Temps may be dropping, but the Maring-Hunt Library in Muncie isn’t slowing down any time soon.

Every Friday, the local library, which is located on 2005 S. High St., hosts Outdoors with Librarians, also known as OWL.

OWL is led by youth services assistant, Troi Watts, who creates with a different theme each week related to the great outdoors. Watts’ said the free events are about exploring all that nature has to offer.

“It’s a lot of fun. The kids seem to enjoy it and it’s really practical learning about nature,” Watts said. “We are in nature every day, so it’s really good for kids to understand how to operate in that environment.”

At a recent OWL event, kids explored fun facts about clouds. Through different reading and craft activities, they learned about evaporation, precipitation and the different types of clouds that form in the sky ranging from flat, featureless stratus clouds to puffy, cotton-like cumulus clouds.

After completing a shaving cream rain cloud activity, the children bundled up and headed outdoors to explore the Maring-Hunt Library Community Garden and play area.

Five-year-old Eugene is one explorer who visits the library every week. His favorite part about OWL is going outside and finding “cool stuff” for his hideout.

“I also found a piece of a butterfly wing,” Eugene said. “But, the next day when I came to the garden, I couldn’t find it anywhere.”

Youth Services director Shannan Hurd said the library encourages a lot of free play, “since kids don’t always do a lot of that.”

Children spend seven minutes a day outside and seven hours on average in front of a screen, according to the Child Mind Institute.

“We do frequently get a lot of the kids after school and they really enjoy digging holes in our hill and in the sand box and running around using our garden space,” Hurd said. “It’s just a lot of fun. It’s a chance to learn something new, play outside and make new friends.

OWL, which runs from 3-4 p.m. until Nov. 16, is open to children of all ages. A library membership is not required.

“OWL is not too in your face, educational and I think the kids absorb a little more that way,” Watts said. “It’s really good to go and experience that unstructured outdoor play time. If you are not having a lot of time you can take your kid outside, this is a good, structured area to do it.”

Allie Kirkman is a reporter for a Ball State University arts journalism class.