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Rec in the Parks

Schedule and Flier

Rec in the Parks has gone green! The Rec in the Parks program has successfully brought free FREE recreational activities to kids of all ages in the Des Moines parks for many years. Des Moines Parks and Recreation is excited to bring you totally new programming for this year's fun activities, focusing on environmental education with a theme of “Creatures in Our Parks.” We will reuse and recycle the old and new, while reconnecting with the living environment around us.

Participants will reach beyond the usual glue and glitter and reconnect with the world around them through games, theater, nature exploration, and stories, and still have time for creative craft activities. They’ll search for “walking stick” bugs, make a “Home Depot” for animals, and learn up close about the rare “tortuga,” the endangered ornate box turtle that lives in our last bits of native Iowa prairie.

As always, daycare leaders, grandmothers, stay-at-home parents and anyone else caring for children during the day are encouraged to bring their charges. Our Rangers are knowledgeable about the environment and ecology of the parks, so adults - you may learn something, too!

Check the schedule for the park nearest you . . . we’ll be at most wading pools, plus on Gray’s Lake Beach on Fridays evenings in September, prior to the Free Flick movies. You can even make an appointment with a ranger in one of the scheduled locations every week.

Rec in the Park has been a successful, always free, program in the Des Moines parks for many years and summer 2007 will be better than ever! Director Susan Stringer, past Education Coordinator for the Community Gardening Coalition and writer of this year’s environmental curriculum, said “I am excited to be merging a passion and knowledge for the environment with my education and art background for this year’s program. We will reach out to many, many children of all ages and backgrounds.” Many past instructors have gone on to careers in education after they have spent fun summers working with Des Moines youth.

For more information, or to set up a time with the ranger in your park, check on the Des Moines Park and Recreation website, or call (515) 237-1386.