Families Enjoy Family Nature Night at Pinnacle
Families that came out for the Pinnacle Family Nature Night were greeted by an array of partners, activities, and of course pizza! Emily and Tabbi greeted each family that entered the school with a warm smile and raffle tickets at the Welcome Table. Families headed onward from the Welcome Table to either eat pizza in the cafeteria, explore partner tables in the hallway, or give backyard bass and archery a try in the two gyms.
At the Trivia Wheel, kid enjoyed spinning the wheel and answering a question or few about Colorado’s wildlife to win a prize. Puppets added extra fun to the trivia wheel at the Family Nature Night. Instead being asked a question about wildlife by a person, kids laughed as they may have been asked by the wildlife itself!
Lured by the smell of s’mores at Mountain Side Gear Rentals, people made their way into the main hallway of the school where many other partner tables were set up. Tempted by gooey marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers, some made their first stop at Mountain Side Gear Rental to roast a tasty treat and learn about the gear available for rent. Others made a stop at the Bird Conservancy to see if they could identify which species of birds were hiding in the background with binoculars and learn about various bird adaptation.
Some families took their chances at history bingo with History Colorado. Here they also learned about many of Colorado’s state symbols and took the opportunity to use the state flag as a backdrop for pictures. Even the teachers could not resist joining in! The Butterfly Pavilion was ready to ignite aw with live invertebrates to look at and a pollinator game to educate people about the many plants that rely on bees and other pollinators. Kids had a blast making the wheel whirl and guessing which pollinator went with the plant the wheel landed on.
When 4th graders stopped by the National Park Service (NPS), they had the chance to sign-up for their free annual parks pass right there at the table! They and their families could to talk to the NPS about the national parks located in Colorado and in nearby states that they might want to visit. The Rocky Mountain Arsenal wowed those who came by with all sorts of fascinating biofacts including skins, skulls, antlers, and a turtle shell. Even those that have a good knowledge of wild animals could learn a cool new fact from this table. The National Forest Service had some great resources and a game wheel available. Many families stopped by to learn about this federal agency and the land they manage that provides so many opportunities for people to enjoy!
From within the main gym, squeals and yells of delight and surprise could be heard from kids and adults catching fish at backyard bass. Outside this gym families stopped by the Great Outdoors Colorado table to test their knowledge of animals tracks. They could mark off things they have done on the 100 things to do before you’re twelve board and take a paper copy of the list home to check off as they complete items in the future.
Archery in the smaller gym was a big hit too! Kids pulled back their loaded bows and watched their arrows fly to the target. Some hoped back in line again and again to see if they could improve their accuracy and hit the middle of the target for a bullseye.
Once 6 o’clock neared, students gathered around, ticket in hand in hopes of their number being called to come pick a raffle prize. Winners picked from a number of goodies such as fishing poles, a sleeping bag, or camping chair. One very lucky family received the grand prize, an annual states park pass that will allow them to enter any of Colorado’s 41 state parks free of charge for one year!
After the excitement of the raffle drawing, some headed out while others stayed until the very end playing and exploring all that each area had to offer. With so much to do, the night flew by and we all hope you had just as much fun as we did! The SOLE program thanks each and everyone one of the families, partners, Pinnacle staff, volunteers who joined in to make this exciting night one to remember, THANK YOU!
