On a fairly mild but rainy day a few weeks ago, I took the kids out to Schlitz Audubon Nature Center to hike around. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the nature center, it’s 15 min north of the city and worth the short drive. You can get annual memberships, or pay by the day to hike the trails, climb the observation tower, learn about see animals in the building, walk down to the lake, and more.
After checking in inside the building, we geared up and took a short trek over to the wigwam.
Even though it was drizzling, the kids didn’t want to stay inside. They were more excited about boot skating on the frozen puddles!
We looked for animal tracks and signs of wildlife, and saw a bunch of turkeys hanging out farther away in the woods.
We stopped off for a quick play session at one of the Nature School’s play spaces, and had a blast playing peek-a-boo and jumping in more puddles. If you do use the play spaces, please be considerate and leave it in the same shape you found it, as preschoolers use the space every weekday.
We got goofy and super wet and had a blast!
Some of us also took “a shower” under the gutters.
We walked through the woods a bit more, and decided to call it a day because we were soaked through. After some hot chocolate at home, the kids wanted to head back!
This is totally an annual membership worth getting for our family. You can hike down to Lake Michigan, up the observation tower to get one of the best views, to any of the ponds to look for snails and turtles, and so much more. Inside the building, there are lots of interactive learning spaces and a few animals to view. You can even check out backpacks filled with tools for exploring (magnifying glasses, scavenger hunt items, etc).
Hope everyone’s enjoying the snow!
A. Storm
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