Exploring the Forest with Grandkids

November 13, 2024  |  Topics: Places, Stories

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By Eddee Daniel

Once upon a time it seemed as though I’d have enough time to do everything I wanted to do. Now that I’ve gotten old enough not only to know how fanciful that assumption always was but to feel the brevity of my remaining time, it has become essential to know where to put that energy. The energy required to imagine everything I’ve always wanted to do but probably won’t.

I believe that’s why God made grandchildren.

My wife, Lynn, and I feel fortunate to live near our grandchildren and to see them regularly. Most of our interactions revolve around after school hours and a weekly sleepover, which they look forward to. But when school is not in session we also get to spend entire days with them. That is when we have time to explore some of the special places that are available to us around here. The kids have been to some of the major regional parks, like Lapham Peak, Pike Lake, Wehr Nature Center, and Grant Park.

It’s no less worthwhile, however, to simply walk out our backdoor and head for the Milwaukee County Grounds. Which is exactly what we did on a fortuitously peak autumn day in mid-October.

There are several thresholds to cross before we get to the forest. First, we wait for the traffic to stop on the Menomonee River Parkway, which is required by law but which doesn’t always happen—so be very careful! Then we are in Hoyt Park. It is a diverse park with plenty to do, including wooded trails along the river. But for the kids it is where the playground and the pool are. So we walk straight across until we reach the next threshold, the railroad tracks.

Here we are even more cautious. Listen for trains. Never cross if you hear one coming. Never run across because it’s easy to trip on the tracks. Then we climb a short rise to the top of the berm and we all gaze in awe at the broad swath of the County Grounds spread out before our eyes. I for one, though I’ve been here innumerable times, never tire of this first impression. The kids want to keep moving. We point out the forest towards which we are headed, far across two vast detention basins. The kids are thirteen and seven and it seems to me a long hike for a seven-year-old, but he is a trooper and there are no complaints.

We reach the forest and the final threshold. Before entering we take advantage of the logs placed alongside the entrance trail to stop for a rest. Officially this is called the Forest Exploration Center and its popularity is immediately visible to all of us, not only from the almost full parking lot, but also the people coming in and out of the forest. (You might think attendance was higher because of the autumn color, but this lot is rarely empty in any season or weather.) When rested, we enter. Time to explore!

“Any natural place contains an infinite reservoir of information, and therefore the potential for inexhaustible new discoveries.” ~ Richard Louv

We enter into a golden glow. The light flows down through a mostly maple canopy like syrup. The crushed granite trail is completely covered and softened by fallen leaves. We look around for especially colorful leaves. Lynn, the thirteen-year-old, begins a collection. Santiago, the seven-year-old, stomps around kicking up a storm.

The FEC, as the Forest Exploration Center is often known, has put great effort into its educational mission, with a variety of types of signage that are changed periodically. We hunkered around each one as we reached them, absorbing the little natural history lessons they imparted. One large sign bearing a photo of a toad proved prescient. A few minutes later we sighted an actual toad, which was tiny compared to the apparent behemoth on the sign! To their credit, the kids paid more attention to the tiny living toad. Lynn’s favorite sign depicted a coyote, which also dwarfed her when she posed next to it.

It is not enough to love nature.

We must go outside and spend time in it. For our own health. It is not enough to go out and enjoy nature, either. We must strive to protect it wherever we can, especially in urban areas where it is so precious. But it is not enough to do the work required to protect our beautiful parks, whether it be through volunteer hours pulling invasive species or providing sorely needed financial support, for example. Important as these things are, they are not enough. What is most essential is instilling our love for nature in younger generations. Nature, after all, is not simply an attractive playground. It is the source of all life. What good is protecting natural places for future generations if young people don’t also learn to love them? If young people don’t learn to love them as we do, their futures will be bleaker. For they are less likely to be saved.

“Teaching children about the natural world should be treated as one of the most important events in their lives.”

~ Thomas Berry

At two points in our circuit around the loop trail in the forest we came upon stick forts. Lynn clambered inside each one in turn and also used one as a makeshift jungle gym. Santi chose to stay outside and run around. I was also pleased to see that Lynn hasn’t outgrown her lifelong love of walking on fallen logs. (After all, I haven’t outgrown it—though since my accident I’ve grown far more cautious.)

The forest by turns changed from incandescent reds and oranges to Packer green and gold, along with many variations in between. By the time we made it most of the way around the trail loop to where the story trail branched off, we were all a bit bushed. The FEC has created a changing display of children’s books on stanchions that line a story trail that cuts through the middle of the forest. A reason to come back another time!

Richard Louv’s groundbreaking book “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder” first came out almost twenty years ago. But its message is as pertinent today, if not more so. He says that contemporary society is failing our children by not encouraging them to spend more time in nature. Many children are more comfortable navigating the internet than a park like the FEC. The reasons for this are too many to describe in this blog post. But it is a challenge for parents to overcome those reasons. We grandparents like to do what we can to help, knowing our grandkids will never have the freedom we did at their ages—when we could walk out the door after lunch and, with no supervision until suppertime, be free to explore … the woods, the creek, the rocks, the beach … wherever we happened to be.

Our homeward trek, back along the detention basin berms, is a bit more of an ordeal that the outbound journey had been, since we’ve gotten tired and maybe a little crabby. But we make it home without incident. Just in time, too. For treats. (We are grandparents after all!)

“Time in nature is not leisure time; it’s an essential investment in our children’s health.” ~ Richard Louv

If you are a parent or grandparent looking for ways to increase your children’s exposure to nature, you are not alone! We recommend the following nature centers in SE Wisconsin, who make nature programming for youth their mission:

Hawthorn Hollow Nature Sanctuary and Arboretum (Kenosha County)

Mequon Nature Preserve (Ozaukee County)

Pringle Nature Center (Kenosha County)

Retzer Nature Center (Waukesha County)

River Bend Nature Center (Racine County)

Riveredge Nature Center (Ozaukee County)

Schlitz Audubon Nature Center (Milwaukee County)

Seno Woodland Center (Kenosha County)

Urban Ecology Center (Three branches in Milwaukee County)

Wehr Nature Center (Milwaukee County)

Another resource is Mke with Kids.

The Forest Exploration Center forest is state-owned by the Wisconsin DNR Division of Forestry and cared for under joint partnership with The Forest Exploration Center, a non-profit 501c3 organization. It is also part of the historic Milwaukee County Grounds. For more information go to our Find-a-Park page.

Related stories:

‘Welcome All to the Forest’ (FEC)

Frosty Fun in Three Bridges Park with a three-year-old!

Eddee Daniel is a board member of Preserve Our Parks and a free-range kid at heart.

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