This cute small park in the heart of Bellaire has a great shaded area to walk around for a quick stroll. They even have a few caged animals such as Bunnies and birds to view. Plenty of parking for a quick in and out walk. read more

Earth Day, Pumpkin Patch, Spring Fling, Wiggles & Squirms. Bunnies, Birds, Turtles & more. The Nature Discovery Center is a hidden gem in Bellaire. Love the fact that there are so many programs available from toddlers and tots to retirees. Love the pumpkin patch when the lawn is filled with pumpkins to take home and old fashioned hayrides through the neighborhood. Learn more about keeping the planet healthy on Earth Day and Spring Fling. Go bird watching every Wednesday at noon with a group of friends with binoculars. The NDC is a Texas Bird Watching designated stop. Check out the calendar of events for special classes for kids and summer exploration weeks. My kids were campers in elementary school and then junior counselors when they were in middle school. Or just walk through the park and enjoy what is in bloom during an early morning walk on a peaceful day. Love the Nature Discovery Center. A great place to celebrate Earth Day for kids and kids at heart. read more

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The programs are excellent! There are preschooler classes, mess makers classes, family programs, and adult programs. They also have a fall festival, mud day, and more. No dogs or cats allowed in the park, to help preserve a natural habitat for birds and small animals. read more

The center was a great choice for my daughter's 4th birthday party. DeAndra was great with introducing the bunnies to the kids. I have no complaints. I did come back to the Nature center for one of their sign up events that involved reptiles. I didn't think it would be a sit down event with a lecture on reptiles. My daughter is only 4 and on the tall side, so people often think she is much older. Eric, the host of the event, lost his patience with my daughter when she became a little restless. I was working with her and was prepared to leave on our own, when he singled her out and explained that she had a "choice to leave or stay" and that he would NOT have ANYONE say they are bored in his class. Where I don't condone her uttering "I am bored" to me (unfortunately he heard it), there are other tactics a professional could use when dealing with children of ALL ages. Especially when he could see I clearly was working with her and had one foot to the door ready to leave with her on our own accord, when he abruptly embarrassed her. Eric is very knowledgeable in his field but needs a little guidance in working with young children and their boisterous little personalities. I had a serious talk with my daughter afterwards explaining what happened and how we can better handle ourselves, in the future, when we are indeed bored. Never thought my child would be called out on it like she was a college student disrupting a class. This experience left a sour feeling about the place, especially when we had such a nice time for her birthday. read more

Always a good time when we come here. Their yearly pumpkin patch fall festival is becoming a tradition. Came here with my friend and her daughter. They have games, pumpkins, food, and fun! Very educational and entertaining for the kiddos. My little friend's favorite station is the snake exhibit and every year she stays there the longest lol. The girl loves her reptiles. read more

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Who knew?‍I've been reading about this place for over a year before I finally made it there. Information on what exactly is there and what the fee might be, I found to be scant. So I sort of concluded that it must be a small some non-profit hobby of someone's. I couldn't be more wrong! I happened in on a day they were having a staff meeting- they have a full blown staff. It is well managed, organized and tidy. Basically it's a repurposed house that is CHOCK FULL of experiences & activities for kids. You could literally spend the entire day there without attending a special event. It's definitely educationally based but in a gaming/play manner that is naturally engaging to kids. They have small animals inside and out, tons of hands on interactives, a trail outside with species ID and a playground. They have scheduled events am, pm, weekdays & weekends. As a museum veteran myself, I was thoroughly surprised as impressed. Oh - and there is no fee to go and you don't need an appointment-just pop right in! read more

Nature Discovery Center - Photo Op Chair in the outside small animals section. - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - Bellaire, Texas

My family has just recently started going to the Nature Discovery Center. It's about a 40 minute drive from where we live, so a bit of a hike -- but our kids enjoy coming here. We've been to some of their outdoor preschool-age classes as well as their pumpkin patch festival. The teacher for the preschool-age classes, Mr. Eric, is so engaging and funny. He makes learning interactive and fun. The indoor building is closed due to COVID, but there are supposed to be some exhibits inside. Outdoors there are picnic tables under a pavilion, tons of trees, a small pond, walking trails, and a few different animal enclosures -- there is a house of pigeons, as well as enclosures for a rabbit and a turtle. There is also a type of bird, but I can't remember the specifics. A great place to explore with your kids or family, even if you don't attend the events. They also have a variety of events for kids, families, and even adults. Check out their website for more info! read more

One of my favorite places to take my kids when we need to get out of the house. We like to visit the animals (turtle, rabbit and birds) at the entrance, have toddler led nature walks, and play at the playground and nature scape. It's nice and shaded for the hot summer months too! read more

Nature Discovery Center - Play ground - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - Bellaire, Texas

Went here on Thursday 09/17/20 at 3:30pm and it was quiet and only 2 other visitors here. Even though the main house/building is closed the trails and playground were open. There's a cute small fountain with gold fish and tadpoles. Also a bird house with pigeons, a small enclosure for two rabbits and and small enclosure for two box turtles. My 2 year old loved it just walking among the trees and seeing the rabbits was her highlight that we went again the next day (Friday and there were only maybe 4 visitors there at 4:00) She enjoyed seeing the squirrels and the canoe in the sand pit area. The playground is nice too! read more

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We attended a birthday party here and it was such a great experience. The pavilion is perfect for setting up and the staff was very friendly, especially with the kids. We learned a lot about insects and nature on our walk through the trails. read more

We had so much fun.. There is a ton to explore with the kids, so much that we would need a few vists to see it all.. The staff is A tentative fun and creative. We went for story time and then they had a special revealing of the watermark that is in front of the building that you can only see when the ground is wet. The kids had a blast unveiling it on Facebook for everyone to see. There are picnic tables you could bring a picnic for the kids there's playground walking trails they have tons of animals that are rescue animals so it didn't depends on what is there and what has been rescued with in an amount of time in released but still a lot of fun to see all of the wonderful animals. Not sure who had more fun the kids or us lots to do including they have classes on the weekends and throughout the year for adults and four children as well! Can't wait to come back and explore too much fun! read more

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We had a really good experience with this park. We enrolled our preschooler for the preschool program with Mr Eric Duran and she learnt quite a lot! The park itself has a lot of resources and Mr Eric made the classes fun for these little ones. He got down to the kids level to show them what noise each bird makes or how the snake moves on the ground. There were games and each lesson had an art activity at the end. We saw a lot of live animals too like bunnies, guinea pigs, turtles etc. Also all activities were outdoors and most parents wore masks! read more

Wow! This place is amazing and it's FREE?! The grounds and trails are beautiful, they have a few animals in coops (rabbit, birds), so much seating, and if you follow the trail to the back there's a great playground and sandpit with toys. They even have natural materials and large blocks for lots of creative play. My toddler had a lot of fun. I also love their indoor area and "discovery rooms"- everything from educational resources and books for all ages, to coloring, and toys, and mini kid size exhibits and even a few animals inside. Can definetly keep my toddler entertained here for hours and I love their weekly programming on the calendar. I'll be back here often and I'm considering becoming a member. I love that I can come here if I want my kid to just free play in woods, to play in a play structure with other kids, to play inside, or to do educational activities with her. Something for everyone! perfect for homeschoolers too read more

Nature Discovery Center - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - Bellaire, Texas

The nature discovery center is, in a word, a sanctuary. Although not a super large park, they have many scenic trails that are perfect for a nature walk or for a nice jog with a view. Inside the house, they have a library of many nature related books for children and/or adults and upstairs they have live animals on display. Staff will take any of the animals out for you or your children to pet (all for free)! They also have many year round programs that are at little to no cost. The entire staff is friendly and welcoming! I highly recommend this place whether you are a nature enthusiast or just want to escape the fast pace Houston life for a while. read more

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This is a great place for all sorts of reasons! Twice a year they have kid carnivals. For years we have managed to take great photos in their patch and make tombstones, toss rats, and partake in cute little games in nice weather. In the spring, they have another carnival. This year should be my first attendance and I'm excited to update my review afterwards. We just finished up our second kids birthday there. It was educational and entertaining, and pleasingly inexpensive. We've done both the "Scales and Tails" show as well as "Bunny Buddies". Lots of parents found the presentation (by Ann) interesting. Just seeing the kids amusement and interaction with the animals is worth a visit in itself. The Discovery Rooms were pretty neat too. They accommodated all of us - nearly 60 people! It's a great feeling supporting this type of organization. read more

I visited the Nature Discovery Center with my two year old today and, for the most part, had an enjoyable time. The center itself is located within a two story home with a nature trail in the back. There are a few animals and birds in cages outdoors and smaller amphibians, reptiles, and a tarantula located indoors. The playground at the rear of the trail is really nice and my two year old had a good time playing there and in the sand box. Inside, the "discovery rooms" are two rooms upstairs that hold the animals and hands on games, puzzles, toys, books, and natural exploration tools. There's really not a whole lot to the place but it's nice if you want something free to do for an afternoon. I will say that I didn't receive much customer service during my visit. I walked through the door and a photographer was setting up for a shoot in the front room and didn't speak to me. To the room on the far left I saw someone but she was on the phone. I wasn't really sure where to go so we just explored upstairs. We went back down to look around and I asked another woman some questions about the trail and she was rather curt in response. Nobody offered to walk through the house with us to take out some of the animlas which I saw another family had with them as we were leaving. So they really need to work on that. Otherwise we had a nice time. read more

Beautiful little park and nature center. My kids love the rabbits in the cages and in the spring lots of birds and butterflies. Great playground within walking distance as well. Cute park! read more

Adorable place to take your young kids. My 4 year old granddaughter loves the playground area and the nature trail. Inside the discovery rooms are a lot to look at and learn from. The front desk lady was so nice. There's a great outdoor restroom area and covered tables. I just adore this place and what they give to the community read more

What a natural getaway in the middle of the city! Between the 4-acre nature park (Russ Pitman Park) and the Center housed in the Henshaw House, there's literally something for everyone including park trails, camps and classes for kids, birdwatching tours, nature play and playground area, tree identification walks and owl prowls! Definitely attend the next Family Nature Night if you have a chance. And, for the animal lovers, there are also snakes, bunnies, turtles, a lizard, guinea pig, tarantula, and salamander! read more

The Nature Discovery Center is a wonderful place to get away from the hustle and bustle of life in the city. NDC and Russ Pitman Park is a natural haven in the midst of concrete that educates our youngsters through hands-on learning experiences and offers the joys of lifelong learning to visitors of all ages. In this age of endless electronics, the center offers a place to "get away from it all" and learn about science and nature--something our kiddos don't get much of these days. Hope you can visit soon! read more

Neat place that's currently under construction. Visited it for a free story time recently and had a nice time in their herb garden/ backyard for a free story time. Their rabbit was brought outside to greet the children there which was cute. Hope to visit again sometime. read more

When I was a kid, the thing my mom said most often was, "Go outside." This place brings back all of those great memories of chasing butterflies, messing around in the dirt, and trying to catch frogs. This is a wonderful escape from Houston's urban jungle. They have great activities and classes for kids and for families. Their fall Pumpkin Patch is awesome -- tons of games, a carnival, and loads of pumpkins. If you need a place to listen to some birds, get away from the sounds of traffic, and let your kids really get outside a bit, this is it. read more

Little gem tucked away in the heart of Bellaire. Great for birthday parties. Very helpful staff.