Is anyone feeling hungry?

Join us at Indian Creek Nature Center for our annual Sierra Club Chili Luncheon and Silent Auction on Saturday, November 14th. Sample some delicious homemade chili and bid on a variety of outdoor equipment, including camping, hiking, gardening and boating items.

The auction and luncheon both begin at 11 am, with bidding on the auction items ending at 12:30. For prices and more information, click here.

We hope to see you out at the Nature Center to support two great causes!

(Photo courtesy of Su-lin. Used under Creative Commons guidelines.)

Sunday and Monday at the Nature Center were alive with the sounds of children experiencing nature. (Curiously, that sounds a lot like a marimba!) We dedicated the new trail on Sunday, and the media coverage drew crowds here on Monday as well. So far, it looks like a hit!

But now for what you really want. Pictures! (Above: staff, committee and crew members pose around the marimba with other instruments and cloth “flags”. I think we’ll call them the Sense of Wonder Jam Band.)

Two young visitors give the marimba a whirl. So far, this has been the hot ticket item on the sense of wonder trail!

Contemplating her next move, this tic tac toe player is using game pieces made from reused plastic and canning rings!

A family works together to build a “block city” out of natural materials called tree cookies!

There’s always something to see and do at Indian Creek Nature Center. While the staff takes a step back and a deep breath (and maybe even a nap!), come out and enjoy our newest feature. And, as always, stay tuned for what’s next!

(Please note: The photos in this blog were taken by Marion Patterson. The Nature Center has used them under Creative Commons guidelines. So if you use them, pass the credit for them back to Ms. Patt!)

Join us on Sunday, October 18th from 2 to 4 PM for the opening of our Sense of Wonder Trail, a natural playscape for children! (See below for a sneak preview!)

Do you know where your food comes from? It seems like a simple question, but if it is so simple, why is it so difficult to answer? In an age of industrialized food systems, the average consumer has little or no relationship with their food.

These concerns are why the Nature Center is hosting the Northwest Earth Institute’s discussion course Menu for the Future. This six-part class helps to foster a dialogue about food and its relationship to sustainability.

Our first session, “What’s Eating America” will be held on Tuesday, October 20 at 7 PM. The following sessions will be held each Tuesday for the next five weeks at the same time.

For more information about this program, check out the Institute’s overview. For program fee and information on how to sign up, click here.

(The photograph in the post is by Edward Simpson under Creative Commons guidelines. To see more of Edward’s work, click here.)

Last month, MOMS Club of Cedar Rapids – South* brought eight preschoolers out for one of our most exciting preschool programs: Busy, Buzzing Bees!

The preschoolers were just as busy as the bees as they jumped to answer Margaret’s bee questions. One was even brave enough to put on the beekeeper’s bonnet!

The Nature Center schedules many programs like this for small groups, schools and scouts. To find out more, visit our website and explore the preschool, school, home school and other youth programs that we offer.

MOMS Club is joining us again on October 20th for our bat program, and they are inviting other preschoolers to join them. We hope to see you and your group soon for one of our fall or winter programs!

* MOMS Club of Cedar Rapids – South is support group for stay-at-home Moms and is welcoming more members from the SE and SW side of Cedar Rapids. If you want more information, please email: momsclubcrsouth@yahoo.com or call Shelley at 364-2179.

Many thanks to Nadine Brock for her help with this entry.

It’s officially Autumn, and it’s time for something new and exciting from the Nature Center! For the last few months, our staff members in conjunction with Metro High School have been hard at work on the new Sense of Wonder trail, an outdoor interactive experience geared towards children, but for people of all ages.

A new movement has emerged (geared in part by Richard Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods) that is concentrating on correcting “Nature Deficit Disorder”, or the general lack of outdoor activities of our nation’s youth. The Nature Center’s mission has always been in line with getting children into the world of nature, but the collaboration with Metro came at a fortuitous time!

A lot of exciting progress has been made in the last few weeks…

Permeable pave (also called “grass pave”) was installed all around the building. This not only will create a more natural look for our play area, but when the grass starts to grow up through the holes, rainwater will soak in, instead of running off as it would on normal pavement. (In heavy rain situations, we’ll be helping to keep Indian Creek from flooding!)

You currently can catch the grass pave at an interesting time. Come see the newly installed pave, then cross the bridge over the ravine (take any of the paths behind the barn to reach points to cross the ravine) to see grass pave that was put in early this summer. This latter pave is in it’s growing stages, so be sure to take a peek!

Here you can see the brand new stage that we put in this summer, along with Metro staff and students planting flowers around it!

Even more exciting: We will soon be having our Sense of Wonder open house! Join us on October 18th to check the trail out for yourself. Click here for more information!

Honey is one very sweet reason to love bees. Can you think of others?

Come out to Indian Creek Nature Center on Sunday, September 20 from 1 to 4 PM for our annual Honey Fest! There will be games, crafts, music and things to learn for all ages. (And, of course, lots of honey!) One of our beekeepers will even wear a beard of live bees!

For entrance fee information, check out the program calendar by clicking here. You can also contact us via email or phone.

Are you interested in learning how to build your own solar cooker? Are you concerned with “greening” your energy? Do you just love to eat?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then the Nature Center has the program for you! Join us for “Green and Simple: Cooking with a Solar Oven”. One of our naturalists, Jan Aiels, will lead you on a culinary adventure… with sun energy so strong that you can boil soup!

So come out on Saturday, July 25 at 1 PM, and bring your appetite with you! For pricing and other information, click here.

(Note: the calendar says that registration by 4 PM Thursday is required, but we are extending that deadline. Give us a call for more information!)

Does the sight of sixteen third and fourth graders with knives make you nervous? Read on to find out why you shouldn’t be!

These are our Wild Outdoors campers! This week, our campers learned how to whittle (above, our Camp Director Kim Schultz shows a camper how to sharpen a knife), cook over an open fire, and even build a survival shelter. These rugged, young outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen are now ready to use their skills, wherever the wild outdoors may take them!

We still have a few summer camps until the summer comes to and end. To check them out, click here!

There was recently an exciting find at the Nature Center: the beautiful Michigan Lily! Even more exciting was how the flower bloomed… almost fifteen years after the seeds were planted!

To find out more, read on.

In 1995, the Nature Center, along with the help of many school children and others, planted huge bags of native grass seed in an effort to return some badly eroded land to prairie. In addition, Education Facilitator Jan Aiels planted a small bag of rare flower seeds. Jan carefully selected areas for those seeds (Michigan Lily among them)… and then we waited.

And waited. And waited. (This was one of those cases where Mother Nature reminded us that she is not on our schedule.) And then, two weeks ago, director Rich Patterson discovered that the lily had finally arrived… more than fourteen years later!

So what was the hold up? Rich asked that very question to prairie expert Jerry Willhelm. Jerry explained that soil that has minimal organic material in it experiences greater temperature fluctuation because it holds less water. Many seeds cannot tolerate this temperature fluctuation, and therefore will not germinate under those conditions.

What does this mean for the Nature Center? Well, our soil is becoming more enriched as prairie plants die and decompose, adding to the organic matter in the soil. Seeds that lie dormant are benefiting from the soil and are finally showing up to the party…

And those of you who come out to the Nature Center to experience the beauty of the natural world have a new flower to hunt for!

(Special thanks to Jerry Willhelm for his help, and to Nancy Lackner for the lovely picture of our Michigan Lily!)