Science Alive!

I love finding great quality activities for our family to do! It's even better when they are free, educational, and fun! Science Alive, at the downtown South Bend St. Joseph County Public Library, definitely fits the bill. We've been several times in the past and still enjoy returning. I was lucky this weekend and was flying solo with just one of my sons on a "date". We used to do this more often and I've missed doing this. And, after the night at an exhibit opening with a 2-year-old the night before, I was happy to have a happy and complacent 8-year-old as my side kick.

For Science Alive, the downtown library is transformed with tables and people to make science come alive. It's a great place to learn about area resources and get a chance to do hands on science! Our first stop was Fernwood Botanical Gardens. We looked at skulls, touched furs, and learned about adaptations. It looks like they have some great summer camps coming up! We've enjoyed visiting there in the past.

Fernwood Nature Center Summer Break!

A few things I like about Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve:

1. There are plenty of options of things to do, such as visit the library, programs, the nature center, special exhibits, sculptures and artwork, the cafe, the store area, etc.
2. There is a wide variety of types of land--gardens, pond, water features including the river, arboretum, prairie, woods, etc.
3. Fernwood has many "extras" available, such as scavenger hunts, volunteer opportunities, backpacks to check out, geocaching, etc. They have a full calendar schedule.
4. Their membership gives reciprocity to both nature centers and botanical gardens in their respective systems.
5. Fernwood blends "nature" with gardens well. It is a very pretty place with many natural spaces in the nature preserve.
We've visited a few times. Here are highlights:
Stick building with Patrick Dougherty
A Winter Visit to Fernwood

On to our summer break adventure: 

I wanted to go do something with the kids and started heading toward Curious Kids Museum as the weather looked dubious. However, the kids convinced me that Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve would be a better option as it was a little closer. Thankfully, the weather held out--it was beautiful! Entering Fernwood, we saw a long snake crossing the road. Of course, we had to stop, roll down the windows and investigate! There are also numerous sculptures along the drive and within the property. These add to the value of the trip, as we talk about lines, color, use of movement, shape, etc.

Twig Sculpting at Fernwood Botanical Gardens and Nature Preserve

I think that part of my work’s allure is its impermanence, the life cycle that is built into the growth and decay of saplings. My focus has always been the process of building a work and allowing those who pass to enjoy the daily changes or drama of building a sculpture as well as the final product. However, the line between trash and treasure is thin, and the sculptures, like the sticks they are made from, begin to fade after two years.  Often the public imagines that a work of art should be made to last, but I believe that a sculpture, like a good flower bed, has its season.

– Patrick Dougherty (source)

I volunteered a couple of days to help with Patrick Dougherty's twig sculpture at Fernwood Botanical Gardens and Nature Preserve. I heard what they were doing and jumped at the chance to work with an installation artist. I did a little research to understand who Pat is and what he does. Fernwood shared a couple of excellent videos on his work. Here is one from an installation in North Carolina. Here is a clip introducing a documentary of his work in Bending Sticks. There have been numerous articles in the local papers as well. 

Fernwood Botanical Gardens and Nature Center

We've been to many nature centers over the last week and realized we really only needed to visit one more to go to all the nature centers within an hour radius of our house (we think! Let us know if we missed one!). So, off to Fernwood Botanical Gardens and Nature Center we went! We were happy to note that the family membership from Kalamazoo Nature Center allowed reciprocal entrance here. Way to save money! Memberships are also available at Fernwood with discounts to programs and the store.

While specifically looking for the nature center, the beauty of the gardens even in winter, begs us to return. There were paved paths through much of the gardens, so a stroller would work well with little ones. The tropical room inside was neat. There was a train running through it for the holidays.

We took a short walk to the Nature Center.

As soon as we entered, the person inside pointed out the many wild turkeys leaving the feeders. I had never really thought of turkey as feeder birds, but it was neat to get a glimpse of them. There is also a "peanut butter" tree outside providing essential fat in the cold days ahead.

When we were outside later, we found what surely must have been turkey tracks! Exciting stuff!

This was a fun habitat game. We'd been playing (experiment, exploring, learning?) with a circuit board last week, so it was interesting to see the uses applied to habitats.

Scat! We actually did fairly well with matching different types of animal droppings with the pictures. We've seen many of these on our walks in Lieber Nature Preserve and other areas.

There was a reading and activity center. Loved the laminated, reusable sheets. My 3-year-old artist who is writing all over our walls these days did too.

I was surprised he was timid around the mystery boxes. He liked looking inside, but didn't want to touch the items without seeing them.

We found insect displays . . .

Mammal displays . . .

And a bobcat! Our oldest recently earned his Bobcat award in cub scouts.

There were displays about nature in winter and hibernation as well. I'm curious if these change with the seasons.

We played an animal geography sorting game.

We also checked out the herps and fish . . .

It's always neat to see live animals that we don't encounter on a regular basis.

Inside the main building, we looked at the tropical room again. It was great to see bananas growing again.

There is also a lending library for members. There are great titles and resources!

When asking questions about the facility, the ladies at the front desk mentioned a children's adventure garden. Since we're in the planning stages of a natural playscape area at Woodlawn Nature Center, I thought we'd check it out.

Even covered in snow, it looked fun. We have one son in particular who does not like to stick to trails. The gardens do seem like a stick to trails type of place from what we saw, so we'll need to better prepare him before we return. We understand there are many geocaches on the ground and we look forward to seeing everything in bloom. We'll be back!

The gardens offer unique habitats, plants, and opportunities to explore nature. I'm glad we didn't limit ourselves to the nature center, even though we enjoyed ourselves there.

I love the varying heights, textures, colors, etc. Looking forward to spring!