SAN ANTONIO – A local program is connecting children to the outdoors through nature play and sensory activities.
“It’s a great place. It’s safe and there’s so much to do,” Melissa Markgraf, a mother said.
Markgraf enjoys exploring the San Antonio Botanical Garden with her one-year-old daughter, Flora.
The space allows Flora to connect, play and learn with nature.
“We’ve done the Storytime and then we’ve done the nature exploration where there’s like stick building activities and playing in the stream and different mud painting activities. So, they’re all a lot of fun and they’re always different,” Markgraf said.
The botanical garden offers nature exploration weekly that begin at the lawn near Prickly Pear Pavilion in the Family Adventure Garden, just past the entrance archway on Wednesdays.
“The kids come around the Prickly Pear Lawn right here and they get to understand about the different textures that live in nature or the sounds or the smells,” Sabina Carr, CEO of the San Antonio Botanical Garden said.
Each week there are different nature activities. Hannah Kirsch said her daughter enjoyed the sensory lesson.
“She liked the tree stomp the best, which is the starting point, but she looked like she had fun,” Kirsch said.
The nature exploration program is included with garden admission and membership.
“They just need space to run, and they need to be able to breathe fresh air,” Kirsch said.
The program is recommended for ages 5 and under.
“Our team of educators go out and help the families explore. So it’s a little bit of a guided tour as well for the children,” Carr said.
While there, children get transported to a world of imagination. For more information, click here.