Neighborhood gets creative while social distancing; creates drive-by zoo

BATON ROUGE- A resident in Slaughter is bringing happiness to her neighborhood by opening a drive-by zoo as families are stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic.

Filled with lions, tigers, bears, and social distancing, oh my!

Virgina Dean, the zookeeper, says she came up with the idea from a local Facebook community page.

She turned her front yard into a fun attraction for families to drive by and observe. With the help of their imaginations, the animals come to life in the homemade zoo.

"I know all the children are getting bored at this time, so, anything that I can do to help them, I'm willing to go ahead and do it," Dean said.

Other homes in the neighborhood decided to participate in the fun, decorating their yards with stuffed and inflatable animals.

Children were excited to spot their favorite animal in the yard, some families even used the neighborhood zoo as a learning opportunity.

Fulltime teacher Stephanie Goudeau took her children on the adventure with a checklist of all types of animals to make the experience an interactive one.

"We can incorporate a little education and just have fun getting outside and not being stuck on the compound," Goudeau.

Dean wanted to bring smiles to as many faces as possible during this difficult time in a safe way, and she achieved just that.

"Kids need to be outside to play and enjoy this beautiful weather that we're having."