From Berks County Parks and Recreation Department
Photo courtesy of Josiah Weiss on Unsplash
Calling all nature enthusiasts! Do you want to visit the parks and deepen your connection with nature while learning? If you’ve ever wanted to go birding, observe insects, create your own rendition of the wildlife in our parks, or explore the history of bridges at the Gruber Wagon Works, you can now do so at the Berks County Parks!
Thanks to funding in 2025 from the Gilmore-Henne Grant, administered by the Berks County Community Foundation, the Berks County Parks are adding to their collection of gear to lend — joining our snowshoes, fishing gear, and bear canisters — we now have activity backpacks!
You can now borrow four different activity backpacks geared towards children in kindergarten through fifth grade! Backpacks have plenty of supplies, lesson materials, books, and space for personal items like water bottles while they’re being used. These packs are great for families and homeschool groups.
- The Art Backpack provides a chance to create artwork out of natural materials found in the parks.
- The Insect Backpack provides the opportunity to collect and observe various insects.
- The Birding Backpack includes field guides and a bingo card to discover birds in the parks.
- The Wagon Works Backpack provides the activities to explore the history of bridges while becoming your own architect.
Each backpack has a set of pencils and field guides to write out observations and a bilingual picture book to read and enjoy alongside their respective lessons. Best of all, each backpack provides a chance to get outside and foster a greater connection with nature!
The backpacks are free to borrow and are meant to be used within the Berks County Park system. Berks County Parks are the Angora Fruit Farm, Antietam Lake Park, Beidler House/Allegheny Aqueduct, Berks Leisure Area, Gring’s Mill, Berks County Heritage Center, and Stonecliffe Recreation Area.
Reserve a backpack by emailing Recreation Supervisor Lisa Gauker at LGauker@berkspa.gov.
