by Mindy Quintero
With the nature center closed since mid-March, we were challenged with coming up with creative ways to offer safe programming to the public. For over thirty years, our summers have been filled with staff and kids for our nature camp. Although it was sad to cancel, it was also refreshing to try out something new. Over a seven week period we offered a family nature camp which consisted of pre-made activity boxes with enough activities for one week.
As part of the program, we also offered a one-on-one educational piece to each family every day of the weekly session. It was a blast and we even had one family attend five out of the seven weeks. All families had positive feedback and were so happy to have fun activities ready for them each day with no planning on their part.
Our fall has also looked a little different this year. Instead of daily school groups learning about the Eastern Woodland Indians, we now have a small group of 3.5 to 5 year olds learning through outdoor play. Over the past six weeks we have enjoyed learning about nature together while building skills needed for kindergarten. For most kids it’s been the first time they have had the opportunity to play with other kids their age since March so it’s been exciting for everyone. Below are a few pictures from our first six weeks. Enjoy and stay tuned for more creative programming!