The Miami County Park District parks and the Great Miami River Recreational Trail are open for individuals to explore, get some fresh air and enjoy the sights and sounds of the great outdoors. 

 

Why go outside?

• It reduces stress and anxiety
• Increases Vitamin D
• Improves sleep
• It boosts immunity
• Can lower blood pressure
• Helps improve physical and mental health

Visit one of your Miami County parks and…

• Hike
• Go fish (no license needed on park ponds)
• Participate in Ramble Quest
• Go Birding
• Visit one of the natural play areas at Lost Creek Reserve, Twin Arch Reserve or Stillwater Prairie Reserve
• Ride your bike on the recreational trail
• Geocache
• Visit the archery range at Garbry Big Woods Reserve
• Read a book outside or visit a Storybook Trail 
• Blow bubbles

Animals & Birds…

• Watch animals in your backyard or a park!
• Take your journal to a quiet spot and listen/watch for animals for 10 minutes – did you see any animals?
• Pile up old fall leaves and twigs in the corner of your yard as shelter for animals/bugs.
• In your backyard or neighborhood or park, listen for bird calls. Imitate the calls yourself. 
• Look for animal tracks in the mud or snow. What kinds of animals do you think left them?
• Go for a “listening walk” in your neighborhood or park. Stop every few minutes and write down the sounds you hear. Use your imagination to describe the sounds. Try to discover where the from where the sounds are coming.
• Make a bird feeder and feed the birds.
• Take your dog for a walk.

Plants…

• Look for signs of new plant buds.
• Investigate your yard or flower beds with a magnifying glass (or along the trail at a park). Do you see any signs of spring?
• Start a container garden by planting seeds and watch them grow.
• Draw a plant that you see along the trail or in your own back yard.
• Take a walk outside and see if you can find all the letters of the alphabet in some form of natural object (not man made). Do several walks in different areas.

Rocks…

• Dig in the dirt and see what kinds of rocks you can find.
• Find a special rock friend and make up a game to play with it!

Other Fun Outdoor Activities…

• Read a book outside.
• Jump in puddles.
• On a sunny day go on a shadow hunt with someone!
• Use a flashlight at night to create shadows of trees/plants.
• Go on a nature scavenger hunt. Make a list of things found in nature and then go outside and see what you can find (you can make it a photo scavenger hunt)!
• Draw on your driveway or sidewalk with chalk.
• Fly a kite.
• Find shapes in the clouds.

Discover winter trees…

• Take a winter tree ID hike 
• Go on winter tree walk! Play tree charades - imitate tree shapes and have someone guess the tree! Count how many nests are in the bare trees, don’t forget to look up high!
• Find a hole in a tree. Sit silently for 10 minutes to observe any animals coming and going. Quietly approach the tree and look inside the hole and see if anything is living in it.
• Do you have a favorite tree? Look its bark patterns. You can do a bark rubbing by placing paper on tree trunk and rubbing it with crayon. Frame your bark rubbing and hang it up in special place!