Earth Day event features fun in the woods at Barrington Hills nature center

Giant bubbles, big climbing logs and mud painting were among the Earth Day activities during the Cook County Forest Preserve's nature play event Saturday at the Crabtree Nature Center in Barrington Hills.

“We've been doing this for several years,” said Karen Holmes, the center's assistant director. “It's really kind of low-key that gets people outdoors to play with things that can be recycled or reused.”

Natural materials were the theme for the event. A large-scale Connect Four game used red-and-black-colored discs that were cut from buckthorn, an invasive plant species.

Clear plastic tennis ball canisters collected by a local club and given to the nature center were being reused as seed starters. With construction paper lining, a little bit of water, a bean seed was shown to be able to sprout in just a few days.

At the end, kids were encouraged to sign a pledge to do something to help the environment, like plant flowers or pick up trash, Holmes said.