Home Rec
While our facilities are closed due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) control efforts, we hope you’re keeping fitness in your life as much as possible. Here are a few resources to use from the comfort of your own living room!
Home Rec - Video Series (NEW)
Every week, we’re posting short videos consisting of nature education, outdoor recreation tips, and family activities.
- All Videos - View our full YouTube lineup, with new features added weekly.
- Nature Education - Informative segments from Explore Park’s naturalist staff.
- Outdoor Recreation - Tips for beginners with topics such as disc golf, campfire building and more.
- Youth Crafts - Simple craft activities your kids can do at home, presented by one of our art instructors.
Downloadable Resources
Follow the links below to some fantastic home craft and educational documents.
- Explore Park Activity & Coloring Book - Designed with the help of Virginia Master Naturalists, this resource includes coloring pages, activities and informational content about local wildlife.
- Recreation Coloring Book (2015) - Print these pages highlighting your favorite facilities, parks and activities from Roanoke County.
- Spring Flowers - Our naturalists counted 32 species of spring flowers along the Riverwalk Trail at Explore Park. Using a guidebook or app, see how many you can find!
- Native Plants for Butterflies - Find out what plant species butterflies enjoy most.
- Roanoke County Butterfly Checklist - This is a list of all of the spring butterflies in our area. See if you can find them all.
- Explore Park Bird Checklist - This is a list of all the bird species that can be found at Explore Park compiled by Roanoke Valley Bird Club.
- Earth Day Family Games - Simple games you can play at home to learn about plants, animals and ecology.
- Recycled T-Shirt Tote - Turn an old shirt into a handy tote bag.
- Camouflage Creations and Camouflage Hide-N-Seek - Activities for kids to learn about animal visual and movement disguise
- Leaf BINGO and Tree Seed BINGO - Find natural objects to win this game.
Online Resources
Follow the links below to some of our favorite online resources for outdoor education.
- Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries - Educational resources about wildlife, habitats, fishing, hunting and boating safety.
- E-Bird - Learn more about bird study in science throughout the world.
- Plant Snap - Use an online app to identify most plants, flowers, cacti, succulents and mushrooms in seconds.
- Virginia Wildflowers - An online resource about flower indigenous to Virginia.
- Virginia Herptological Society - An online resource about snakes and amphibians in our area.
- Litter Free Virginia - Online resources about reducing waste in litter in our area.
- Project Learning Tree - Outdoor education training and curriculum.