Looking for educational things to do with your family?

While the National Canal Museum isn’t open, here are five fun, educational activities that you and your children can do either at home or in beautiful Hugh Moore Park.

Finn on the towpath

Check out the Tales of the Towpath website.

The website supports the D&L’s 4th grade curriculum, which follows the adventures of young Finn Gorman. He experiences life along the Lehigh and Delaware Canals aboard a canal boat with his family in the 1850s.  You can explore destinations up and down the canals using an interactive map, watch videos and see historic photographs, and learn more about our region’s geology through lessons on anthracite coal, slate, iron, and limestone.

Original work by WYSO

Download some coloring sheets.

Your artistic little ones will have fun coloring scenes from canal life.  Older kids and adults can de-stress by coloring works by coal-region folk artist WYSO (Frank Wysochansky).

Coloring Sheets – Mules & Canal Scene

Wyso coloring sheet 1      Wyso coloring sheet 2

Go on a scavenger hunt in Hugh Moore Park.

Download your scavenger hunt here and then go on a half-mile roundtrip walk starting from the Welcome Center in the park.  Along the way, you’ll collect information from interpretive panels, signs, and your own observations.  Learn about the canals and get some exercise too!  Email us with the answers and we’ll send you a coupon to come back and ride the canal boat.

Hugh Moore Park Scavenger Hunt

Try nature journaling.

Last year, the Nurture Nature Center installed two nature journaling stations in Hugh Moore Park along the canal (near the park restrooms) through a grant from Lehigh Valley Greenways.  Nature journaling encourages participants to actively observe their natural environment in a creative way.  With recent warm temperatures, plants and animals in the park are starting to emerge from their winter slumbers.  It’s a wonderful time to document the changing of the seasons. While you don’t need the stations to get out and nature journal, these feature instructional signs that will give you ideas about how to get started. Or you can check outnature-mentor.com/nature-journaling/ for tips.

Explore with Geocaching.

Geocaching is a real-world treasure hunt activity using GPS coordinates.  Using either an app on your smartphone or a GPS device, you can hunt for caches hidden all over the world.  Hugh Moore Park has nine active caches for you to find.  Each one takes you to a different place in the park and gives you some background on the park’s history.  Some are easy to find and others will have you scratching your head for awhile.  Learn more about how to get started at www.geocaching.com.