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Creature Comforts

Activity

Designing Enrichment for Small Mammals

Create an enrichment activity for the small mammals in the animal house. Enrichment can look like toys, obstacle courses, hiding food, training and more! Use items like cardboard, toilet paper tubes, paper bags, or PVC to make your ideas come to life!
white and brown guinea pigs playing in the green grass with a colored ball in the front
Hedgehog in enclosure with fleece blanket and toys

Science Seed

Just like humans, other animals need enrichment! Animal enrichment is like playtime and school combined for animals. Just like how kids need toys, games, and learning activities to stay happy and healthy, animals also need things to keep them entertained and active, mentally and physically. Animal enrichment can prevent boredom and stress, and encourages captive animals to practice natural behaviors like searching for food (foraging), nesting, or playing. Some examples are tunnels, ramps, low hurdles and more.
botany jar illustration

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earn Badges

Badges can be earned through hands-on experiences within each of the 16 branches of science, or “Science Slices.” You can earn a badge in each branch of science by doing four activities in these categories. We also encourage participants to keep a Nature Journal to record their memories, and to express themselves creatively through writing or drawing after each activity. We recommend that each child (and parent if they’d like) write or draw in a journal after each activity, with expectations of your children that match their age (the goal is self-expression, not perfection).

Explore the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired

The Ecologist School Pocket Guide: TSBVI edition is a collaboration between Families in Nature and the Texas School for the Blind & Visually Impaired as an effort to help our community learn more about the TSBVI campus, while getting outside into nature together! This booklet has 80 lessons across 16 different branches of science to help you play, learn, and volunteer on campus!

join Families in Nature

It is our vision to inspire all families to fall in love with nature and foster the next generation of conservationists. Becoming a member of Families in Nature will give your family the opportunity to have adventures in nature, experience field science, develop as youth conservation leaders, and make memories that will last a lifetime. Memberships are free for everyone.

Who are we?

Families in Nature works to create opportunities for nature connection with the purpose of sparking a deep love and desire to protect, conserve and restore the environment. Our mission is to connect children and their families to nature and to each other through time spent learning, playing, and volunteering outdoors. It is our vision to inspire ALL families to fall in love with nature and foster the next generation of conservationists.
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