Snowy owl pinecone craft

a snowy owl pinecone

Iowa is home to nine species of owls. The snowy owl seems like the Holy Grail of owls, sometimes, since it is so elusive and seen so sporadically in the wintertime. It makes for a fun excursion to try to track down, and it also makes for a fun wintertime craft. To make your own Read More »

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Fabric paint window decal

completed template

Sometimes you go through the craft supplies and wonder how to use up the excess that you have. Let’s say you bought some puffy fabric paint to make a costume for Halloween, an ugly Christmas sweater or for a play one of your kids was putting on for school. (Have extra tissue paper lying around? Read More »

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Color this picture for a two-in-one experience

coyote scene folding craft

I was scrolling through Pinterest when a video caught my eye. I don’t usually like watching videos, but it showed a neat craft where you color one picture, fold it like an accordion and depending on how you look at it, it becomes two pictures. “I can make that,” I thought. It took me a Read More »

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Make your own magnetic stars

felt stars on a magnet board

We have some awesome updates to existing exhibits and some brand new exhibits coming up at winter projects. One of those is to turn our kids area into a space/night theme! (Celebrate winter with a craft stick snowflake) A few parts of the renovation are underway behind the scenes, and one is a project that Read More »

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This noodle art is so fun it’s batty

nighttime scene with noodles

Bats are a hot topic around Halloween. (We love bats — read about how they use echolocation here.) And we love crafts that are both nature-related and fit into the season, so today we tested out a new bat craft. It’s simple, great for all ages and utilizes things you already have around the house. Read More »

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Craft of the week: Paw Prints

person using ink stamp pad to create fingerprint image

Baby, it’s cold outside. That usually means that people stay inside, but it doesn’t mean that you only have to do indoorsy things! Today’s Nature Tots focused on paw prints, and toddlers and their families joined us for a story, an animal track scavenger hunt, touch bins and a paw print craft. For our craft, Read More »

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Craft of the week: Turtle Prints

finger paint bottles

  For Nature Tots last week, the theme was Turtle Power! To celebrate our reptile friends, we decorated our own turtle shells using our thumbprints, and this is a great and easy activity you can do with your little ones at home. Start out by drawing a large turtle on your sheet of paper. (Watch: Read More »

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