Spring Vacation Day Programs

The days are getting longer, the snow is melting, and all manner of migratory birds have re-appeared in Southern Wisconsin to help us welcome the arrival of spring once again. That's right; we said it. Spring!

The co-incidence of a long awaited spring break and the re-emergence of local wildlife becomes the perfect opportunity to get out-doors and discover the natural treasures that make the environment so special and worth protecting.

The Aldo Leopold Nature Center has designed a week (March 25 - 29) of fun and educational Vacation Day Programs for children ages 5 to 12, which are sure to excite and delight! Participants can sign up for an individual session, or save with our weekly packages. Topics of exploration include wetlands, weather and climate, signs of spring, pioneers, stewardship, and outdoor games. Children can also enjoy story-book readings and out-door fun by joining the Lunch Bunch.

All Vacation Day Programs are appropriate for children ages 5 to 12 and are held at Aldo Leopold Nature Center's Monona Campus.

Full-day programs are from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm and the fee is $45 per child for members and $50 per child for non-members.

Half-day programs are from 9:00 am to noon, or from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm and the fee is $20 per child for members and $22 per child for non-members.

Lunch Bunch is offered on March 29 for an additional $6 per child for members and $7 per child for non-members.

Registration deadlines:

March 21 for March 25 sessions
March 22 for March 26 sessions
March 25 for March 27 sessions
March 26 for March 28 sessions
March 27 for March 29 sessions

Registration Form

Save on camp enrollment and much more by becoming a Member today!

Land, Ho! Wonder Bugs!

Dear Wonderbugs,

Ah-hoy matey!

We set sail on a fantastic ocean adventure this week! Even though we do not have oceans in or near Wisconsin, we explored the creatures and beach life and learned a lot. Hi ho, did you know? A sea sponge lives in the ocean. They also make great sponge paintings once they are dead and on land.

What makes the ocean stay salty? A super inquisitive wonder bug asked me on Wednesday. Great question!  Check out this site for some answers.


This site answers why the oceans are salty to begin with.

This site has a simple experiment to go with it. Give it a try at home!

This site asks great questions!

Create a salty work of art! First paint a picture with water colors and then while it is still wet, sprinkle your paper with salt and watch what happens. Compare the results using sea salt and table salt.

No materials required for this activity! Pretend you are at sea like my daughter and I do. We climb aboard her play structure, and she steers us out into the deep waters. We look for whales and dolphins and sharks- we always find them! Sometimes we dangle our feet in the water (but not around the sharks). Sometimes we go for a swim, too.  We feel the salty sea air on our faces and feel the waves rock the boat.  We shout, “land ho!” when we see an island in the distance. It started as a fluke one afternoon almost two years ago and has turned into a regular and much loved game we play together. She has so much fun that she tells her dad all about it afterward; it's like we were really out to sea.  I encourage you and your wonder bug to put on your imagination caps and take a boat ride!

Sea you later,

Miss Tara

Check out these exciting NEW Evening Family Campfire programs to share the Wonder Bugs experience with your whole family!

Evening Family Campfires (2 days each)Wednesday & Thursday June 20-21 6:30-8:30pm

Tuesday & Wednesday July 31 and August 1 6:30-8:30pm

Family camp  is NEW for summer fun with grandmas, grandpas, parents and all the kids. If you have found yourself jealous of your kids going off to camp each summer, this one is for you. Bring the whole family for 2 evenings of nature activities, singing, storytelling, and stargazing around the campfire on a summer weeknight. Can you think of a better way to spend a summer evening?

Overnight Family Camps (AT our Black Earth Campus)Friday, July 20-Saturday, July 21 6pm-10am
Saturday, August 18-Sunday, August 19 6pm-10am
Family camp is NEW for summer fun with grandmas, grandpas, parents and all the kids. If you have found yourself jealous of your kids going off to camp each summer, this one is for you. Bring the whole family for an overnight campout at our Black Earth Campus filled with nature activities, singing, storytelling, and stargazing around the campfire on a summer night. Can you think of a better way to spend a summer evening? Bring your own sleeping bags, pillow (required) and tent (if you have one). Please indicate when registering if you would like to use an ALNC tent (limited supply available) or if you will be bringing your own.

Best of 2011

With the new year just around the corner, we're taking some time to reflect back on 2011! What a tremendous year it has been for us at the Aldo Leopold Nature Center! Thank you to everyone who has helped us reach more than 40,000 children, their families and teachers this year!

Check out these "best of 2011" photos from this past year!

Throw the First Pitch Contest Ends in 4 Days!

Is your child a baseball lover and a nature nut? Have them enter ALNC’s “Favorite Place”Art & Poetry Contest Today and they could throw the first pitch at a Mallards Game!!!

ALNC is hosting an art and poetry contest for kids, ages 6 to 12, to show off their talents while entering to win the honor of throwing the first pitch at ALNC’s Night with the Madison Mallards on Thursday August 4th! Click here to find out more about ALNC's Night with the Madison Mallards!

In addition to throwing the first pitch, the contest winner will receive an ALNC t-shirt and an ALNC  Complimentary Family Membership! But hurry, the contest ENDS this coming Monday, July 25th at Noon.

To Enter:

• Draw, paint, or write a poem/prose about your favorite nature spot—your backyard, a park, ALNC, or anywhere else that is special to you!
• Fill out the Contest Entry Form, available here or at ALNC's front desk.
• Submit the Contest Entry Form and artwork or poetry/prose by email, mail or in person before noon on July 25th.

Email Submissions to: devcomm@naturenet.com

OR Mail / Drop off Submissions to:

    ALNC Mallards Contest
    Aldo Leopold Nature Center
    330 Femrite Dr, Monona, WI 53716

Contest Guidelines:

• The contest begins Wednesday July 6th; all entries are due by noon Monday July 25th.
• Pieces will be judged on creativity and relevance to the contest’s theme.
• All written submissions are limited to 300 words.
• Any material submitted becomes property of ALNC and will not be returned.
• The contest winner will be notified by email on July 26th 2011.
  

Don't Forget to Join Us for the Big Game!!
ALNC’s Night with the Madison Mallards
Activities Begin at 5:30; Game Begins at 7:05 pm
Thursday, August 4 at Warner Park

Let’s play ball for ALNC! Take your family out to the ballgame to watch the Madison Mallards square off against the Green Bay Bullfrogs! Come early to make your own duck mask, learn "how ducks make a living," compete in a duck walk race, meet Maynard the Duck and more!

Tickets are just $10! Plus, $2 from every ticket purchased through ALNC's portal will be donated to ALNC! To purchase your ticket, click here or visit http://www.mallardsgroups.com. Use the code “ALDO” to receive the discount.

Discover Puzzling Critters in the Aldo Leopold Nature Center's Pond!

Can you identify a fingernail clam, water strider or tadpole? Bring your family to get up close and personal with some of the Aldo Leopold Nature Center's pond residents at Puzzling Pond Critters, this Saturday, July 23, from 9:30 - 11:30 AM!

In this exciting exploratory program, you'll:  

• Enjoy a naturalist led trek to the pond!
• Catch and study critters that live, breathe and eat underwater!
• Learn to use nets and bug boxes and much more!

Puzzling Pond Critters will be conducted outdoors, rain or shine, so please dress appropriately.
Space is limited, so pre-registration is recommended.

Click here or call 608-221-0404 ext. 1 to register today!

ALNC Members: $6/person or $20/family; Non-Members: $7/person or $25/family

Your Child Could Throw the First Pitch at a Mallards Game!!!

ALNC’s Night with the Madison Mallards

Activities Begin at 5:30; Game Begins at 7:05 pm

Thursday, August 4 at Warner Park

Let’s play ball for ALNC! Take your family out to the ballgame to watch the Madison Mallards square off against the Green Bay Bullfrogs! Come early to make your own duck mask, learn "how ducks make a living," compete in a duck walk race, meet Maynard the Duck and more!

Tickets are just $10! Plus, $2 from every ticket purchased through ALNC's portal will be donated to ALNC! To purchase your ticket, click here or visit http://www.mallardsgroups.com. Use the code “ALDO” to receive the discount.

Your Child Could Throw the First Pitch of the Game!
Enter Them in ALNC’s “Favorite Place”Art & Poetry Contest Today!

Is your youngster a budding artist or poet? Enter their artwork or poetry to win the chance of a lifetime—to stand on the pitcher’s mound with their fellow Mallards and throw the first pitch!

ALNC is hosting an art and poetry contest for kids, ages 6 to 12, to show off their talents while entering to win the honor of throwing the first pitch at ALNC’s Night with the Madison Mallards on Thursday August 4th! Click here to find out more about ALNC's Night with the Madison Mallards!

In addition to throwing the first pitch, the contest winner will receive an ALNC t-shirt and an ALNC  Complimentary Family Membership!

To Enter:

• Draw, paint, or write a poem/prose about your favorite nature spot—your backyard, a park, ALNC, or anywhere else that is special to you!
• Fill out the Contest Entry Form, available here or at ALNC's front desk.
• Submit the Contest Entry Form and artwork or poetry/prose by email, mail or in person before noon on July 25th.

Email Submissions to: devcomm@naturenet.com

OR Mail / Drop off Submissions to:

    ALNC Mallards Contest
    Aldo Leopold Nature Center
    330 Femrite Dr, Monona, WI 53716

Contest Guidelines:

• The contest begins Wednesday July 6th; all entries are due by noon Monday July 25th.
• Pieces will be judged on creativity and relevance to the contest’s theme.
• All written submissions are limited to 300 words.
• Any material submitted becomes property of ALNC and will not be returned.
• The contest winner will be notified by email on July 26th 2011.

Beetle Mania Wonder Bugs Style!

No, the British band of the 1960’s was not the theme of Wonder Bugs this week! Ladybugs and lightning bugs, both a kind of beetle, were the main attraction!

I hope your lightning bug craft is lighting up some dark corner of your house. We have one hanging in my daughter’s room. I suspect she will want him to have some friends soon. Click here to see how to make them if you were not at Wonder Bugs this week.

We had a fun time searching the field by the pond for ladybugs and avoiding being eaten by the giant Miss Tara bird. Why did we crouch down and cover? Because ladybugs play dead if they feel threatened.  Keep the fun going at home and take turns being the predators! The ladybugs could be the ones trying to catch the tiny aphids or the lightning bug larva could track down a slimy slug.

Did you know that firefly numbers are diminishing? There are a host of reasons but you and your wonder bug can help preserve the light of our nights. Click here to find out how!  This website is jam-packed with great firefly pictures, stories, websites, news items and more!

Get lit up with excitement as you search your own yards and neighborhoods this week for our beetle friends- ladybugs and lightning bugs! Sing the Lightning Bug song, too, while you show your wonder bug how to catch lightning bugs. See above link for helpful tips to do this safely!

Lightning Bug song

By Miss Tara Von Dollen

(Tune: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star)

Lightning bug or firefly

You light up the summer sky

Flash your light to find your mate

Flash your light but don’t be late

Lightning bug or firefly

You light up the summer sky.

See you next week,

Miss Tara

P.S. All of the summer camp Wonder Bug sessions are full, but there is still plenty of room in our NEW Wonder Bugs Family Days!

WONDER BUGS FAMILY DAYS
July 16th, August 13th, 2011
9:30 -10:45 am

Join us for weekend Wonder Bugs family days we will explore, sing, and craft the day away to a different nature topic each month. You won't want to miss out on the opportunity to share the Wonder Bugs experience with your whole family! Appropriate for children 2-5 years accompanied by an adult.

ALNC Members: $6/child; Non-Members: $7/child

Click here to find out more or to register!

Coffee For a Cause!

 True Coffee to Donate 15% of Sales on July 14^th
to the Aldo Leopold Nature Center

Indulge in delicious coffee and support local environmental education!  True Coffee Roasters is partnering with the Aldo Leopold Nature Center to donate 15% of sales at both their Fitchburg and Stoughton locations on Thursday, July 14^th to ALNC. All proceeds will directly benefit ALNC’s innovative, hands-on programs that "...teach the student to see the land, understand what he sees, and enjoy what he understands," in the spirit of famed Wisconsin conservationist, Aldo Leopold.

True Coffee Roasters offers more than 15 varieties of coffee from the world’s finest coffee-producing regions, roasted in small batches in our Fitchburg roastery and priced from $10 – $15 per pound. The cafes in Fitchburg and Stoughton have freshly roasted beans by the pound, a selection of several brews each day, a full espresso bar, teas, smoothies, blenders as well as a variety of breakfast and lunch items including pastries, soups, salads and sandwiches. 

We hope you can join us for this delicious way to support environmental education!

Where:      Fitchburg Location: 6250 Nesbit Road    
                  Stoughton Location: 2300 US Hwy 151

When:   Thursday, July 14

Wonder Bugs - Bread and Butterflies!

Bread and Butterflies- What a yummy treat!

Check out this great site for photos of Wisconsin butterflies! You can also learn more about each species to figure out what plants to check for eggs, caterpillars, and nectar-drinking adults.

Did you know that butterfly wings are covered with tiny scales that make them look powdery? Our fingers can damage the scales, making the butterflies unable to fly. So as you are on the lookout for butterflies in your neighborhood, please do not touch them! They will say a silent thank you to you as they flutter away.

Would you like to have a caterpillar to go with the butterfly you made? Older wonder bugs will have fun gluing pom-poms to a Popsicle stick or piece of paper. You can add pipe cleaners for the antennae. Or for the youngest wonder bugs, bring out the finger paints and show them how to use their thumb or fingerprints to make a caterpillar. Draw on antennae when they are done.

If you want to prepare for the next Wonder Bugs Session, stay up late and try to catch lightning bugs AKA fireflies!

Flutter-bye for now,

Miss Tara

P.S. All of the summer camp Wonder Bug sessions are full, but there is still plenty of room in our NEW Wonder Bugs Family Days!

WONDER BUGS FAMILY DAYS
July 16th, August 13th, 2011
9:30 -10:45 am

Join us for weekend Wonder Bugs family days we will explore, sing, and craft the day away to a different nature topic each month. You won't want to miss out on the opportunity to share the Wonder Bugs experience with your whole family! Appropriate for children 2-5 years accompanied by an adult.

ALNC Members: $6/child; Non-Members: $7/child

Click here to find out more or to register!

Happy Summer Solstice!

With our summer camps in full swing, we have been in summer mode at the Aldo Leopold Nature Center for a few weeks, but today is actually the first true day of summer! 

Happy Summer Solstice!!!

Here are some fun facts about the Summer Solstice and an activity to help you and your youngster celebrate the longest day of the year!

Wild, Wild, Sunflower Child!

Put those blooming summer flowers (or weeds!) to good use with this fun craft.  Popular in Russian (called venki, the Russian word for wreath), these flower headdresses can be made with daisies, Queen Anne's lace, dandelions or whatever long-stemmed flowers are in bloom! 

Materials

• Long-stemmed blooming wildflowers

Instructions

1. To start, hold your longest stem in your left hand. With your right hand, bend a second stem around the first as shown.
   
2. Loop the end of the second stem up and around itself, as shown, so it ends up parallel to the first stem.
   
3. Pinching these two stems together with your left hand, repeat the process with a third stem. This will anchor the second stem to the first. Continue adding stems in this manner until the venok is long enough to fit around your child's head, then weave or tie the two ends together.
   

 * If your youngster enjoys this activity, have them check out our camp, Wild, Wild Sunflower Child for ages 7-10. There is still plenty of room available!

All About Summer Solstice:

• Solstice derives from a combination of Latin words meaning "sun" + "to stand still." As the days lengthen, the sun rises higher and higher until it seems to stand still in the sky.
  
• As a major celestial event, the Summer Solstice results in the longest day and the shortest night of the year.
  
• The Northern Hemisphere celebrates in June, but the people on the Southern half of the earth have their longest summer day in December.
  
• Pagans called the Midsummer moon the "Honey Moon" for the mead made from fermented honey that was part of wedding ceremonies performed at the Summer Solstice.
  
  
• Ancient Pagans celebrated Midsummer with bonfires, when couples would leap through the flames, believing their crops would grow as high as the couples were able to jump.
  
  
• Midsummer was thought to be a time of magic, when evil spirits were said to appear. To thwart them, Pagans often wore protective garlands of herbs and flowers. One of the most powerful of them was a plant called 'chase-devil', which is known today as St. John's Wort and still used by modern herbalists as a mood stabilizer.

Wonder Bugs - Snakes Alive!!!

Slither me timbers- we had a great time at Wonder Bugs today! The sun was shining so it was a perfect day to warm ourselves like our cold-blooded friends, snakes.  We found a lot of snakes on the trail (well, pictures of them anyway). But the best part was that we got to see real, slithering snakes inside!

We got to observe a Prairie Kingsnake (not found in Wisconsin) who had eaten a chipmunk a couple of days before, and we felt the dry scales on a Milksnake, and listened to the Fox Snake hiss. They kept sticking their forked tongues out at us! I wonder if they liked the way we smelled? :)

Here are some pictures of the types of snakes we saw:

Fox Snake

Milk Snake

Prairie King Snake

If you took any pictures of the Wonder Bugs classes with the snakes and would like to share them, please email me or Alanna. Thank you!

I wish I were a silly slithery snake! Don’t you?

Miss Tara

P.S. All of the summer camp Wonder Bug sessions are full, but there is still plenty of room in our NEW Wonder Bugs Family Days!

WONDER BUGS FAMILY DAYS
June 25th, July 16th, August 13th, 2011
9:30 -10:45 am

Join us for weekend Wonder Bugs family days we will explore, sing, and craft the day away to a different nature topic each month. You won't want to miss out on the opportunity to share the Wonder Bugs experience with your whole family! Appropriate for children 2-5 years accompanied by an adult.

ALNC Members: $6/child; Non-Members: $7/child

Click here to find out more or to register!

Spend Father's Day Fishing with ALNC!!!

Fishing was one of Aldo Leopold's favorite activities as a youngster.  Join our naturalists to find out why and celebrate Father's Day at Fishing Family Fun this Sunday, June 19, from 9:30 -11:30 AM!

In this introduction to angling, we'll:

•     See examples of different types of rods and reels 
•     Play the "Backyard Bass" fishing game to practice casting 
•     Learn how to tie basic fishing knots 
•     Catch worms to use as bait as you fish in our pond and much more! 

Space is limited, so pre-registration is recommended. Click here or call 608-221-0404 ext. 1 to register today!

The event costs $6/person or $20/family for ALNC Members and $7/person or $25/family for Non-Members.

Totally Turtles!!!

Meet one of ALNC's pond critters -- Snapper!  Found by our naturalists in the ALNC pond, she is one of the biggest snapping turtles ever found at ALNC! In fact, our staff estimates that she weighs a whopping 30 pounds! Snapper was returned to where she was found after her brief jaunt of fame.

Why is she finally coming out of the woodwork? Our naturalists say she’s probably laying her eggs. 

Snapping turtles bury their eggs after digging a bottle-shaped hole with their hind feet (shown above) as deep as she can reach - which can be up to eight inches. Snapping turtles then lay from ten to thirty ping pong ball sized eggs. Depending on rainfall, moisture content of the soil and the temperature, the eggs hatch 55 to125 days after laying.

Click here to find out more about our state's largest and heaviest turtle species! 

 

Think your youngster would like to learn more about turtles? There's still room in many of ALNC's summer camps including  The Pond and Beyond where your child can learn about and explore the many animals that call our pond home. Click here to find out more!