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Nurturing the Love of Nature
The wealth of parks around the Washington, D.C., area offers great ways to introduce and nurture a love of nature in children of all ages. Many of these parks also have nature centers to enrich visits and offer year-round opportunities when the weather is too wet, cold or hot for much outdoor activity. Most nature centers are open for drop-in visits and offer education programs for specific age groups. They aren’t just for daytime fun, either. Many have nighttime campfires and educational events designed to introduce kids to nocturnal creatures, too! Some offer special spring break and summer camps, as well. On good weather days, hit the hiking trails (depending on the length of your little ones’ legs).
Mark Kelly, naturalist and director of the Jerome “Buddie” Ford Nature Center in Alexandria, notes, “There are studies that show there’s a window of opportunity for children to be exposed to nature and learn to love it. If that’s missed, there is some belief they won’t fully appreciate nature when they’re older. That’s part of our job, to open that window of opportunity.”
Here’s a look at area nature centers to help open the window to nature for your kids, along with a tiny sampling of their favorite activities and programs. Be sure to call or visit websites for hours of operation; some programs require reservations and some have fees.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Rock Creek Park Nature Center
5200 Glover Rd., NW
202-895-6070
nps.gov/rocr
The planetarium recently reopened with a new state-of-the-art projector. Once a month on a Saturday night, April-November, bring the family shortly after sunset for the Exploring the Sky program presented by the National Park Service and National Capital Astronomers. And back on the earth, the exhibit Discover/Descubra Rock Creek Park is geared for those 10 and up.
U.S. Botanic Garden
100 Maryland Ave., SW
202-225-8333
usbg.gov
Your child can become an apprentice and then an official junior botanist. Request an Adventure Folder for exploring the Conservatory, and check out a backpack filled with tools to use during your explorations.
VIRGINIA
Audubon Naturalist Society--Rust Nature Sanctuary
802 Children’s Center Rd., Leesburg
703-669-0000
audubonnaturalist.org
Younger kids can dip nets into a pond and find critters, like tadpoles and dragonfly larva. Older children can go with adults on naturalist-led sanctuary walks.
Broadlands Nature Center
21907 Claiborne Pkwy., Broadlands
703-729-9704
broadlandshoa.org
This is a National Wildlife Federation certified community habitat, a partnership between the National Audubon Society and the Broadlands Homeowners Association. Snake feedings are every Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.! The popular preschool program has nature themes with finger play, songs and a hike.
Walker Nature Education Center
11450 Glade Dr., Reston
703-435-6530
reston.org
The nature center is closed while a new education building is being built, with completion expected in fall 2009. In the meantime, their programs, like Salamander’s Smile and Eco-Rangers, are being held at other Reston locations. The April 25 Arbor Day celebration, where kids can plant trees and learn how to care for them, will still be on the nature center grounds.
Cub Run RECenter
4630 Stonecroft Blvd., Chantilly
703-817-9407
fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/nature.htm
Because of the hard-to-find dark skies, astronomy programs for families are a big draw here, especially the meteor-watching parties in August and December, attracting kids as young as 2, through teen Boy Scouts earning their astronomy merit badges.
Hidden Oaks Nature Center
7701 Royce St., Annandale
703-941-1065
fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/nature.htm
Tot top picks are seeing the live reptiles and amphibians in the exhibit area, dressing up in animal costumes and climbing the treehouse – a play structure kids can go up, bringing puppets with them, then look out from the leafy top onto real woodland. The relatively new Nature Playce is an outdoor woodland play area cleared of poison ivy, for unstructured play. Kids become nature snoopers on tours with naturalists, get large magnifying lenses, play in the brook and dig into dirt piles – a perfect day!
Hidden Pond Nature Center
8511 Greeley Blvd., Springfield
703-451-9588
fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/nature.htm
In April, the frogs and turtles are very active, and kids love to listen to frogs calling. Younger kids are sometimes allowed to borrow nets to explore the pond (not allowed when the toads are breeding because the eggs are so fragile, so call first).
Huntley Meadows Park
Harrison Ln. and Lockheed Blvd., Alexandria
703-768-2525
fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/nature.htm
A two-thirds mile wheelchair-accessible boardwalk through the wetlands leads to an observation tower. Two flights up, kids get 25 feet off the ground to look over at the wetlands, ducks, geese and herons and into the treetops, where they can find a lot of migrating songbirds in the spring. The Leave It to Beaver walk to the wetlands at dusk as beavers wake up for the night is a hit, as are the nighttime Bat Watching program and the Swamp Serenade to identify frog calls.
Riverbend Park
Visitor Center, 8700 Potomac Hills St., Great Falls
Nature Center (scheduled programs only), 8814 Jeffery Rd., Great Falls
703-759-9018
fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/nature.htm
The taxidermied animals in the Visitor Center are popular, as are the live animals, mostly reptiles. Outdoors, kids head to the cages with the red-tailed hawk and barred owl. The Annual Riverbend River Festival on June 13 includes waterfront nature activities, a fishing contest, kayaking and water safety demos.
Ellanor C. Lawrence Park – Walney Visitor Center
5040 Walney Rd., Chantilly
703-631-0013
fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/nature.htm
Situated in a converted 1780 farmhouse, the center includes live animal exhibits, a children’s touch table area and greenhouse. Come April 19 for a Bluebell Hike for ages 10 and up, and learn about beautiful native wildflowers, like trout lilies, Dutchman's breeches, early buttercup, spicebush and Virginia bluebells.
Claude Moore Park Nature Area
21544 Old Vestal's Gap Rd., Sterling
571-258-3700
loudoun.gov/claudemoorepark
The 1860s Frogshackle cabin is a hands-on nature center with limited hours. There, favorites are the bones, taxidermied fox and sand table with replica animal tracks where kids can make their own tracks. The more accessible Visitor Center has a Discovery Room, a smaller version of a log cabin, and very popular eastern box and painted turtles. Come the evening of April 18 for an Earth Day campfire!
Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve
21085 The Woods Rd., Leesburg
703-669-0316
bansheereeks.org
The nature center is only open one weekend a month – the third consecutive Saturday and Sunday. Bones, antlers, skulls, snakeskins, eggs and birds’ nests draw kids like magnets! A big attraction of the 20 miles of trails outdoors is that they’re all a generous 6 feet wide, convenient for pushing a stroller or pulling a wagon full of youngsters.
Green Spring Gardens
4603 Green Spring Rd., Alexandria
703-642-5173
fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/gsgp
May 2, kids 6 and up with accompanying adult(s) can make a bean teepee for pole beans to climb on and kids to climb in.
Gulf Branch Nature Center
3608 N. Military Rd., Arlington
703-228-3403
http://tinyurl.com/atjmpj
Kids will pull parents to the observation beehive where you can see bees making honey. You can safely put your hand on it, feel the warmth and hear buzzing. Mr. Owl, the barred owl, is a huge hit. In the room with a display about Native Americans, there are wooden dugout canoes where kids climb in and play around for hours. For older children, there’s a blacksmith’s forge. Open forge days with demonstrations are a popular Dad/kid attraction, next scheduled for March 28 and July 11.
Long Branch Nature Center
625 S. Carlin Springs Rd., Arlington
703-228-6535
http://tinyurl.com/atjmpj
Part of the monthly Wild Ones programming, on May 13, kids 6-10 can see how sun dials work, practice telling time by using the position of the sun and make their own sundials. In Peeper Prowl, they can hear the little tree frogs, known as spring peepers, calling and see them laying eggs. Campfires on weekends are well attended, with themes such as Wild Virginia (about bears, deer and snakes -- not all in attendance!) and Bloodsuckers (all about mosquitoes and vampire bats); talks run 45 minutes followed by s’mores. In the winter, you can watch the flying squirrels that live in the park gliding through the sky.
Jerome "Buddie" Ford Nature Center
5750 Sanger Ave., Alexandria
703-838-4829
alexandriava.gov/recreation/info/default.aspx?id=12362
This center has lots of interactive nature-based games, including computer ones, which kids use not only for fun, but also (along with the resource library) for school assignments. There is a Fledglings program for very little ones, 18-36 months, which includes a zoo table to play with animal replicas, a Who Lives Here exhibit where toddlers can reach into the stuffed animals inside and short woodland excursions. The greenhouse with tropical rainforest plants, kept at a temperate 80 degrees, includes a couple of parrots who are central to lessons on conservation of habitat and a large iguana rescued from an animal shelter.
MARYLAND
Audubon Naturalist Society – Woodend Sanctuary
8940 Jones Mill Rd., Chevy Chase
301-652-9188
audubonnaturalist.org
Don’t miss the annual Audubon Nature Fair, May 3. Eight nature stations with different themes, including ponds, birds and plants, will offer hands-on nature activities and crafts for children. Kids can participate in a scavenger hunt by answering questions at each of the stations. A naturalist from the Scales and Tales program of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources will display rehabilitated birds and reptiles. The former director of the Smithsonian Institution's Insect Zoo will have a booth providing children the opportunity to learn about insects and handle them.
Croydon Creek Nature Center
852 Avery Rd., Rockville
240-314-8770
rockvillemd.gov/croydoncreek
An entire wall of brightly colored mosaic murals captures kids’ eyes as they walk into the center. It has different animals and creatures built into it and also uses natural materials as well as mirrors and tiling. It’s art and an activity, a built-in scavenger hunt of sorts -- kids love to find the 12 fish in it, for example. As far as real animals, there are plenty of those, too, particularly snakes and turtles. Or bird watch in the exhibit room, where kids can also become high-tech birders using the computer program Maryland Birds.
Brookside Nature Center & Gardens – M-NCPPC Wheaton Regional Park
Nature Center: 1400 Glenallen Ave., Wheaton
301-946-9071
mcparkandplanning.org/parks/nature_centers/brookside
Brookside is the only M-NCPPC center with its own puppet theater facility, offering two puppet shows a month, 11 months of the year. The revolving nature shows change seasonally since they get a lot of little repeat visitors! Elsewhere in the center, said little visitors flock to visit the wild animals and the observation beehive. Come April 21 for Hoppers, Hoppers Everywhere! Hear a story, then head to the ponds and woods for frogs, toads, birds, bugs and other animals that hop.
Brookside Gardens: 1800 Glenallan Ave., Wheaton
301-962-1400
brooksidegardens.org
A perennial hit with the whole family is the Wings of Fancy Live Butterfly & Caterpillar Exhibit, May 2-September 20. The Children's Garden theme will be brand-new this year – Nature’s Fun in Your Backyard. Peek inside a gnome hut, stack natural wooden blocks, clamber into a treehouse, visit the water garden and discover important pollinating insects. As the Gardens’ Leslie McDermott puts it, the motto is No Child Left Inside! A couple of cool programs in April revolve around nature photography for kids in various age groups.
Black Hill Visitor Center – Black Hill Regional Park
20926 Lake Ridge Dr., Boyds
301-916-0220
blackhillnature.org
The pontoon "Kingfisher" will return to the water in mid-April. For storytime programs on the pontoon boat, children must be at least 3 and accompanied by an adult. May 7 and 28, come for Bats & Beavers Pontoon Boat Cruises. April 25 is Astronomy Day, with free programs all afternoon and evening, including a kids’ trivia contest, telescope instruction, star exploration and outdoor viewing of the night sky.
Locust Grove Nature Center – Cabin John Regional Park
7777 Democracy Blvd., Bethesda
301-299-1990
locustgrovenature.org
Watch for bats leaving the bat boxes in late afternoon or early evening. Be prepared for lots of fun at the outdoor play area with carved wooden bears. Visit the small pond in the Wildlife Observation area to look for frog eggs or tadpoles in spring.
Meadowside Nature Center – Rock Creek Regional Park
5100 Meadowside Ln., Rockville
301-924-4141
meadowsidenature.org
Kids love to visit the owls, hawks and American bald eagle in the Raptor Aviaries. They can crawl through a cave to explore the diverse habitats found in Maryland or look at the world from a fish's point of view in the Legacy of the Land exhibit. April 9 is the Going Buggy Festival, where kids can learn about bugs, make bug crafts to take home and even taste-test some specially seasoned bugs (gulp!).
Clearwater Nature Center – M-NCPPC PG County
11000 Thrift Rd., Clinton
301-297-4575
pgparks.com/places/nature/clearwater.html
April 18, Bird of Prey Day is back for ages 3 and up. Learn about these amazing predators with a variety of shows, demonstrations, craft activities and photo opportunities. Live birds of prey will be making frequent appearances throughout the day!
By Karen Kullgren
One of Karen Kullgren's favorite nature centers is her home, with trees, squirrels and birds out front and ducks and geese on the pond out back.
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