Little Red Schoolhouse

This week we visited the Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center in Willow Springs. The new, LEED-certified, building has such a wide variety of rich nature learning experiences, including lots of indoor room for imaginative play, doing puzzles, and reading about nature. Also, many static and live displays (the alligator snapping turtles seem to be their favorite!), and a beautiful, peaceful outdoor area, including a pond, where one can see fish, tadpoles, and (non-poisonous) water snakes, hear bullfrogs, and see snowy white egrets in their natural habitats.

There are regularly-scheduled interpretive programs and activities for all ages. (I'm going back tomorrow morning for a free landscape-painting workshop! : ))

When we go, we visit either before or after lunch, since picnicking is not allowed there. The older boys really enjoyed the exploratory play area this week, 'excavating' for dinosaurs and other plastic toys hidden in a large bin of environmentally-friendly corncob granules. The ramp going downstairs to the turtle and fish tanks is like a journey back in time, with fossils (and live plants, such as ferns and cycads which have survived from the age of fossils), interpretive labeling and displays, along with full-size wall outlines of dinosaurs so the kids can compare their size to these ancient giants. Those always elicit a "Wow!" This place is one of our very favorites to visit, year round, for our field trips.

And you know what else? The Cook County Forest Preserve owns and maintains this property. They have amazing, knowledgeable staff, some of the best in the field. (And I can say that with some authority because I have known several personally for many years. : )) The CCFPD is part of a wider coalition called Chicago Wilderness, which has sponsored regional and national Leave No Child Inside legislation, and is on the cutting edge of nature education worldwide.

Cool.