Kara lives, learns, and teaches through play. As the Assistant Superintendent of Recreation and Special Facilities for Lake County Parks, she helps dream up meaningful ways for people to connect with nature, community, and each other. Kara is also the voice behind Dirt on Kids, where she champions messy play, creativity, and childhood spent outdoors and blogs her family visits to National Parks and other "PLAYces."
Before parks, Kara spent over a decade helping build a children’s museum (Bellaboo's!) from the ground up, creating programs that welcomed hundreds of thousands of curious kids and families. When she’s not planning programs or advocating for play, you’ll likely find her gardening, hiking, crafting, or encouraging kids (and grown-ups) to get a little dirt on their hands.
