Celebrate!

Today is National Park Service birthday. They are all free so get out there and have a great time!

Here Comes the Solar Eclipse!

Are you planning on learning about and watching the solar eclipse with your young naturalist on August  21st? Our family is really excited and we have some ideas to make it memorable for yours as well.

A great way to start is getting your kids informed and thinking using the Eclipse Junior Ranger booklet that you can download from this site. If you are near a national park in the line of the eclipse, turn it in for an awesome one-of-a-kind badge or mail in your booklet to get a badge

U.S. Department of Interior

National Park Service

Junior Ranger Coordinator

1849 C Street NW

Washington, D.C. 20240

 If you have a cub or Boy Scout in your family, he can earn a special patch through his troop as well.

Visit the NASA 2017 Eclipse website for a countdown, safety information, and list of events. (It is important to  make sure you have safe glasses. They can be purchased here.) Or make your own viewer from a shoe box:

 At timeanddate.com  there is a list of cities in the U.S. to search when the eclipse will be  best viewed in your area as well as a live stream of the event.

Each of you can take the time to write & draw in your nature journal and ask yourselves these questions:

*  Did you notice animals acting different before, during, and after the eclipse? Did the birds still sing during the eclipse

*Did it feel cooler during the eclipse?

*  Did the change in light make the landscape look different?