Hands down, my favorite thing about Montgomery is the parks. Our little city boasts six parks and a nature preserve — three of which are located within walking distance of my house. The Montgomery Park Explorers was developed by the City of Montgomery Recreation Department and the Montgomery Parks & Recreation Commission to encourage children to get out and explore the local parks.
There are two different programs: one for younger kids 2-5 and one for older kids ages 6-12. Each program requires a visit to the six different parks and nature preserve, with questions and activities for kids to do at each site.
You can download your free Montgomery Park Explorers packet from the City of Montgomery website; and this program is open to anyone — not just residents! After you’ve completed the packet, you’ll drop it off at Montgomery City Hall and then return in a few days for your official Montgomery Park Explorer badge. (Due to COVID-19, getting your badge might take longer than normal — call the Recreation Department at 513-792-8317 or email [email protected] for more information.)
Since March, we’ve been doing lots of close-to-home exploring. The Park Explorers packet is easy to tackle in a couple days — some of the parks are within walking distance to each other, so you can group visits by location. My kids had a lot of fun answering the questions and doing the activities — it was basically a fun, nature-based homeschool lesson! The badge provided a fun incentive to complete the program; however, simply visiting each park was fun enough for my kids.
Happily, my kids don’t really need much of a push to go outside; we make outdoor time a part of our daily routine. And while ‘normal’ life looks a little different for us right now, exploring our favorite local parks is a comforting constant.
