Grass River Natural Area Hosts Family Playgroup, Winter Seed Sowing Workshop, and Lighting of the Bridges in December!
Family Playgroup
Thursday, December 4 and 18, 2025
10:30- 11:30am
Free
Families with children ages 0–5 are invited to
join us at Grass River Natural Area for free,
nature-based playgroups on the 1st & 3rd
Thursdays each month. Enjoy stories, playtime,
snacks, and connection with other families — all
in the beauty of the outdoors. No registration
needed! Offered in partnership with the Great Start Collaborative & Family Coalition of Traverse Bay. Learn more at
https://greatstartkids.com/playgroup-schedule/
Winter Seed Sowing Workshop
Thursday, December 11th, 2025
6:00-8:00pm
$10 per person
Join Grass River Natural Area and CAKE
CISMA for a hands-on winter gardening
workshop at the Grass River Nature
Center! As part of CAKE CISMA's Go
Beyond Beauty program, we’ll highlight
how gardeners can transition away from
invasive ornamentals by incorporating
native plants into their landscapes. Some
seeds require a temperature change to trigger the end of dormancy (or sleep) period; a process called cold stratification. Many native seeds have this built-in dormancy which protects them from germinating before killer frosts or in times of drought. One of the easiest ways to cold stratify seeds is to use Michigan winters to do the work for us! This workshop will cover everything gardeners need to know about cold stratification and growing native wildflowers from seed. Please bring empty and clean milk jugs if you have them available.
Lighting of the Bridges
Saturday, December 20, 2025
6:00-8:00pm
$5 per person
Join us for a magical evening as we light up the
bridges of our boardwalk with colorful lights and
lanterns for one night only. Enjoy a 1/3 mile winter
stroll on the boardwalk to the dock with the
bridges lit up with lights, and then warm up with a
campfire and hot cocoa at the pavilion. Inside the
Center we will have a variety of holiday crafts to
make! You can come any time during this two-hour
"open house" style event and walk the self-guided
trail, enjoy the fire, and make crafts in the Center.
Snowshoes are available for rent if there is deep snow.
