Ambassador Birthday Bash
MAY 23 – Join us in celebrating the birthdays of our Ambassador animals! Do you know how old our Snowy Owls are? What about our Wood Turtle? How old is the oldest Northern Cardinal? We’re excited to share the stories of our ambassadors and how they continue to inspire people to care about nature.
Spring Wild Greens and Mushrooms
MAY 24 – Are you intrigued by the wild world of mushroom and plant foraging? Join Ari Rockland-Miller of The Mushroom Forager on a guided tour of spring’s wild edibles as we search for tender new greens and early-season mushrooms. The workshop will feature a guided foray of the woods around the VINS Nature Center with an eye towards the early culinary treasures of springtime.
Introduction to Birding: Beginner Bird Walk
MAY 28 & 30 – Join us for a birding adventure through the varied habitats at the VINS Nature Center. During this workshop, VINS staff will open your eyes and ears to the avian life around you and help you build the skills to start birding wherever you go. This workshop is designed for the beginner to intermediate birder.
Intro to Nature Journaling
MAY 30 – Take a break from hectic and hustle and embrace nature through the practice of mindfulness. Nature Journaling is all about the process. Get started with prompts to spark your creativity, and meet one of our live ambassador birds to bring inspiration. This class will offer a mix of prompts and tips for writing about and drawing from nature and in the end each participant will take home a journal that is entirely unique!
Raptors in Focus: Photography Workshop
MAY 31 – Join local photojournalist Rob Strong for an exclusive photo shoot with our resident raptors that will leave you with stunning pictures and great memories. With a focus on capturing movement, our hawk and other raptor models will be flying for the camera, allowing you to get amazing action shots.
Treetop Golden Hour
JUNE 4 – Warmer weather and longer days are here! We invite you to enjoy an evening with us in the treetops. When the shadows grow long and the evening light has a golden glow, that is a special time to be in the forest. Take a stroll on the Forest Canopy Walk during the golden hour, spend time with friends and family, and enjoy a cold beer from Lawson’s Finest Liquids. If you’re lucky you may even catch a glimpse of the wild bald eagles.
Yoga in the Canopy
June 7 & 14 – Welcome to a yoga class like you’ve never experienced before. Ascend into the treetops on the Forest Canopy Walk and immerse yourself in the beauty of the summer foliage. Expect a slow-flow class that will incorporate sun salutations, standing poses, balance poses, and brief meditation. All levels of experience are welcome.
Treetop Golden Hour
JUNE 11 – Warmer weather and longer days are here! We invite you to enjoy an evening with us in the treetops. When the shadows grow long and the evening light has a golden glow, that is a special time to be in the forest. Take a stroll on the Forest Canopy Walk during the golden hour, spend time with friends and family, and enjoy a cold beer from River Roost Brewery. If you’re lucky you may even catch a glimpse of the wild bald eagles.
Remarkable Reptile Day
JUNE 13 – Join us for a day celebrating all things reptiles! From turtle shells to snake smells, you will discover the amazing world of reptile adaptations. Enjoy close encounters, hands-on activities, crafts and more!
Treetop Golden Hour
JUNE 18 – Warmer weather and longer days are here! We invite you to enjoy an evening with us in the treetops. When the shadows grow long and the evening light has a golden glow, that is a special time to be in the forest. Take a stroll on the Forest Canopy Walk during the golden hour, spend time with friends and family, and enjoy a cold beer from Vermont Mobile Spirits. If you’re lucky you may even catch a glimpse of the wild bald eagles.
Drawing from Nature: Songbirds
JUNE 27 – Join us in the Songbird Aviary for active gesture drawings of songbirds. Attempting quick and numerous sketches helps improve visual instincts, and will help participants create more realistic drawings in nature journals and sketchbooks. In the last hour of the workshop, you will begin a more finished work on a songbird from your study. Drawing, sketching, and watercolor experience are not necessary, all skill levels welcome.
Animal Crossing: VINS!
JUNE 28 – Tom Nook needs your help! There’s a whole new village spanning the habitats at the Nature Center and the animal villagers have plenty of chores for you to do; cleaning up their environment, restoring habitat, and completing surveys for community science, and of course, no chores go without compensation
Fairy Hunts
JULY 4 – Where do milkweed pods become bathtubs and beds, and acorn caps become dinnerware? In Fairy Town at VINS, of course! Join the Fairy Court to help search the forest for our hidden fairy friends in a scavenger hunt adventure. Learn about and connect with the natural world and discover a little magic along the way. You never know who is waiting for you behind the next tree or resting under the next bush.
Drawing from Nature: Dragonflies & Damselflies
JULY 11 – In this workshop, we’ll spend some time outdoors marveling at dragonflies and damselflies, making our own observations. After our inspiration, we’ll head indoors to sketch, ink, and paint from specimens from VTSU Castleton’s Dragonfly/Damselfly collections. Perhaps a Haiku, or two, or ten will emerge by the end of the workshop, along with some elegant renditions of these creatures soaring through our nature journals.
Incredible Insect Festival
JULY 11 – Visit with The Caterpillar Lab as they showcase a wide selection of native caterpillars. Learn about the importance of pollinators while you meet a local beekeeper and get up close and personal with invertebrates of all shapes with Uncharted Wild. Through demonstrations, exhibits, games and crafts, enjoy a fun day discovering the incredible insects we share our planet with.
Moth Ball
JULY 18 – Ever wonder what that bug is fluttering around your porch light at night? Join a VINS educator on the Forest Canopy Walk at night for the chance to observe, ID, and learn all about moths and nocturnal insects through the simple and fun technique of moth fishing. While waiting for our fluttering friends, meet one of our owl ambassadors who depend on these insects for food and learn how to help out insects near you!
VINS Survivor
AUGUST 1 – Stranded in the woods of the Nature Center with little more than the clothes on your back! You and your tribe of castaways must learn to provide food, fire, shelter and water for yourselves. Learn basic wilderness survival skills such as compass navigation, fire building, shelter building, creating a water filter, and foraging for wild edibles all while competing against your rival tribe in a set of team building challenges inspired by the TV show.
Fairy House Building Contest
AUGUST 17 – 21: Build for fun, or enter our contest for the chance to win prizes! The contest is open for anyone to build a fairy house at the VINS Nature Center. Winners for each age category will be selected by a panel of judges and awarded with a gift bag from the Nature Store. A crowd favorite from each category will receive a grand prize of a Private Experience – Animal Encounter.
Fairy Festival
AUGUST 22 – Discover the forest through hands-on play, and celebrate creativity with the art form that is fairy houses! Build for fun, or enter in our contest for the chance to win prizes. Be sure to hit the trails on a fairy hunt for the chance to explore and learn about the forest around you while searching for our fairy friends!
Hawkwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
SEPTEMBER 5 – We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hawkwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Join a VINS educator for this magical event where you can choose your classes and learn all about the real world magic of science!
Escape from VINS!
OCTOBER 17 – Solve an escape room like no other at the VINS Nature Center! Put your puzzle solving skills to the test all while learning new facts in our three different themed escape rooms – Forest Forager, Migration Mania, and Prehistoric Predators.
Dinosaur Discoveries
NOVEMBER 14 – Join a VINS educator as we explore dinosaur discoveries! Meet some of T. Rex’s great great grandchildren, and get a chance to touch a living fossil in a program featuring VINS live animal ambassadors. Next brush up on your paleontology skills and join a scavenger hunt for dinosaur bones.
Paint, Sip, & Soar
DECEMBER 12 – Join a VINS Educator for a one of a kind – Paint, Sip & Soar – featuring a live raptor model. Get up close and personal with one of our avian ambassadors and garner techniques in painting from life, all while learning about raptor natural history and anatomy.