Mill Creek Park hosts Park Pals

Mill Creek Park hosted their annual Park Pals summer camp for 5- and 6-year-olds.

Naturalist Marilyn Williams hosted the week long day camp for 12 children.

“The park has been doing the camps for a long time. It’s a good way to get children out of the house and off of the electronics,” Williams said.

The theme of the week was “Where the Critters Are,” which Williams said focused on different animals and their habitats around the park.

“We have a lot of beautiful sights around the park, and even in a week we don’t have enough time to explore them all,” Williams said.

During the week Williams said that the group visited the Lily Pond, Bears Creek and the Old Log Cabin among others.

She said that each day started with coloring before hiking into nature to explore the different habitats.

“At this age the goal is to expose them to what the park has to offer, and to impart the importance of habitat maintenance,” Williams said.

Children spent the week looking at birds, searching for box turtles and finding salamanders.

“At this age many of the kids are shy at first,” Williams said. “But they get more comfortable as the week goes on.”

She said that along with learning about the park and its inhabitants, an important part of the camp is making friends.

The week ended with a special boat ride on Lake Glacier.

“By the end of the week children don’t want to go home from the park, and the encourage their families to come back throughout the summer,” Williams said.

The park will host a number of other camps for different age groups throughout the summer.

To learn more about these camps, and other upcoming park events, go to www.millcreekmetroparks.org.

Full article at vindy.com