Earthplace is an environmental learning center whose mission is to build passion & respect for nature. Hike on the trails, hunt for Letterboxes and explore the wonderful playground. Drop-in educational programs happen every day.
Leonard Schine Preserve & Children's Natural Playground is an award-winning outdoor playground along a Family Nature Trail that is part of the Aspetuck Land Trust. There are areas for fort building, digging, tea-parties, tower-climbing, trail-walking, stick-stacking, nature collages and more!
Westport's Town Parks have family-friendly walking trails, playgrounds and wild areas.
Sherwood Island State Park, on the shore of Long Island Sound, covers 234 acres of beach, wetlands and woodlands. Come to walk, bike, swim, fish, observe wildlife, fly kites & model airplanes, play volleyball, picnic or relax under the trees.
Westport Library has two child-sized backpacks available to borrow for exploring the outdooors. The contents of the backpacks include:
Ask a Children's Librarian for more information!
One evening when my boys were younger, Matthew, then ten, looked at me from across a restaurant table and said quite seriously, "Dad, how come it was more fun when you were a kid?"
I asked what he meant.
"Well, you’re always talking about your woods and tree houses, and how you used to ride that horse down near the swamp."
At first, I thought he was irritated with me. I had, in fact, been telling him what it was like to use string and pieces of liver to catch crawdads in a creek, something I’d be hard-pressed to find a child doing these days. Like many parents, I do tend to romanticize my own childhood—and, I fear, too readily discount my children’s experiences of play and adventure. But my son was serious; he felt he had missed out on something important. (Continue reading from Last Child in the Woods)
