Preschoolers and Moms: Busy as Bees!

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.

Sense of Wonder

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!

11th Annual Honey Fest!

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.

Let’s get (solar) cooking!

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!)