The Placerita Nature Center invited the public to make various holiday ornaments, and explore the various exhibits at their center during their annual Holiday Craft Fair.

Attendees at the Saturday event made ornaments such as wreaths, candles, and centerpieces, in a room that usually exhibits displays of animals found in the wilderness around Santa Clarita and California.

Many families used the event as an opportunity to show their kids the Nature Center while participating in the holiday themed activities.

“We do this every year, bring my kids … they love it,” said Beau Anderson, who has been to the event for the past four years with family and friends. “They come every year, and like I said, they learn about all the animals. Even when it’s not Christmas time, we like to come here hiking.”

The event is an opportunity to bring in new members of the community, Nature Center officials said.

“We like to show off our Nature Center, and this is a good time to get people here, who might not have been here before,” said Donna Fagan, a docent at the Placerita Nature Center.

Others at the event used it as an opportunity to educate their kids on nature.

“There’s no other way than bringing your kids outdoors,” said Mark Pelletier, who brought his two daughters to the event. “Now with technology … kids spend too much time at their house on the iPads, on the cell phones, not getting outdoors.”

The best way to raise a child to appreciate the outdoors, he said, was to expose them to nature.

“Being outdoors is teaching your kids how to be hands on, and really get to enjoy nature and animals, and everything that comes along with it,” Pelletier said.

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