Community Education Programs in Martinsville-Henry County

VMNH Special Saturdays programs make learning fun. Each program explores a different natural history topic through games, crafts, and fun-filled activities. Programs are held from 10 a.m. to noon, unless otherwise noted. Program fee is $5 per participant. Pre-registration is required by calling the Museum at 276-634-4185.

The following Virginia Museum of Natural History Special Saturdays programs are presented in collaboration with the City of Martinsville's Parks & Recreation Department and the Henry County Parks & Recreation Department.

Contact the museum at discover@vmnh.virginia.gov or 276-634-4185 to register. Pre-registration is required one week prior to each event. Fees must be prepaid or paid in cash on the day of the event.

DECEMBER

Holiday Sweet Treats
Date / Time: Saturday, December 12, 10 a.m. - noon
Location: Virginia Museum of Natural History
Audience: Families
Fee $5.
Why do we eat candy canes? Why are candy canes red and white? What is mistletoe?  Bring your family to the Virginia Museum of Natural History to learn the history behind your favorite fun holiday treats during this fun edible program!

Holiday Creations
Date / Time: December 12, 12 noon - 2 p.m.
Location: Virginia Museum of Natural History
Audience: Ages 8 - adult
Fee $5.
If you love the holidays and all the crafts that accompany it, this is the program for you. Join us in celebrating the holidays by creating beautiful pieces that can be placed throughout your home as decoration.

JANUARY

Walking in the Winter Wonderland!
Date / Time: Saturday, January 30, 10 a.m. - noon
Audience: All ages
Location: Gravely Nature Preserve Shelter
Fee: $5
Join us on a hike at Gravely Nature Preserve and discover how the trees and animals adapt to the changes in weather.

FEBRUARY

BlizzART!
Date / Time: Saturday, February 6, 10 a.m. - noon
Audience: Ages 3 – 5 with parent(s)
Location: Henry County Administration Building; Room #1
Fee: $6
In this program, young children and parent will explore their creativity by bringing the wintry weather inside—in an artistic way! Participants will create winter-inspired art and crafts.

Sunny Side Up
Date / Time: Saturday, February 6, Noon to 2 p.m.
Audience: Ages 8 – 10
Location: Jaycee Park Picnic Shelter
Fee: $6
Come and discover the natural world by exploring solar energy through building a solar oven and creating art using objects found in nature.

Nature Bingo
Date / time: Saturday, February 13, 10 a.m. to noon
Audience: Ages 8 – 10
Location: J. Frank Wilson Memorial Park Stone Shelter
Fee: $5
Hike the new trail in the Park! We will be exploring the new nature trail and seeing what plants and animals call the Park home. Collect natural objects along the way to play a fun game of Nature Bingo.

Geocaching: For the Love of the Hunt!
Date/time: Saturday, February 13, 2 - 4 p.m.
Audience: Ages 10 and older
Location: J. Frank Wilson Memorial Park Stone Shelter
Fee: $5
Join us for a Valentine’s Special Geocache! Learn how to use a GPS receiver and experience the popular adventure sport of geocaching. Teams will locate hidden valentines in the park using GPS coordinates. Come alone, with a friend, or as a family. Bring your own GPS receiver or use one of ours. No experience necessary.

Saturday Engineering Explorers Club
Date/time: Saturday, February 13th, March 13th, and April 10th; attend one or all three. 10 a.m. to noon
Audience: Ages 11 - 13
Location: Virginia Museum of Natural History
Fee: $5
Explore the world of engineering through hands-on activities and guest speakers from different fields of engineering. Activities will include bridge building, small electro-mechanical cars, and other exciting explorations.

Crazy Careers in Science
Date / Time: Saturday, February 20, 10 a.m. - noon
Audience: Ages 12 - 14
Location: Virginia Museum of Natural History
Fee: $5
In this program kids will get to see the benefits of studying science and the many opportunities they have after completing high school. Participants will do scientific explorations to see which field they enjoy most and take a behind-the-scenes tour of the museum’s labs.

Animal Survival Games
Date / Time: Saturday, February 27, 10 a.m. - noon
Audience: Ages 8 – 10
Location: Jack Dalton Park
Fee: $5
Tired of being stuck inside all the time? Join us at Jack Dalton Park to get active and learn at the same time. Become a snake, a wolf, a bird and more while learning about how animals survive through the winter with active games. Running may be required!

MARCH

The Awesome Science Sleepover
Date / Time: Friday March 5 – 6, 6 p.m. - 9 a.m.
Location: Virginia Museum of Natural History
Audience: Ages 9 - 11 with a parent(s)
Fee: $40
Love science, exploring and discovering, learning new things, and getting a little messy in the process? Then, you will love this sleepover! Join us for a night of discovery and non-stop science explorations at the Virginia Museum of Natural History. Pizza dinner, snacks, and a continental breakfast are included. 

Wonderful Winds!
Date / Time: Saturday, March 6, 10 a.m. - noon
Audience: Ages 6 - 8
Location: Jaycee Park Picnic Shelter
Fee: $5
In celebration of the month that comes in “like a lion,” this program explores the magic of wind! What causes the wind? How does it benefit us? Learn about wind through demonstrations and hands-on activities.

Wonderful Winds!
Date / Time: Saturday, March 6, 1 - 3 p.m.
Audience: Ages 3 – 5 with parent(s)
Location: Jaycee Park Picnic Shelter
Fee: $5
In celebration of the month that comes in “like a lion,” this program explores the magic of wind! What causes the wind? How does it benefit us? Learn about wind through demonstrations and hands-on activities.

Shiverless Shelter
Date/time: Saturday, March 13, 10 a.m – 12 noon
Ages 5 – 10
Location: J. Frank Wilson Memorial Park Stone Shelter
Fee: $5
Learn about what kinds of shelter animals use to help keep them warm through the winter, and see if you can spot any in the park. Then groups will work together to design and build their own shelter for an imaginary species. What will your shelter look like?

The Luck of the Artist
Date/time: Saturday, March 13, 2010, 10 a.m. – noon
Audience: Ages 3 - 5 with parent(s)
Location: Virginia Museum of Natural History
Fee: $6
Celebrate St. Patrick's Day at the Museum! Join us in observance of this “green” holiday with hands-on activities and crafts inspired by St Patrick's Day and its history.

Alien Invasion!
Date/time: Saturday, March 13, 2 - 4 p.m.
Audience: All ages
Location: Virginia Museum Natural History
Fee: $5
Discover the invasive species of the area and their affects on the habitat. Also, find out what you can do to help keep our local species in their home sweet home.

The Great Escape
Date/time: Saturday, March 20, 10 a.m. – noon
Audience: Ages 8 – 10
Location: J. Frank Wilson Memorial Park Stone Shelter
Fee: $5
Join us at Frank Wilson Park where you can play a game to help you understand the relationship between predator and prey. Participants will become wolves and bison in this high action game.

The Next Big Thing: How Small Can We Go?
Date/time: Saturday, March 20, 10 am - 12 noon
Audience: Ages 10 and above.
Location: Virginia Museum of Natural History
Fee: $5
Join us on a journey through the nanoworld, first understanding what it is to be at the tiny 1/1,000,000,000th scale. Our investigation will continue with a probe into nanotechnology from today to tomorrow, through the use of everyday objects such as MP3 players, cars, and textiles. See how the Museum’s scanning electron microscope works from the inside out.

Family Kite Festival
Date / Time: Saturday, March 20 (rain day March 27), 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Location: Jack Dalton Park
Audience: All ages
Fee: Free
Come out to Jack Dalton Park to play games, fly kites, and see amazing demonstrations that would not be possible without wind! Door prizes, kites and other fun things will be given out!

A Night Under the Stars
Date / Time: Saturday, March 20, 7 - 8:30 p.m.
Audience: Ages 10 and above
Location: Jack Dalton Park
Fee: $5
Find out what’s up tonight in the nighttime sky. Participants will learn how to navigate around the sky and locate some of the more common objects.

What's Been There?
Date / Time: Saturday, March 27, 10 a.m. - noon
Audience: All ages
Location: Doe Run Park
Cost: $5
Enjoy the trails at Doe Run Park to observe animal homes, tracks, and scat. Participants will make common animal track prints to take home.

APRIL

Geocaching: Cache Egg Hunt
Date / Time: Saturday, April 3, 2 - 4 p.m.
Audience: Age 10 and above
Location: Gravely Nature Preserve Shelter
Cost: $5
Join us for a new kind of egg hunt! Learn how to use a GPS receiver and how to go geocaching- a popular adventure sport using GPS. Teams will locate hidden eggs throughout the park using GPS coordinates. Come alone, with a friend, or as a family. Bring your own GPS receiver or use one of ours. No experience necessary.

Hopping Down the Bunny Trail
Day/time: Saturday, April 3, 1 - 3 p.m.
Audience: Ages 3 – 5 with parent(s)
Location: J. Frank Wilson Memorial Park Stone Shelter
Fee: $5
Engage your toddler in this interactive program that explores rabbits just in time for the Easter Bunny. Discover what they eat, try to find a rabbit with a trail walk, and even participate in some cool rabbit games.

Nature Crafts
Date / Time: Saturday, April 10, 10 a.m. - 12 noon
Audience: All ages
Location: Fieldale Park
Fee: $5
Spring is in the air! Join us as we use natural items such as leaves, pinecones, and rocks to create fun Springtime crafts.

Bug Blitz
Date / Time: Saturday, April 10, 2 - 4 p.m.
Audience: All ages
Location: Gravely Nature Preserve Shelter
Fee: $5
Bring the whole family out to investigate the diversity of Gravely Nature Preserve as we explore the tiny critters crawling right under our noses.

Let Your Garden Grow!
Date/time: Saturday, April 10, 10 a.m. – noon
Audience: All ages
Location: J. Frank Wilson Memorial Park Stone Shelter
Fee: $7
Get your gardening started early by planting starter seeds in containers. We’ll plant seeds that you will keep indoors until after the threat of frost, and then you’ll be able to plant the seedlings in your garden and watch them grow. We’ll talk about plant care and learn what plants need to survive. Seeds, soil, and containers will be provided.

What's Been Here?
Date/time: Saturday, April 17, 10 a.m. – noon
Audeince: All ages
Location: J. Frank Wilson Memorial Park Stone Shelter
Fee: $5
Walk the trails of the Park to look for animals homes, tracks, and scat.

2010 Earth Week
Date: April 17 - 24
Audience: All Ages
Location: Various locations throughout the community
Join MHC Community Nature Initiative’s celebration of the Earth. From April 17 through April 24 community partners are planning a variety of activities including an outdoor movie, a 5K run, geocaching, guided hikes, and other special Earth-friendly programs. Activities will be held at various locations around the community. For more information about events, visit. http://www.mhccni.org.

Screen-on-the-Green
Date / Time: Friday, April 23.  Activities start at 6 p.m.; movie starts at 7 p.m.
Audience: All ages
Location: Jack Dalton Park
Fee: Free
As part of Earth Week, come join us at Jack Dalton Park for a movie under the stars. Fun games and activities will begin at 6 p.m. - an hour before the movie.  Screen-on-the-Green features a family-oriented movie complete with popcorn and soft drinks in the great outdoors! Bring a blanket or your favorite lounge chair; the movie starts at sunset.

Earth Day Celebration
Date / Time: Saturday, April 24 (rain date April 25), 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Audience: All ages
Location: Jack Dalton Park
Cost: Free
Join MHC community partners at Jack Dalton Park for fun Earth Day games and activities! We will be displaying creative ways to be green and take care of our planet the way it takes care of us!

100th Anniversary Boy Scouts Camp-Out
Date / Time: April 30 - May 1, 6 p.m. - 11 a.m.
Audience: Boy scouts and adult leaders
Location: Fisher Farm Park
Fee: $55
Bring your tents and sleeping bags and join us for a night of celebration under the stars with storytelling and s’mores, full of fun activities scouts of all ages will enjoy. Dinner, snacks, and a continental breakfast are included.

MAY

Fiesta Fun
Date/time: Saturday, May 1, 1 – 3 p.m.
Audience: Ages 3 to 5 with parent(s)
Location: Virginia Museum of Natural History
Fee: $6
Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with us!  Experience the history behind this Mexican holiday and discover its importance. Young children (3 – 5 years) and an adult are invited to join the celebration through playing games and making crafts that are related to the festival.

Yard Debris: Life Goes On
Date/time: Saturday, May 1, 10 a.m. – noon
Audience: All ages
Location: J. Frank Wilson Memorial Park Stone Shelter
Fee: $5
Learn all about the process of composting and make a mini-compost to take home. Participants will see the demonstration compost bin in the Park.