List o' fun--Metro Parks (and cute art project)

Our local parks and rec (Metro Parks) have programs year round.  I don't think a lot of people know or realize that.  They think that it's a park, so it's outside stuff, and it's only for the summer months.  Wrong!  Almost all of the parks have an inside area or room where they can hold their programs.

 The programs are geared toward preschoolers and always have a theme.  If they are talking about squirrels, they'll read a squirrel book, be able to touch a squirrel fir, do some sort of squirrel craft, and sometimes play a game.  You get the idea.  Each program usually lasts about 45 minutes to an hour.

 Some of the programs are puppet shows or have musicians come in an sing songs related to a theme (usually animals).  The best parks in our area or Highbanks and Sharonwoods.  You do have to register for these programs, but it's very easy to do online.

Plus, after the program is over, you can stay and play on the cool park equipment! :)

I'll admit, sometimes the crafts are a little hokey.  However, last month the theme was bears and the craft was pretty cool.  After talking about bears (and actually getting to feel a real bear-fir, paws, claws and all), we did this craft.  The green piece of paper was the forest.  Then we made the habitat.  First, Little Man ripped paper to cover the toilet paper roll to make it a log.  Then he did the same thing with the styrofoam cup to make it a cave.  (the hole at the top was already made, but we had to rip out the entrance to the cave.  Then he glued on a blue cup cake liner to make the water.  Next, he glued a little picture of a bear to the bottom of a popsicle stick.  Then he could move the bear around from the cave to the log to the lake.  He thought this was the greatest thing ever.  As a matter of fact, it's still sitting out in the living room for him to play with from time to time and we made it over a month ago.  This is something you could easily make at home.  I wanted to share--in case you are learning about bears or habitats. :)

Also, check out your local parks and rec and see if they have any fun programs going on!

(NOTE: The summer months do tend to have the best programs, even though they run year round.)