Bloomington launches free year-round naturalist education program
The Bloomington City Council heard a presentation about the Parks and Recreation Department's new Naturalist Program Series, a free educational initiative that uses the city's natural areas as outdoor classrooms for families and children. The program was created in response to resident surveys showing strong interest in enhanced experiences in Bloomington's diverse ecosystems.
Bloomington has launched a new naturalist program series designed to educate families and children about their local natural environment through year-round, free activities. The program emerged from survey data showing residents wanted more engaging experiences in the city's natural areas, according to the program lead.
The initiative takes advantage of Bloomington's diverse natural resources, including the Minnesota River, Minnesota River Valley, Nine Mile Creek, and numerous other large and small natural areas throughout the city. Rather than confining education to traditional classrooms, the program treats the entire city as a learning space, with each natural area serving as an outdoor classroom for different ecosystems and seasonal changes.
The program offers a wide range of hands-on activities. One example shared during the presentation was a "faux sun prints" activity, where participants used watercolor paper and acrylic paints to create white designs on dark backgrounds—a creative way to engage with nature-inspired art.
Program leaders emphasized that the naturalist programs operate year-round because all seasons are important for understanding natural environments and ecosystems. Activities are offered on a free, first-come, first-serve basis, making them accessible to all community members regardless of income. The program reflects the Parks and Recreation Department's philosophy of utilizing the city's natural spaces as educational resources while fostering deeper community connections to local ecosystems.
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Based on a lot of the survey data we've gotten over the years where people are very interested in enhanced experiences in the city's natural areas, we decided to take advantage of all the natural areas that Bloomington has to offer...
We have the Minnesota River, Minnesota River Valley, Nine Mile Creek, and we have a ton of other large and small natural areas that have lent themselves really well to doing programs.
Today we were doing faux sun prints. So instead of using the sun to make prints on special paper, we were using watercolor paper with acrylic paints to a dark background and then to paint white designs on top of it.
So the naturalist programs came about also as a result of us wanting to utilize the city as a classroom itself. All the many natural areas in the city essentially are a classroom.
The naturalist programs are designed to be year round because all seasons are important when you're looking at the natural environment and various ecosystems.
Source document
[0:03] - Based on a lot of the survey
data we've gotten over the
[0:05] years where people are
very interested in enhanced
[0:08] experiences in the city's natural areas,
[0:10] we decided to take advantage
of all the natural areas
[0:13] that Bloomington has to
offer, which there are many,
[0:16] not just parks, but also
other smaller areas.
[0:18] And what we did this year
was devise a new naturalist
[0:21] program series where we
have naturalists go out
[0:23] to somewhere in the city
[0:24] and they're conducting
programs on just a wide
[0:27] range of topics.
[0:28] We're really lucky here in Bloomington
[0:30] because we have a wide
range of natural areas,
[0:33] ecosystems from wetlands
to woodlands, prairie oak
[0:37] Savannahs, marsh areas, pond areas.
[0:40] We have the Minnesota River,
Minnesota River Valley,
[0:43] Nine Mile Creek, and we
have a ton of other large
[0:47] and small natural areas
[0:48] that have lent themselves
really well to doing programs.
[0:50] Among the types of programs we've had
[0:52] so far this year are prairies
[0:54] and pollinators, woodland plants
[0:55] and animals, wetland and pond
habitats, animal tracks
[0:58] and signs, couple of
birding programs, creatures
[1:00] of the marsh, and then also some programs
[1:02] that are educational in terms
[1:03] of talking about invasive plant species,
[1:05] things like buckthorn, garlic
mustard, things like that.
[1:08] - Today we were doing faux sun prints.
[1:11] So instead of using the sun to
make prints on special paper,
[1:14] we were using watercolor
paper with acrylic paints
[1:17] to a dark background
[1:19] and then to paint white
designs on top of it.
[1:22] They were painting mostly
wild plants from out
[1:25] around the area here, so
flowers from the garden,
[1:27] grasses from out in the prairie
[1:29] and dandelions from the lawn.
[1:31] They learned about what
you do with the dead marker
[1:33] when it's done. You take
it and soak it in water
[1:35] and you've got free
liquid watercolor paint.
[1:38] And so we were making little
watercolor trading cards.
[1:41] - So the naturalist programs
came about also as a result
[1:45] of us wanting to utilize the
city as a classroom itself.
[1:50] All the many natural areas in the city
[1:52] essentially are a classroom.
It is our goal to be able
[1:56] to teach kids
[1:57] and families about their
natural environments
[1:59] right in their own neighborhoods.
[2:01] The naturalist programs are
designed to be year round
[2:04] because all seasons are important
[2:07] when you're looking at
the natural environment
[2:08] and various ecosystems.
[2:10] They're all first come, first
serve. They're free thus far.
[2:12] For more information, check out the City
[2:14] of Bloomington website
and you can see the lineup
[2:16] of programs.
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