Tiki Torch Toboggan

Our Black Earth Campus, located in the Driftless Region, is full of hills and valleys waiting to be explored. Grab your sled (or snowshoes) and join us for an evening of fun in the snow!  Discover the winter flora and fauna as you sled, snowshoe or hike along the snow covered trails.  Finally, we’ll warm up around a roaring campfire with a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy a treat in honor of Aldo Leopold’s birthday. ALNC will have adult and child snowshoes available on a first come first serve basis for use at this event. Participants are invited to bring dinner to cook over the campfire or eat in the cabin. Pre-registration is required.

Location:  Aldo Leopold Nature Center’s Black Earth Campus, 10648 Sutcliffe Rd, Black Earth

Date/Time:  Saturday, January 12, 2013   4 - 7 pm; registration closes January 10, 2013

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

Information/Register: www.naturenet.com/alnc or 608-216-9371

Winter Webs Wonder Bugs

Gr-eight times were had by all this week! Our special guest was a real treat; I held a tarantula for everyone to see. Of course I forgot my camera so if you have any pictures, please email me! Some wonder bugs felt the claws at the end of her leg, and we counted her legs to make sure she had all 8. She did! But did you know that tarantulas can regenerate new legs if they lose one? Wow!

We discovered that winter is too cold for spiders; we only found one dead one tucked in an outdoor lampshade. Spiders either die or head to warmer places- like inside! We found a lot in the basement and in the corners of the building. They were hanging out in their very own webs. So then we just had to make our own webs with yarn, and while we were at it we pretended to stab insects with our fangs and suck up the bug soup. Yummy!

For snack we crunched on spiders! We used two crackers to represent the two body parts, and 8 pretzel stick legs and 8 sunflower seed eyes. Plus a little cream cheese to hold it all together! Voila!



Check out some spidery books from the library to find out more about these spiderific creatures. You might especially like to finish reading Up, Up, and Away by Ginger Wadsworth. A House Spider’s Life by John Himmelman would help you understand the spiders you might find in the corners of your house. There are many, many more!
For those singable moments here’s a new spidery song!

Little Spider Weaves a Web (from Growing Up WILD, page 15)
(Tune: “Twinkle, Twinkle”)
Little spider weaves a web
With some dry and sticky threads.
Her bristled feet keep her free
From getting stuck, can’t you see?

Here comes a fly buzzing by
Inter her web, watch it fly.
Wiggle wriggle. It’s stuck tight.
Spider has her meal tonight.

Join me in two weeks (and all through the winter) for more Wonder Bugs fun!
Miss Tara

WINTER WONDER BUG SESSIONS:
Package price for all 6 Winter Wonder Bugs sessions (choose Tuesdays or Wednesdays)ALNC Members: $33/child; Non-Members: $39/child (When registering on-line list "Winter Session" as event/program name and and "Tuesday" or "Wednesday" as the date)Prices for Wonder Bugs for all individual sessions:
ALNC Members: $6/child; Non-members: $7/child
Registration Form 

DEER JOHN
Tuesday, December 20 & Wednesday, December 21, 2011
9:30-10:45am
Registration Deadline: Friday, December 16, 2011
You are in luck! Deer do not write goodbye letters for the winter. They bed down here and leap over there. Today the songs, games, and fun a-bound!
Registration Form

BEAR-LY BREATHING
Tuesday, January 10 & Wednesday, January 11, 2012
9:30-10:45am
Registration Deadline: Friday, January 6, 2012

Winter is a good time for napping, especially if you’re a black bear! "Cub" and find out something surprising! No bear bones about it- this day will be den-tastic!
Registration Form 

ME AND MY SHADOW
Tuesday, January 24 & Wednesday, January 25, 2012
9:30-10:45am
Registration Deadline: Friday, January 20, 2012

"Wood" you believe that the groundhog is “chuck” full of surprises? "Wood" you come down for songs, crafts, and a chuck-load of fun? I hope to see your shadow while we learn about all things groundhog.
Registration Form

KEEP ON TRACKING…
Tuesday, February 14 & Wednesday, February 15, 2012
9:30-10:45am
Registration Deadline: Friday, February 10, 2012
While the snow is stacking! Discover what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoe (prints). Practice counting the toes- they always knows- and you’ll be able to guess the animal who walked there since.
Registration Form

MICE ON ICE
Tuesday, February 28 & Wednesday, February 29, 2012
9:30-10:45am
Registration Deadline: Friday, February 25, 2012

For birds of prey, this is a delicacy in the winter! Explore the predatory world of raptors in winter. Songs and games are sure to keep you roasty toasty.
Registration Form

Favorite Fall Hikes This Thursday

Looking for some great hikes this fall? Come join the staff from the Ice Age Trail Alliance at the Aldo Leopold Nature Center as they guide you on a virtual tour through some of the unique places in the Ice Age Trail.

The Ice Age National Scenic Trail is a thousand mile footpath—entirely within Wisconsin—that highlights the Ice Age landscape features while providing access to some of the state's most beautiful natural areas. If you’re looking for new places to hike close to the Madison area this fall, you don't want to miss this presentation!


Here are the specifics:

REI PRESENTS: FAVORITE FALL HIKES ON THE ICE AGE TRAIL, A PRESENTATION FROM THE ICE AGE TRAIL ALLIANCE
7:00 - 8:00 pm
Thursday, September 22, 2011
FREE

 
Visit Rei.com/Madison to register. Pre-registration is required.

Hope to see you there!

Stop Drop and Roll Wonder Bugs!

Dear "Wonderbuggers,"

Roly-Poly bugs are so much fun and they have so many different names!  We discovered that in order to find the sow bugs we had to look in dark, moist places. We had a blast turning over logs, checking under rocks, and watching the pill bugs run or roll away!

I wonder, why do the potato bugs roll up into balls? To avoid being eaten by frogs, lizards or little kids!  It doesn’t always work, but their hard shell does offer some protection when they are rolled up.

Did you know that wood lice have 14 legs?  

That is a lot of legs! We lined up to see what 14 legs looks like. On Tuesday we needed every wonder bug and a couple of adults to get to 14 legs. I wonder, what would it would be like to try walking with 14 legs?See how many places you can find isopods at home in your yard and sing the Roly-Poly Bug song while you are at it! And, check out these sites for more fun you can do with these bugs at home:

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/insect-activities7.htm
http://blog.growingwithscience.com/2009/10/pill-bug-activities-for-kids/

Roly-Poly Bug
By Miss Tara Von Dollen
(Tune: I’m a Little Teapot)
 

I’m a roly-poly bug with many names.
Here is my hard shell.
Here are my 14 legs.
When you reach to touch me I stop, drop, and roll,
Into a little ball, down in the hole.
 

Have a ball!
~Miss Tara

The new Wonder Bugs sessions have been announced and are up on ALNC's website! Hope you can join us for one of them or for one of our Wonder Bugs Family Days!

WONDER BUGS FAMILY DAYS
Saturday September 24, October 22 & November 19
9:30 -10:45 am

Join us for weekend Wonder Bugs familyhttp://www.naturenet.com/alnc/wonderbugspreschoolprogram.htm 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!