Saturday also happens to be National Kids to Parks Day, an annual celebration to encourage play that connects kids and families with parks.

This is the sixth year that the Fort Dodge Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department and Webster County Conservation have teamed up to encourage families to explore new areas and parks they may not be familiar with.

“The purpose of this event is to bring families out to our parks,” said Erin Arndt, program supervisor for parks and recreation. “And to get people familiarized with what we have to offer in the county and in the city, and for families to have fun together.”

In honor of the event, Parks and Recreation and County Conservation are sponsoring a park and play scavenger hunt throughout the weekend. Staff have hidden blocks with words on them in various parks around the city and county, and when all six words are found, they create a phrase for families to send in for a chance to win a prize like a free camping spot at John F. Kennedy Memorial Park, attraction passes for Fort Frenzy and more.

-Messenger file photo
Kliegh Seltz, left, reaches up to join Violet Buechler and Daniel Mericle with help from Jessica Mericle, on an outing with a 3- to 4-year-old preschool group in May 2018.

“The parks here in Fort Dodge are great because they’re all different,” Arndt said. “There’s something different to do at all of them — we have parks where you can just go and sit in the green space, we have playground parks that are very popular, Oleson Park has the Bandshell and the splash pad.”

The parks where families can find the scavenger hunt blocks are:

• Miller Marsh, 3067 Webster County Road C56, Vincent

• Children’s Forest, 1386 National Ave., Fort Dodge

• Rossow Prairie, 170th Street east of Vincent Avenue, Vincent

-Messenger file photo
Kids play on the newly-installed playscape at John F. Kennedy Memorial Park when it opened in June 2017.

• Hydro Electric Park, Fourth Avenue Northwest and First Street Northwest.

• Bob Anderson Courts, Ninth Avenue South and South 18th Street

• Snell-Crawford Park, Williams Drive and 12th Avenue North

Even if families don’t want to participate in the scavenger hunt, Arndt encourages them to spend some time at a park this weekend anyway.

“It’s something to pull the kids away from electronics or hanging out at home, watching TV and playing on the iPad, that type of thing,” she said. “It brings them together, it gives them something to do and they’re able to create memories.”