Brookside Nature Center
We just went to Brookside Nature Center in Wheaton for the first time. It was just a random Saturday, not when there was any special program going on. Even so, there was a lot to do, see, and touch. It started before we even got into the building with some things along the walkway. There was a place where you could take in the smells of the forest, nothing disgusting, mostly tree scents.
And there was “Name that Tune” where the kids could press buttons to hear the various birdsong of local birds. Right next to that were a number of bird feeders and bird baths where one could observe birds eating. Inside the building, large windows look out onto this area and there are benches and rocking chairs that you can sit in while bird (and squirrel and chipmunk) watching. Some reference materials are close at hand for identifying the birds that come and go.
While the building does not seem that large, it houses a number of displays. There is a real live beehive where you can see bees making honey. A number of creatures are housed in aquariums and terariums such as a gray tree frog, a spotted salamander, a milk snake, a king snake, a corn snake, box turtles, toads, fish (blacknose dace and mosquito fish), and the red-eared slider aquatic turtle. There are birds’ nests from the American robin and the American goldfinch. A rock display. Another display shows the type of wildlife one might see in
Wheaton Regional Park such as the red fox, great-horned owl, ground hog, beaver, opossum, flying squirrel, bat, rabbit, skink, copperhead, red-tailed hawk, great blue heron, snapping turtle, bullforg, muskrat, yellow-bellied sapsucker, skunk, gray tree frog, and field mice. There was a library room that included a number of kids’ nature books as well as some wooden toys. My 3-year-old enjoyed pulling the wooden cricket on wheels, putting together the wooden animal puzzles, and kept looking at the butterfly kite that was tacked to the ceiling.
One thing that was very nice about this place is that the kids could touch many of the items or get up close to see the animals. They also got to dress up as bees, butterflies and turtles. There was even a computer game they could play called Sammy’s Science House. After we left the Nature Center, we walked a short way along a trail outside to go to a greenhouse that’s part of
Brookside Gardens. My eldest read the trail sign that pointed out the way to the playground (at
Wheaton Regional Park) so she wanted to go there. But since it was 3/4 mile away and it was hot, I thought we could do it another time.
