Blog Post #4

Throughout the experiences with Dunwoody Nature Center, I feel like this week was the most hectic and fun I’ve had yet with the amount of tasks that I completed. The last few weeks have essentially just been very chill, but this week was exciting because I got to help prepare for the Fairytale forest festival. The nature center hosted this festival to showcase many fun and exciting events that can be educational for children while also allowing them to play around and show of their creativity. There were many things to do such as tree climbing, painting, coloring, and so much more. Before the festival, I got to work with the center to digitally create signs that showcased an aspect of the forest that would be educational for children. The ones I worked on were the backyard birds station and the forest habitat station. My volunteer partner, Raihannah worked on the wetlands station. I feel like the experience of getting to digitally create these signs was particularly exciting for me as I enjoy practicing any aspect of digital design. Because of the amount of work I’ve had, I hadn’t had the opportunity to do it until now, and I’m extremely thankful because it’s inspired me to get back in touch with my passion for graphic design. Moving on, I’m enjoying my time at the nature center because it’s also allowed me to get in touch with my surroundings and start exploring the outdoors more in my free time. I often find myself going on walks throughout the nature center’s park and admiring the nature around me. More-so, I’ve been able to prepare for the festival through tasks that require me to pick leaves for children’s projects. While volunteering, I’ve had the opportunity to learn about what these creative projects are meant to teach children. I’ve learned about how creativity can go hand in hand with education. The nature center thrives to allow children to showcase their creativity while also learning about the nature that constantly surrounds them. Stations where children can paint bird houses serve as a way to showcase their creativity while also giving back to the world little by little.