Andrea Woody, naturalist at the Outdoor Discovery Center, talks with participants in the “Explore with Your Senses” program at Shore Acres Park on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. Kids used all their senses around the park in the program partnership with Laketown Township.
The small group of hikers stopped at the top of the dune after walking through Laketown Township’s Shore Acres Park on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. Andrea Woody, naturalist at the Outdoor Discovery Center, told the children to close their eyes and listen.
“What do you hear?” Woody asked.
“The lake!” the children shouted, excited to get to Lake Michigan.
Isla Pierce, 5, uses a magnifying glass to look at sand in the hands of Andrea Woody, naturalist at the Outdoor Discovery Center, on the shore of Lake Michigan as part of the “Explore with Your Senses” program at Shore Acres Park on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. Kids used all their senses around the park in the program partnership with Laketown Township.
The participants between 3 and 9 years old in the “Explore with Your Senses” program used their eyes to identify the many colors in the park and even a snake along the way, ears to listen to the wind in trees and along the shore, tasted and smelled sassafras and touched prickly cactus along the trails at 6602 138th Ave.
They ended at the beach at Lake Michigan.
The free event was part of a partnership between the nature group and Laketown Township.
Andrea Woody, right, naturalist at the Outdoor Discovery Center, talks with participants in the “Explore with Your Senses” program at Shore Acres Park on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. Kids used all their senses around the park in the program partnership with Laketown Township.
The next free event with Laketown Township is the “Night Hike” at Huyser Farm Park, 4188 64th St., from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 6. Participants from ages 6 and up will use their senses to find out what they can feel, touch, hear and see at night and learn how nocturnal animals use their senses in the darkness.
Andrea Woody, naturalist at the Outdoor Discovery Center, talks with Juniper Klemic, 4, Isla Pierce, 5, and Kennedy, 6, in the “Explore with Your Senses” program at Shore Acres Park on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. Kids used all their senses around the park in the program partnership with Laketown Township.Andrea Woody, naturalist at the Outdoor Discovery Center, talks with Kennedy, 6, Isla Pierce, 5, and Juniper Klemic, 4, about sassafras trees in the “Explore with Your Senses” program at Shore Acres Park on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. Kids used all their senses around the park in the program partnership with Laketown Township.Andrea Woody, naturalist at the Outdoor Discovery Center, talks with Juniper Klemic, 4, Isla Pierce, 5, and Kennedy, 6, about what they’re hearing in the dunes in the “Explore with Your Senses” program at Shore Acres Park on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. Kids used all their senses around the park in the program partnership with Laketown Township.Isla Pierce, 5, tastes a piece of a sassafras tree during the Outdoor Discovery Center the “Explore with Your Senses” program at Shore Acres Park on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. Kids used all their senses around the park in the program partnership with Laketown Township.Andrea Woody, naturalist at the Outdoor Discovery Center, helps Kennedy, 6, use a magnet to find metal in the sand along Lake Michigan as part of the “Explore with Your Senses” program at Shore Acres Park on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. Kids used all their senses around the park in the program partnership with Laketown Township.A parent takes pictures of participants along Lake Michigan during the Outdoor Discovery Center “Explore with Your Senses” program at Shore Acres Park on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. Kids used all their senses around the park in the program partnership with Laketown Township.
