Family Fun Friday inside the family garden

Families gathered at Fellows Riverside Gardens on June 15 for the Family Fun Fridays event hosted at the gardens.

The program took place at the gardens’ Family Garden. The program had a weather theme to it, so the children participated in weather-related activities in addition to playing with the set already located at the park.

“It’s to get families out, enjoy the weather and get to the park,” said Nick Parish, a naturalist with the park. He, along with two other Mill Creek employees, ran the program.

The special activities for the program included a tornado in a jar and a cloud making station. The park placed out jars with a ball in them, so that children could shake them in circles to create a tornado effect. The children used shaving cream, water and food dye to make their cloud in a jar.

The Family Garden also has play areas for the children. They dug in a sandbox for gems buried in the sand, played in a small pool, rippled a children’s parachute and a small play set. The families could also enjoy the plants in the area and look at the bees stored in the garden.

The event happens weekly throughout the summer with a different theme each week. They also have organizations join them many weeks, such as Fantasy Face Painters at this event.

The program began on June 8 and will continue until Aug. 24. Each event runs from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. and families can just drop in to visit.