Where in the suburbs you can get up close and personal with bugs, plants

Looking for a place to spend some time enjoying the last of summer with your family? Local nature centers offer free admission with a variety of hands-on indoor activities, plus the chance to see native plants and animals outdoors.

Crabtree Nature Center

3 Stover Road, Barrington, (847) 381-6592; fpdcc.com

Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The nature center closes an hour earlier during winter months.

Best known for its migratory birds, Crabtree Nature Center has three miles of hiking trails on 12,000 acres of restored tall grass prairie, woodlands and wetlands. Mosquitoes may be annoying for humans, but they've brought out plenty of green, leopard and bull frogs this season, said naturalist Peter Suneson. Inside the exhibit building, you can see a screech owl, a flying squirrel and a rotating collection of fish, snakes, mice and turtles. There's always a craft for kids and weekly programming for families including guided hikes.

Peck Farm Park Interpretive Center

4038 Kaneville Road, Geneva, (630) 262-8244; genevaparks.org

Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Trails are open daily from sunrise to 10 p.m. The nature center opens an hour later Saturdays and is closed Sundays during winter months.

Peck Farm Park has about two miles of trails through preserved prairie lands. You can get a great view of the landscape from the four-story overlook, which is decorated with murals showing the area as its changed during the past 40,000 years. The most popular attraction is the butterfly house, an outdoor netted area that's home to about 300 of the insects at a time through Sept. 25. Kids also enjoy the discovery room, where they can get hands on with artifacts, play with puzzles and see a snapping turtle, frog and snake. The history room teaches about the site and building, which dates back to 1869.

Hawthorne Hill Nature Center

28 Brookside Drive, Elgin, (847) 931-6123; cityofelgin.org

Hours: 1 to 4 p.m. Fridays and the second Sunday and fourth Saturday of the month. Trails are open daily from 8 a.m. to dusk.

Hawthorne Hill Nature Center offers family-friendly exhibits including a log where kids can climb in and look through Plexiglas to see fake bugs and dirt, imitating what they might find in the woods. They can also climb inside a model tree and learn about different products made from trees and how to tell a tree's age. Programs include naturalist-led hikes on the second Sunday and fourth Saturday of every month.

William F. Sherman, Jr. Interpretive Center

901 31st St., Downers Grove, (630) 963-9388; dgparks.org

Hours: 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday

The interpretive center is located in Lyman Woods, which has more than two miles of trails through oak woods, wetlands and prairie. The center offers seasonally changing displays and exhibits, plus a pair of flower gardens that attract native butterflies. The newest addition is an observation bee hive and a beekeeping exhibit will be installed soon.

"You can see the queen, the drones, the honey, the pollen all of it, and watch the bees work," said Shannon Forsythe, manager of natural resources and interpretive services.

Red Oak Nature Center

2343 S. River St., North Aurora, (630) 897-1808; foxvalleyparkdistrict.org

Hours: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Trails are open until sunset daily.

Nestled in 40 acres of woods, Red Oak Nature Center's claim to fame is Devil's Cave, which visitors come from all over to explore. Before you take the short hike over to check it out, learn about the legend of the cave and more inside the nature center.

Visitors start by watching a nine-minute orientation video then move through a series of bent mirrors that give the illusion that you're getting smaller while the images in a series of murals behind you get bigger.

Once you've been shrunk, you move to a room that's made to look like the inside of a leaf, then a circular room that's like a tree where you can look at the plant's rings and what animals might make their homes there.

Next you'll see how underground creatures live by exploring a black light-lit room that resembles being beneath the soil. Other highlights include a bee hive, a wildlife room with live turtles, fish and snakes, and a nearby observation deck that's perfect for bird watching.

"From that observation deck you can see anything," said manager Jim Kenney.

Spring Valley Nature Center

1111 E. Schaumburg Road, Schaumburg, (847) 985-2100; parkfun.com

Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. The nature center closes at 5 p.m. during winter months.

Families come to Spring Valley Nature Center to explore more than three miles of walking trails where you can see the prairie grasses that have gotten exceptionally tall this year from all the rain.

The indoor center offers a respite from the heat, filled with nature-themed games and puzzles.

The grounds also include the Heritage Farm, where costumed interpreters share what life was like on a 1880s German farm.