Professional naturalists lead fun innovative family & adult nature programs for all ages. 

2013 Spring Family/Adult Public Program Brochure.

2013 Summer Family/Adult Public Program Brochure.

These hands-on programs are designed to increase awareness of relationships between people, organisms and the environment.

• Registration: A small fee is charged for most programs which must be prepaid to register.  To register for a Nature Center program, please send or drop off a check or cash to Maplewood Nature Center 2659 E 7th St., Maplewood, MN 55119, or by credit card online  by the date indicated in the description.
  You can pre-register for free events online or by calling the nature center, (651) 249-2170 or email .
  
  Nature programs are also listed in the Nature Center Events Calendar as a part of the whole city's events calendar.

Maplewood Parks and Recreation Spring 2013 Guide

JUMPING FROGS STORYTIME AND HIKE
Saturday June 8th, 10:00-11:15 am
Ages 2 – 5 with an adult
Put on some frog eyes and learn all about being a frog. Listen for frogs and search by the pond for all that frogs and tadpoles need for life in the wet.
Fee: $3/child. Prepayment appreciated but not required. Send check or drop off cash to Maplewood Nature Center or call 651-249-2170 to pay by credit card.
Location: Maplewood Nature Center, 2659 7th Street East, Maplewood 55119

SNAKES ALIVE
Wednesday, June 12, 10-11:15 am
All Ages
Snakes rule! Meet a real live snake: get up close and personal. Do a snakey craft, play dead like a hog-nose snake. Hike outside to play snake bingo.
FREE, (Donations accepted). Call to register by June 11, 651-249-2170.

QUACK, QUACK, RIBBET, RIBBET PUPPET SHOW
Thursday, June 13, 10:30 – 11:30am
Best for ages 2 and up, small daycares welcome
• Laugh and sing along with our wild animals puppets as they teach us about their habitat.
• Go on a self –guided nature bingo hike afterwards!
Call to pre-register. 651-249-2170.
FREE, (Donations accepted)

WILDERNESS WISDOM
Saturday, June 15, 10-11:00am
Join the Naturalist for a hike to discover what’s safe and what to watch out for on your summer camping trips. Make a poison ivy rubbing; learn how to identify nightshade and stinging nettle and its herbal antidote. Learn tips and tricks for preventing ticks and mosquito bites; get your own “ticker” tape and Tick ID card. Purchase of Tick Remover ($5) optional.
FREE. Call to Pre-register by June 14. 651-249-2170

JUNIOR VOLUNTEERS
Youth ages 10 – 14
Make new friends and learn about the outdoors. Assist the naturalist with on-going trail projects at the nature center and nearby city-owned neighborhood preserves. Use hand tools to clear brush, pull buckthorn and plant and maintain wildflowers. Help take care of the live animals.
Informational meeting: Parent and child attendance required.
Date: Tuesday, June 18th, Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Call 651.249.2170 to register for informational meeting. Limited to first 14 registrants.
Dates: Tuesdays, June 25 – August 6th
(Class does NOT meet Tues, July2nd)
Time: 9:30 – 11:15 am Fee: FREE

TURTLE TALES
Wednesday, June 19, 4-5:30pm
For Families with kids age 3-10
Visit with a live turtle, walk the yard to find their nests, make your own shell to wear. Find out what to do when you see a turtle crossing the road.
$5 per family, prepayment appreciated. Pre-register by June 17. 651-249-2170.

COMMUNITY GARDENS BUS TOUR
Saturday, June 22, 1:00 – 3:30 pm
Tour the diverse community gardens in Maplewood & North St. Paul! A unique aspect of each garden will be showcased at each stop: West African, Hmong and other cultural gardening techniques and crops, children’s garden, growing as service - food shelf plot, communal gardening, edible landscaping,
and more. Translation to Hmong, Spanish, Karen languages are available upon request when registering.
Meet at Harvest Garden: Corner of Hazelwood & County Road C in Maplewood
FREE, Space is limited, registration required
Community Education 651-748-7437
Maplewood Nature Center 651-249-2170

SEED ART OPEN HOUSE
Saturday, June 29th, 1:00-3:30pm
Come anytime between 1 & 3 to start a project & learn the basics about doing seed art. Learn how to enter your art into the Ramsey County Fair or State Fair. $2 per artist materials fee.
Call to register 651-249-2170 or email 651-249-2170.
Location: Maplewood Nature Center, 2659 7th Street East, Maplewood 55119

FIREFLY MAGIC Night Hike
Tuesday July 9, 8:30–10:00PM
For families with kids 3-10 years
• Fireflies are magical bugs with a built-in night light.
• Learn how and why they light up, and take a hike in search of them.
• Listen to a firefly story and make your own glow-in-the-dark firefly to take home.
Early registration recommended.
Fee: $5/child. Prepay by June 29, 651-249-2170

BEFRIENDING BUMBLE BEES
Friday July 12, Saturday July 20 and Friday August 2, 10:00 a.m.-Noon
(Rain Date: Tuesday July 30th)
For adults and children, 5 and up.
Join the quest for the Rusty-patched bumble bee formerly common in Minnesota. Assist Elaine Evans, Entomologist from the U of MN and co-author of the book, Befriending Bumble Bees, in collecting bumblebees from prairie flowers. Watch as she identifies and records them before releasing them back to the wild.
The sessions will take place at Jim’s Prairie, a native wet prairie in Maplewood where rare bumblebees were once found in the 1990’s. Perhaps you will find them again.
You will be sent directions when you pre-register at least 2 days before each session: email or call 651-249-2170.
FREE

TREE ID and DISEASE WORKSHOP
Saturday, July 13 9:30-11:30 am
Adults. Deadly infectious disease and invasive pests threaten our ash, elm and oak trees. Learn what these diseases and pests are, how they spread, and what you can do to protect trees. After examining displays, take a guided walk to identify ash, elms and oaks at the Nature Center. Coffee, rolls and snacks provided. Call to pre-register by July 12. 651-249-2170.
Free

FISHING CLINIC
Wednesday, July 17 at the nature center
Time: 6:30 -9:00pm
Thursday July 18: 6:30-8:00pm Meet at Silver Lake
Best for children age 8 and older with adult.
Did you always want to try fishing, but never had the chance? Bring a friend, grandchild, niece or nephew and learn how to tie a knot, cast a line and identify different kinds of fish. Learn about water quality, good fishing ethics, bait, basic gear, and then go out and try it. Fishing poles and bait provided. Sponsored by Minnaqua.
Fee $10 family, please call to register by July 16. 651-249-2170

SEVENTH ANNUAL BAT SURVEY
Thursday, July 25, 8–10:00pm
Adults, families and children 7 and up
• Hike the trails at twilight to listen for bat clicks and chirps with our electronic echo-locator. Help identify and record species flying over the nature center pond.
• What do bats eat? Where do bats live?
• Examine a bat house and receive free bat house plans.
Fee: $4/person, please prepay by July 23 . 651-249-2170
Location: Maplewood Nature Center

TASTY TREATS FROM THE BEES
Saturday, July 27th, 9:30-10:45 am
Ages 4-10, families
Taste different kinds of honey, and sample food pollinated by bees such as blueberries and raspberries! Learn about different kinds of bees and why they are important. We’ll do an easy and fun bee-count with the Great Sunflower Project, www.greatsunflowerproject.org, that you can also do later in your backyard or nearby park.
Fee: $2 per person, or $5 per family. Please pre-register by Thursday, July 25th by calling 651-249-2170 or email
Location: Maplewood Nature Center, 2659 7th Street East, Maplewood, 55119.

BUTTERFLY & POLLINATOR GARDEN TOUR
Monday, July 29, 6:30- 8:00 pm
Learn how to design pocket gardens of native plants for specific pollinators with flowers that attract butterflies, bees and
hummingbirds. FREE.
Location: Maplewood Nature Center.

SUPER SPIDERS
Saturday, August 3, 10–11:30am
Ages 4-10, with adult, 11+
• Spiders are nature’s bug zappers!
• Meet live spiders and learn about webs and spider silk.
• Put together a spider identification book to take home.
• Hike to look for orb, funnel, jumping and crab spiders and webs.
• Wear shoes suitable for hiking.
Fee: $4/child; please prepay by August 1, 651-249-2170

COMMUNITY GARDEN DAY AT EDGERTON COMMUNITY GARDEN
Saturday, August 10th, Drop in between 10:00-11:30am
Join vegetable garden enthusiasts at the garden! Visitors can participate in the Great Sunflower project Bee Count at 10:00am, or take guided Community Garden Tours at 10:30am, and 11:00am. Free!

LIVE ANIMALS
Wednesday, August 14, 4-5:30
Families with children 3- 10 years
Get up close and personal with an American toad and Tiger salamander, meet a friendly snake. Try on a turtle shell or ‘snake skin’ and watch the salamander slurp up an earthworm treat. Take an evening stroll to look for real live animals.
Free. Call to register: 651-249-2170

CAPTURING INSECTS THROUGH YOUR CAMERA
Saturday, August 17, 9 am-Noon
Learn the secrets of photographing bugs close-up from expert photographer Bill Johnson. Bring your camera on a ‘bug hunt’ around Maplewood nature center’s native gardens as you learn how to take successful insect photos using your own equipment. Take away tips, resources and photographic techniques as well as where and how to look for insect subjects.
View photographic print examples as the end result of the photographic techniques that have been discussed.

Bill Johnson’s insect photography has been published in over 800 publications. He writes the column ‘Insect ID’ for Horticulture Magazine.
See his work at: www.billjohnsonbeyondbutterflies.com
Location: Maplewood Nature Center, 2659 7th St. E, Maplewood
Fee: $30/person. Prepay by August 9th. 651-249-2170. Adults

WALK WHEN THE MOON IS FULL
Tuesday August 20 7:30–9:15pm
Families with kids 5 and up.
Join us for a evening walk around the ponds and woods. We’ll listen and look for Muskrats feeding, and listen for the katydids and crickets calling. We’ll check a couple of live traps, and see what furry little critters are out and about. Make your own live trap or bug catcher to take home.
Fee: $5 per person. 651-249-2170. Prepay by August 19.

MONARCH OPEN HOUSE: KING of the BUTTERFLIES
Saturday, August 24,1-3:30 pm
All Ages
Drop by between 1 and 3 to help the Naturalist tag Monarchs on their way to Mexico. Learn about the Monarch’s upcoming journey and Color the Giant Monarch Mural. Learn to identify the nectar plants that are important for Monarchs in the Nature Center’s Gardens.
Free, no registration needed.