Storrs: Performing Arts, Puppetry and Activities

Storrs appeals to travelers with a range of interests: performing arts, puppetry, natural history, activities with clearly specified age requirements, and food from the wider Mansfield community offer practical ways to plan your stay around your interests.

Culture, Puppetry and Natural History

The Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts is a public performing arts venue at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. The Ballard Institute adds puppetry to the area's cultural offerings: its collection includes more than 3,000 puppets, and its archival resources offer insights into the history of puppetry. The institute also presents exhibitions, performances, workshops, forums, and online resources about puppetry around the world. Their focuses differ: performing arts are at the heart of the Jorgensen Center, while the Ballard Institute adds a collection, an archive, and a variety of puppetry-related formats.

The Connecticut State Museum of Natural History hosts exhibitions and programs on the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs and beyond. It currently does not have a central visitor area. If natural history is one of your travel interests, this organizational setup is a useful point of reference: the exhibitions and programs are not brought together in a central visitor area.

Activities with Specific Age Requirements

At the Adventure Park at Storrs, the age requirements help distinguish between activities. Children aged 3 and older can use the Adventure Playground; climbers aged 7 and older can tackle one of the 9 courses. The park has 9 treetop courses, 28 zip lines, and 106 challenge elements in the surrounding woods. If you’re visiting with children, you can clearly distinguish between the Adventure Playground and the climbing courses: the two offerings have different age requirements.

The UConn Animal Barns are open to the public, and visitors can see sheep, cattle, and horses there. This offers a different reason to visit than the courses and zip lines: the focus here is on encountering the animal species mentioned. These are two distinct options for choosing activities based on your interests—climbing in the woods or visiting animal barns that are open to the public.

Food from the Wider Mansfield Community

Since 1994, the Storrs Farmers Market has served the wider Mansfield community with fresh local produce, meat, dairy products, baked goods, and more. Its offerings span a range of product categories and serve the Mansfield community beyond Storrs. For travelers interested in food, this is a different area of interest from the cultural and activity offerings.

The Creamery and UConn Dairy Bar are also linked through specific products: the Creamery makes ice cream using its original recipe and sells it through the UConn Dairy Bar. The Dairy Bar also sells UConn eggs, artisan cheese, and other frozen products such as ice cream sandwiches. This distinction is useful if you’re looking for specific products: ice cream production is attributed to the Creamery, while the Dairy Bar also sells the eggs, cheese, and frozen products mentioned. Together with the Farmers Market, this creates a food theme with distinct focuses: local produce and baked goods on the one hand, and ice cream and other UConn products on the other.

For the broader travel overview: Mansfield.