This fun program is aimed at pre-school and is designed to provide opportunities for small children to explore nature together safely under the guidance of an experienced PVAS instructor. A parent, grandparent or guardian must accompany children.
Two sessions of programs are held monthly at Cool Spring Preserve from 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. and are $10/child for members, and $15/child for the general public. Additional children are $8/child for members and $10/child for general public.
(If you are not a PVAS member, but would like to become one and receive the member discount/additional member perks, click here.)
Registration Information:
- Pre-registration for each program is required.
- A minimum of six participants is needed to conduct the program. The instructor will cancel the program if the minimum is not reached.
Registration for Fall 2022 Wee Naturalists Program is Open!
Monarchs in the Meadow
September 9
Session 1: 9:30-11:00
Session 2: 1:00- 2:30
Join us for a monarch investigation! We will learn all about the life stages and migration of monarch butterflies. Then, we will explore the meadow to see if we can spot any monarch butterflies as they flutter by!
Pollinator Power
September 30
Session 1: 9:30 – 11
Session 2: 1:00- 2:30
Learn all about the power of pollinators with us! Many types of animals can be pollinators, including birds, bees, butterflies and even bats! We will learn all about how pollination works, and explore the pollinators that we find in the meadow flowers.
Halloween Hike
October 28
Session 1: 9:30 – 11
Session 2: 1:00-2:30
Join us for a spooky hike through the woods and some halloween themed activities. We will investigate bones that we find on the trails as we go for a hike in the forest. Feel free to come in your costume!
Fun in the Forest
November 18
Session 1: 9:30 – 11
Session 2: 1:00-2:30
Come learn all about the forest at Cool Spring Preserve! We will explore some of the animals that call our forest habitat home and play outside in the woods together.
Animal Tracks and Trails
December 9
Session 1: 9:30 – 11
Session 2: 1:00- 2:30
Did you know that you can learn all about animal visitors just from the tracks that they leave behind? Let’s go on a hunt for animal signs and see if we can figure out which animals have been visiting our nature preserve lately! We will learn how different animals walk, and see if we can make some of our own tracks too!
Policies:
To practice social distancing, these programs will be held entirely outside. Parents are required to monitor their child(ren) to maintain social distancing at all times.
Children, parents and instructors are only required to wear masks when they enter a building to use the bathroom.
To maximize safety we will:
- Provide an experience that is entirely outdoors
- Promote healthy hygiene practices
- Intensify cleaning, disinfection of shared supplies
- Promote physical distancing of at least 6 feet between staff and participants
- Only allow participants to enter inside facility space for restroom use and thorough handwashing only
Cancellation Policy
For full cancellation requests by registrants made more than one week prior to a program, participants will receive a refund for half the cost of the program(s) being cancelled. Cancellations made less than a week prior to a program will receive no refunds. We will issue a full refund for cancellations made due COVID-19 or other illness.
PVAS will cancel a program if:
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- West Virginia Governor issues a Stay at Home Order or an order restricting group size;
- hazardous weather that would create unsafe road conditions or unsafe conditions for being outside is forecasted;
- a staff member critical to conducting an event is diagnosed with an active case of COVID-19;
- the session doesn’t meet PVAS’s registration number minimum.
Registrants will be notified by email of any cancelations by 5:00 p.m. the evening before the program.
If PVAS cancels a program, you will receive a full refund.
*We understand that last minute cancellations might need to happen, but please try to let us know as soon as possible, so that depending on the circumstance, we can open the spot to someone else.
The Potomac Valley Audubon Society (PVAS) does not exclude, deny benefits to, or otherwise discriminate against any service recipient, applicant, program staff, or the public on the basis of race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, disability, age, sex, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, political affiliation, or veteran status.