Sensory-friendly experiences in the outdoors.

Exploring nature, like at the Nature Center at Shaker Lake's All People's Trail, provides opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to access Northeast Ohio’s native habitats and beautiful scenery. Here are some tips on how to create a unique, fun and sensoryfriendly outdoor experience for all:

• Pack a picnic and enjoy the peaceful sounds of nature. • Listen for the sounds of water flowing. • Listen for birds calling as they prepare for their journey south.

How many different bird sounds can you identify? • Smell the flowers and listen for the buzz of pollinators throughout the forest or near flowering native plants. • See the colorful blooms of the flowers, trees and plants. • Have fun on a scavenger hunt looking for the hidden animals along the All People’s Trail. • Touch the 300-year-old oak tree at the Nature Play Area on

Stearns Trail. • Touch and smell the leaves of the spicebush near the front door of the Nature Center. • Close your eyes and imagine what this region looked like 200 years ago. Then discuss with others.

Experience the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes’ newly renovated All People’s Trail (APT), which is aptly named for its readiness to welcome people of all abilities. The APT is a 1/3-mile, ADA-accessible elevated boardwalk that overlooks a native marsh, winds through a floodplain forest and offers a bird’s-eye view of the Doan Brook. The recently restored Stearns Woodland Trail now also includes ADA-accessible trail segments and the fully accessible Jimmy’s Treehouse. Transformation of the North Woodland Trailhead, made possible by the Cleveland Foundation, has improved ADA accessibility and connectivity from the All People’s Trail to the larger Lake to Lakes trail system and surrounding lakes throughout the greater Shaker Parklands. shakerlakes.org