Here's how it works:
Go to any of the Delaware County library branches to pick up your Summer Letterbox Adventure booklet and sign up for the program. You have until August 12th to visit all the parks and find the hidden letterbox. Once you have all the stamps in your booklet, you turn it into the library for a chance to win prizes donated by area businesses. This program, which is open to all ages, is probably best suited for preschool and elementary school aged children.
We started our adventure last weekend at the Deer Haven Park. It's the first time we had been to any of the Preservation Parks, which honestly I just discovered existed a few months ago through my internet sleuthing for events for Mac Kid. Deer Haven has a really nice nature center with a classroom that has lots of books and some park critters (frog, turtle, etc), as well as a wall of windows that is just feet away from a string of bird feeders that draw some beautiful birds. My kids had a lot fun there before we even began our first adventure. After exploring the nature center (which by the way has a nice restroom facility - nice to know with kids in tow), we started our adventure. The booklet basically walks you through a select trail of the park, having you stop along the way to note certain things. At Deer Haven, we stopped to look at the Purple Martin bird houses, and it spoke a little about them. Then came to a small bridge over a marsh/wetland type area. There it spoke about possibly seeing tadpoles and what they grew into. We actually heard the loud croaking of frogs as we approached and then it became out mission to find the makers of these loud sounds - and we did! We found three of them, but no tadpoles. We continued our walk from there as the booklet explained different areas, and creatures that might be there. The loop trail dropped us off at the nature center again, where we found the letterbox hidden among some flowers that butterflies and hummingbirds love. Inside the box is a stamp (for your book), a pencil to make any notes and also some other fun adventure activities. After you are done, you put the box back where you found it (all things intact) and you are done.
My kids actually love nature, especially my oldest, so this was just a fun activity to do while exploring. Actually, it really helped us to stop a little more, take it in, and see more than we have before - both nature and critters. It rolled in the education component with the fun very nicely, as we learned about the creatures in the park, the habitats, trees and more. Not to mention, that it's getting us out to new parks that we have never been - which is exciting in and of itself. This last weekend, we hit our second park, Char-Mar Ridge Preserve, where we learned a lot about trees and plants.
One thing to note - some of the adventures are longer than others - Char-Mar was 1.5 miles which towards the end started to wear on my kids (but then I took them at the end of a hot busy day... not the best planning). Keep that in mind before embarking on your adventures. Also, in your book it will note if the trail is suitable for strollers.
Also, remember, the parks that have Nature Centers or Naturalist Offices in both the Columbus Metro Parks and the Delaware Co. Preservation Parks have free booklets (about 5"x7", magazine style, created by the Ohio Division of Wildlife) on common birds, owls, amphibians, butterflies and more (each separate) specific to Ohio. They have photos along with information on each species. We use the bird book all the time to identify birds at our feeder, and it's easy for even my youngest to find the correct bird in the book and then for us to read about it. We started using the amphibian book after our two letterbox adventures. It's a great FREE resource!
