Fun activities created by the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History help students engage with nature and learn about the remarkable resources in our backyard.
By Tara Thomas
September is a great month to explore the Santa Cruz Mountains and observe the subtle seasonal changes between summer and fall. For parents and caretakers, September is also back-to-school season, when kids, restless after sitting in classrooms all day, can benefit from hands-on activities that make learning about nature and science fun.
What better way to engage them than to take them on an interpretive nature walk with the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History!
The Museum has been providing field trips since 1970, and has many online interpretive resources to help kids connect with the great outdoors. Interpretive activities encourage kids to utilize scientific observation to make connections with the natural world.
The walks below feature unique ecologies and ecotones of the Santa Cruz Mountains during a transitional period between summer and fall, encouraging kids to become attuned to the nuanced seasonal shifts and the interconnectedness of different habitats. The walks direct young naturalists through the Santa Cruz redwoods, mixed forests, and sandhills, where they observe firsthand the importance of watersheds, the resilience of redwoods affected by wildfire, and gain an understanding of the various species that populate these habitats.
Quail Hollow Ranch County Park
Discovery Loop Trail
1 mile | Easy | Flat | Loop Trail
If you haven’t made it out to Quail Hollow recently, fall is a great time to visit. Arrive in the morning to avoid the heat, hear birdsong, identify a variety of birds, and observe grazing deer.
This loop trail directs visitors to visit Quail Hollow’s pond before winding through a mixed forest of coast live oak, ponderosa pines, riparian willow, and evergreens. As the loop continues, visitors encounter a sandhill habitat, one of Santa Cruz’s most unique ecosystems, and home to many rare species including the Ben Lomond spineflower, the Mount Hermon june beetle, and the Zayante band-winged grasshopper. The trail ends by a eucalyptus grove, where ground squirrels and wild turkeys are in abundance.
Create an Interpretive Experience at Quail Hollow’s Discovery Trail
Activity: Animal Tracking at Quail Hollow Pond
Use the Museum’s Santa Cruz Animal Tracking Checklist to create an interactive interpretive experience at the pond’s edge, where animal tracks leave traces of the comings and goings of Quail Hollow’s many species. What stories do these tracks tell us about the park’s inhabitants?
Fall Creek Unit—Henry Cowell State Park
Bennett Creek Trail to Fall Creek Trail to South Fork Trail
3.4 mi. | Easy | Incline | Out-and-Back Trail
This local favorite is beautiful year-round, but may be at its best in autumn, when the park’s deciduous trees turn colors. This out-and-back trail weaves alongside Fall Creek through some of Henry Cowell State Park’s most stunning redwoods. Climb all the way to the top to see a slice of Santa Cruz history: the old lime kilns, and just behind them, a glimpse of the CZU fire burn scar.
It may be the fallow season but fungi, ferns, and moss are beginning to perk up at the first signs of autumn. This is the perfect place for a scavenger hunt with kids.
Activity: Fall Creek Bingo with the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History
Use the Museum’s Fall Creek Bingo card to help kids take an investigative approach to encountering nature. Many of the species that populate the bingo card are companion species, prompting kids to draw this connection through inquiry-based learning.
Tara Thomas is the Development & Community Engagement Manager at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History.
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