Explore local animal tracks and signs of wildlife in PEEC’s March Naturalist Kit! Order yours by Sunday, Feb. 28 at 9 p.m. at peecnature.org/events. Then, pick up your kit at the Los Alamos Nature Center on Monday, March 1, or have it delivered to your home. Photo Courtesy PEEC
PEEC NEWS
Help your child learn about the natural world while playing outside! Sign up now to receive the Pajarito Environmental Education Center’s Nature Playtime Naturalist Kit for March. The theme for March’s kit is animal tracks and signs of wildlife and registration closes on Sunday, Feb. 28 at 9 p.m. Order yours at peecnature.org/events.
Naturalist Kits are filled with hands-on nature activities connected to natural processes happening outdoors. Included are materials and information for four weeks of activities about the theme. Participants also have the option to join PEEC’s private Facebook group where a PEEC educator will help introduce the activities and allow time for children to share their discoveries, while connecting with other children receiving kits. PEEC’s monthly kits include materials for crafts, wildlife identification, movement games, stories, scavenger hunts and science experiments. Activities can be completed at home or at a nearby outdoor area. The kits are designed for children ages 2 – 7 years old with adult support.
In March, search for animal tracks and find out what tracks can tell us about local wildlife. We’ll compare sizes and shapes of tracks, learn to identify some common tracks, find out about animal behavior, capture a track in the sand and even look at animal scat and make your own model of scat out of salt dough.
This month’s kit will include the book “Tracks, Scats, and Signs” by Leslie Dendy, a guide to animal tracks of Northern New Mexico, a ruler, a tracks memory match game, finger paint and paper, a nature journal, a local animal figurine, birdseed, and ingredients for making salt dough. The base kit is $30 and if multiple children will be using the Naturalist Kit, participants can opt to purchase a kit with extra craft supplies at checkout for $5 each.
Kits can be picked up at the Los Alamos Nature Center on Monday, March 1 from 12 – 1 p.m. or 5 – 6 p.m. Or, participants can have their kit delivered to their doorstep by a PEEC volunteer. Delivery is only available in Los Alamos County.
For more information about this and other PEEC programs, visit www.peecnature.org, email publicity@peecnature.org or call (505) 662-0460.
PEEC was founded in 2000 to serve the community of Los Alamos. It offers people of all ages a way to enrich their lives by strengthening their connections to our canyons, mesas, mountains and skies. PEEC operates the Los Alamos Nature Center at 2600 Canyon Road, holds regular programs and events and hosts a number of interest groups from birding to hiking to butterfly watching. The Los Alamos Nature Center is currently closed due to COVID-19, but there are many ways to learn about nature and interact with PEEC online. PEEC activities are open to everyone; however, members receive exclusive benefits such as discounts on programs and merchandise. Annual memberships start at $35. To learn more, visit www.peecnature.org.