Gifts of Nature and PlayTrail Reveal

Families can make a day of it at Boxerwood on the first Saturday in December. A rededication of the Play Trail, with surprise new features, happens at noon, followed at 1:00 by the nature center’s annual Gifts of Nature Workshop.

PlayTrail Reveal: A grant from the Rotary Club of Lexington Lunch – and assistance from Club Rotarians themselves – has helped give the Play Trail a bit of a facelift, from the spruced up entryway to the installation of a quirky new invention: the Roto-Rain-Recycler. This kid-operated contraption complete with gears, pulleys, rocking birds, buckets, and other gizmos will be set in motion at noon. Other new Play Trail features include the Waggle, a huge tube kids can crawl in and on while it wiggles and waggles, and a colorful tow rope for pulling one’s small self up Tiny House Mountain. Getting down Tiny House Mountain will also become an adventure when a slide is installed next spring.

Gifts of Nature: Cranberry garlands, dried fruit kabobs, peanut butter pinecones, and suet-and-seed fruit cups are just some of the edible decorations you can hang outdoors on a twist-it-yourself honeysuckle wreath. Our nature arts-and-crafts table is stocked for making people gifts, too! New this year: miniature dried gourds for making tree ornaments and who-knows-what else!

The fee to participate is $5/family for Boxerwood members or $10/family for non-members. We’ll provide vines, cones, winter berries, and greenery from the garden, as well as suet, raffia, ribbon and other project supplies. Families are asked to contribute one type of wildlife food, such as seeds, nuts, dried fruits, popcorn, or fresh cranberries for sharing with other participants.

No need to register – just drop in anytime during the afternoon. The workshop will go on snow or shine, both indoors and out, so dress in layers. We’ll keep a fire going in the lodge and serve warm cider, cocoa and cookies all afternoon to keep everyone cozy.