Cook in our Mud Kitchen located in the Basswood Forest. Mud is a great material to develop tactile skills with sensory play and creativity. Children can let their imaginations run wild with mud pies, mud soup, mud art, and mud construction games! There are plenty of possibilities for growth, including teamwork and problem solving activities. And most importantly, more and more research is suggesting that exposure to dirt and mud is good for mental and physical health!

Engage with our Discovery Tables located in both the Maple Field and the Juniper Field. Discovery Tables offer open-ended activities designed to stimulate questions, ideas, creativity, and interests. Our Environmental Educators set out different prompt materials each week to encourage the exploration of new topics. These materials are available during weekdays and everyone visiting the Nature Center is welcomed to play with them.

Get moving with our Play Structure in the Maple Field and other activities throughout our grounds. Sitting where our beloved crabapple tree once stood, our Play Structure is a great example of how fallen trees can become excellent areas for play. Activities such as jumping off a rock, balancing on logs, building forts, and climbing trees are examples of nature-based risky play and are vital for children’s development. In a supportive environment, these calculated risks challenge children to explore the boundaries of their bodies, understand how the world works, make decisions, experiment with ideas, and grow through trial and error.