Holland Michigan

The Outdoor Discovery Center Macatawa Greenway (ODCMG) is a non-profit outdoor education organization. Through its programs, demonstration areas and interpretive exhibits, the Center provides students and community members with up-close views of nature and learning opportunities about the West Michigan environment. Since 2000, the organization has served more than 120,000 children and adults through outdoor education and recreation programs. More than 70,000 people annually visit ODCMG sites to walk the trails and view the wildlife. Thanks to the 2009 merger of the Outdoor Discovery Center and Macatawa Greenway Partnership the organization now protects over 1,200 acres along the Macatawa River in Ottawa County and a 130 acre nature preserve in Fillmore Township.
Nature School is one of the more popular programs offered by ODCMG where preschool-aged children are introduced to the natural world through songs, games, activities, and ample outdoor exploration. Live Birds of Prey is an extensive, award-winning program which features live raptors in a specially built education facility. The Neshnabe Summer Village is a reconstructed Michigan Native American Village that is used to facilitate Native American Lifeways programs that are linked to the Michigan Grade Level Content of Expectations. Connecting Children and Nature programs address the issues of decreased outdoor activity, living of a less healthy lifestyle, and increased time in front of various electronic media by children and adults. The goal of this special track of programs is to encourage people to go outdoors, appreciate the natural world, enjoy nature, and to develop a lifestyle that includes outdoor activity. River Encounters are paddling trips along the Macatawa River in the Holland and Zeeland area which help to educate people about the river, Macatawa Watershed and the plants and animals that can be found there.