The Natural History Museum is one of our favorite places to tour with the whole family with its amazing dinosaur exhibits, rare gemstones and hall of mammals (just to scratch the surface). So to sweeten the deal and add yet another reason to visit, come check out the LA Nature Fest the weekend of March 14 and 15 where you and your tiny tree huggers can get up close and personal with our natural world in a variety of unique ways. From slime and raptors to crafts and scientists, there are many reasons to make this a must-do event. Keep reading for more highlights of hands-on fun from this festival!
Naturally, a Nature Fest wouldn't be complete without interactive animal encounters. This weekend, the Natural History Museum will have plenty of opportunities for your wildlings to get up close and personal with all sorts o'critters. Hit up the "Rat Chat" in the morning and watch rat handlers feed and train the furry fellas before heading over to the Nature Gardens for live animal presentations. Here animal keepers will bring out a variety of animals ranging from reptiles to opossums (to even owls) and tell stories about how they care for them (there might even be touching allowed depending on the animal!). Lastly, be sure to stop by the Pavilion in the afternoon to watch a real live snake eat a (not-so-alive) snack at the snake feeding demonstrations.
With many schools gearing up for Science Fairs in the next couple of months or so, now would be a great time for your little lab rats to get some face-to-face time with a real live scientist or nature experts. Luckily, the L.A. Nature Fest will have plenty of both on hand who are excited and ready to answer all questions thrown their way! Bring older kiddos by The Earth in Her Hands panel at 11 a.m. at the Pavillion stage where female botanist experts will tell stories of inspirational women working to protect the world of plants.
Celebrate nature through art with a variety of activities scattered throughout the festival that will delight those wee ones who like hands-on crafting. Keep an eye out for the STEM-based team from Boundless Brilliance who will be on hand helping kids create their own leaf ornaments along with an earth-inspired coloring project. Or from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. each day naturalists of all ages can make block printed cards with stamp designs representing California native plants with help from the group at Self Help Graphics.
Exposing your mini experimenters to slime in a controlled environment where they can learn all about the sticky substance and it's not all over your house? Yes please! Here at the L.A. Nature Fest, the fine folks at Nickelodeon (along with Natural History Museum scientists) will be presenting the scientific side of slime and all of its ooey gooey wonders. And as if that weren't enough (cuz' we know how crazy kids go for this stuff), Nickelodeon will even give everyone a chance to enter their virtual slime booth. Win/win!
There will be over 35 different exhibitor booths representing local organizations such as The Aquarium of the Pacific, Face Painting, Turtle and Tortoise Society, and Friends of Griffith Park (to name a few). Stop by the Tree People booth for, well, a free tree while supplies last or create a seed ball to take home of California wildflowers for your garden.
For those who have a strong affinity for aviary animals, be sure not to miss the raptor flight demonstrations taking place during L.A. Nature Fest. These apex predators and their handlers will certainly put on quite the show in the Nature Gardens across from the cafe leaving everyone to gaze upon these stunning birds with rapt attention.
When: Sat., Mar. 14 and Sun., Mar. 15; 9:30a.m.-5p.m. Where: Natural History Museum 900 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90007 213-763-3466 Online:nhm.org Cost: Included with general admission ($14 for adults; $6 for kids ages 3-12)