biscayne National Park will kick off the 14th season of the award-winning Family Fun Fest with "The Hungry Games," a look at some of the amazing ways the park's animals gather their food. New for the 2013-2014 season will be Family Fun Fest Junior, special theme-related activities for toddlers and parents to complete together. The free event takes place at the park's Dante Fascell Visitor Center, 9 miles east of Homestead.
"The Hungry Games"will feature five hands-on and engaging activity stations located around the visitor center. Stations include:
* If the Mouth Fits… - Try your hand…errrr, your beak…at eating like a bird!
* Buying Breakfast - There is no such thing as a FREE meal.
* Luscious Lunches! - Animals eat some pretty disgusting stuff! Play the role of host at two classy restaurants to figure out which animal sits at which table. Plate of Poop, anyone?
* Stealing Supper - Test your skill at sneaking in to take food from an animal WAY bigger than you are!
* Live from the Capitol! - It is the eve of the Hungry Games, and Caesar Blackerman is interviewing tributes from several districts about their special survival talents.
* Hungry Games Junior - A special station for parents with toddlers!
Participants receive a passport to get stamped at each activity station, and those who complete all five activities (or two activities for Family Fun Fest Junior participants) will earn a specially-designed button to remember the day. Earning all five buttons in a season earns a Family Fun Fest Fanatic award in April.
Upcoming Family Fun Fests this season include:
* Wrestling With Trash - Jan. 12, 2014 - Marine debris is everywhere, and we need to "get a grip on it!"
* Biscayne Wintergames - February 9, 2014 - Let the Russians have the winter Olympics because we've got something better!
* Down on the Farm - March 9, 2014 - Sea cows, seahorses, porkfish and BARN-acles!
* A Sesame Street Salute - April 13, 2014 - The fuzzy monsters, giant birds and math-loving vampires are all back as we salute a kids TV classic!
Family Fun Fest is made possible through the donations of generous visitors and the Bobby Duryea Fund at the South Florida National Parks Trust, with additional support from the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserves and a host of dedicated volunteers.
The Dante Fascell Visitor Center is located at 9700 SW 328 Street, nine miles east of Homestead, Florida. Call 305-230-7275, extension 0. For regular updates from the park, "like" us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/BiscayneNPS and "follow" us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BiscayneNPS.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
