Thursday, June 30, 2011

July Activities

The Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center offers families art, carpentry,
and nature activities in an outdoor setting at Darden Towe Park. The
Center is open 10-4 on Saturday and 12-4 on Sundays. Admission is $3
per person. In addition to special activities, there are tours of the
replicas of the historic boats that Lewis and Clark took up the
Missouri. Children must be accompanied by a parent. For more
information, please call 434-979-2425.

July Activities

Saturday, July 2: Volunteer First Saturday, free admission for
volunteers 9 to 11 am. We’re going to be working on the keelboat, and
doing trail maintenance. Come swab the deck! After 11, there will be
Fourth of July printmaking, and a Red, White and Blue scavenger hunt.
From 1-3:30 there will be tours of the Red Pirogue, our newest boat.

Sunday, July 3: Printmaking and bookbinding for kids with artist Rachel Singel

July 9/10: Come learn about the plants that Lewis and Clark would
have used on their expedition, and make pressings out of dandelions
and other common flowers. We’re also constructing model boats. On Sunday,
Rachel Singel will teach bookbinding for children. Visitors can take
home their own handmade books.

July 16/17: We’ll make more model boats and we’ll do weather
experiments from the keelboat. Sunday will be the last session to
learn bookmaking with Rachel Singel.

July 23/24: Come earn your carpentry badge at the Center, and also
have fun with clay.

July 30/31: Carpentry Corner has the return of Nail Art... string,
nails, and wood combine to make bridges, designs, and maps from your
imagination.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Volunteer First Saturdays

For years, the Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center built its keelboat with volunteer help on the First Saturdays of every month at Darden Towe Park. Now that we have an entire fleet of replica boats, we're starting up the tradition again with Volunteer First Saturdays. We need help keeping the pirogues and keelboat in good working order for tours and for forays into the river. Anyone can come anytime from 9 to 11 on the first Saturdays to clean, spackle, varnish, sand, and paint, depending on the need. Iced water provided. Call 979-2425 for more information.

June 4th is our first get-together--wear clothes you don't mind getting dirty.

June Activities

For June 4 and 5 we're doing more kite making and flying and trying out of new designs. We're also painting petroglyphs to use for storytelling.

June 11 and 12 there's "Make Your Own Museum" where kids can come and fabricate their own displays. Will it be an art museum, a natural history museum, or a rock collection? There are cabinets to fill and signs to paint.

June 18 and 19, Father's Day weekend, we'll be making hand-made cards for Dad. We'll also have Science Station: Weather, which will include science experiments and cloud searches.

June 25 and 26, Carpentry Corner will feature constructing model boats that you can take to the river or float in our tester tub of water. On Sunday, June 26, printmaker Rachel Singel will teach introductory book binding to both children and adults. Kids can make their own book covers and sew their own bindings.

In addition to these special activities, we have carpentry, beading and nature activities every weekend, as well as keelboat tours and challenges. Hours are 10-4 on Saturdays and 12-4 on Sundays. Activities take place in a rustic barn setting (open air) and outside under tents. Come for a visit and explore art, history, and science! Cost is three dollars per person and includes all materials.