According to educators at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science, a great hike should be a workout for your body and your brain. That’s why the Quechee nature center now offers a number of free Discovery Packs that families can sign out when they visit. Each pack — donated by Hubert’s Family Outfitters in Lebanon, N.H. — is filled with field guides, storybooks, learning activities and interactive games that address themes such as trees, insects, birds and animal tracks. “We want to get [kids] out exploring nature,” says Jenna Gersie, a VINS AmeriCorps member, and that’s a mission easily accomplished at the center. In addition to nature trails, VINS also offers wildlife exhibits, public animal-feeding times and daily live-raptor programs.
Discovery Packs: Inquire at the nature center to sign out a pack. Visit vinsweb.org for more information.
This article was originally published in Seven Days’ monthly parenting magazine, Kids VT.
This article appears in Kids VT, July 2013.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
