A Cozy Nature Night for Centennial Elementary Families
What a nice treat for Centennial families to experience just a week after Thanksgiving. Students and parents had plenty of fun activities to choose from as they filtered in for the evening. Combined with free pizza and an amazing raffle, the event was well-rounded and enjoyable for all.
History Colorado and USFS were set up next to each other and had a stream of children and adults stopping by to try trivia and history bingo while learning some cool facts along the way. What did you learn when you stopped by?
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies set up a great activity that challenged students to identify birds by their markings from a distance with binoculars. Butterfly Pavilion brought some awesome arthropods, one of which could be touched… if you dared! Were you brave enough to feel the exoskeleton of the hissing cockroaches?
Since there was a perfect hallway for it, CPW was able to set up the entertaining Great Migration Game with volunteer Eric! This self-guided game tracks the many adventures and trials that birds go through during migration. Students tried to survive to the end, but that’s not always what happens for birds in real life! Did you make it through alive? Many kids tried again and again with multiple different results.
The Echolocation Exploration activity provided a chance to dress up as a bat and try to ‘catch’ food while blindfolded with the help of a coach calling out where to throw bean bags into bins. Everyone who tried had a good laugh and cheered when they managed to catch 200 moths or 1000 mosquitos!
When 6 o’clock rolled around, everyone took a little break from activities for the chance to win some useful outdoor gear as well as the family grand prize of a year-long Parks Pass! Some winners jumped up and cheered when their number was called while others claimed their prizes quietly but with a wide grin showing. One student even mentioned that she had won a prize the previous year as well! It’s great to see returning faces at our events!
One popular activity was run by volunteer Tom. He taught students about how to identify fish with a fun Magnet Fishing activity. Sometimes it was a challenge trying to find the match to your catch on the fish poster! Wildlife trivia was also a hit for those willing to taste their knowledge about the wildlife in Colorado. Those who answered correctly got to choose a small prize to commemorate their victory.
Many stopped by to check off some of the things they’ve done (by age 12) at the Generation Wild table. Two of the activities could be accomplished at the event! Number 70, see who can jump the furthest, was set up with many different animals and how far they can jump. Students attempted to jump as far as a snowshoe hare, an impressive 10 feet, but no human can match a mountain lion! Identifying animals by their tracks, Number 88, was another fun activity. Whole families found it challenging to figure out which track belonged to a particular animal. Once a guess was made, it was fun to make a track in the kinetic sand provided and find out the answer.
Everyone who attended left well-satisfied and happy. The SOLE program would like to thank all of our partners, volunteers, Centennial staff, and everyone who attended that made the night a success!
