Sharing recipes, crafts and frugal living, the challenges and triumphs of parenting a neurotypical child and a child on the Autism Spectrum. Yoga Instructor said goodbye to her nightly glass of Chardonnay to give up habits that were not serving her purpose in life! The CocktailMom name remains, however with a new focus on healthy and authentic living.

2/09/2011

Meadowside Nature Center

Are you a mom/dad in the DC area that has become desperate to find indoor activities for your kids while you wait out the rest of winter?  You don't feel like trekking into the city and Ikea has gotten old, the College Park Aviation Museum is always fun but you just don't have it in you today.  Head over to the Meadowside Nature Center, it's just a quick 25 min drive from the college park/greenbelt area.  Your kids will love it!
There is a room that is great for little kids to get down on the floor and play, filled with puzzles and books and enough blocks to build a decent size structure.  And for the slightly older 5-7 age range there is a very cool magnifier microscope thing (in the same room) with a flat screen tv that projects everything under the lens, this entertained my kids for a long time.  The walls are adorned with small aquariums housing snakes, toads and turtles.  Outside is where the "awesome" is!  In 3 large cages are birds that have been rescued and can no longer live out in the wild; a one eyed owl, a hawk, and the largest bald eagle I have ever seen.  In another section of the nature center kids can dress up in pioneer clothes or climb in and pretend to paddle the Indian dugout canoe.  My boys would agree that the best part was the cave in the Legacy of the Land Exhibit.  Over and over again they went through the cave and down the small slide...some things just don't get old.
As an added bonus once the weather gets nicer there are apparently 8 miles of nature trails to enjoy. And the best part...it's all FREE! 
           

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