A Mother’s Love

Story time aims to instill affinity for nature

Mother Nature will make a visit to Hobbs State Park on Saturday. Diane Gately, also known as Mother Nature, will present “Camouflage: How Animals Hide In Plain Sight,” a children’s program at 10:30 a.m. at the visitors center. Gately will read several books and present hands-on activities on the topic. “And we always include a song,” she says.

If weather permits, the group also will explore outside, she adds.

The program is aimed at ages 3 to 6, but Gately says she includes activities to which younger and older children can relate. Each program, which takes place every second Saturday, typically lasts about an hour.

The program also gives families a good reason to get outside and share the outdoors.

“Some families bring picnic lunches and walk the trails afterward,” she says. “Just to have the kids outside — they don’t need to have equipment or knowledge.”

Gately has presented the Mother Nature programs since about 2010, she says. A longtime volunteer at Hobbs, she says she enjoys learning about nature and sharing what she learns with others.

“To me the most important time is the discovery time and connecting with nature,” Gately says of the Saturday morning program. “In order to have a love of nature, young children have to have experiences to relate to.”