The Marion Natural History Museum’s Summer Program is accepting enrollments for the summer of 2018. Registration for each class or program is limited to 15 children per session.

Coastal Explorations

Half-day programs involve hands-on exploration, experiments, crafts and journaling while being outdoors. Participants will explore the rocky inter-tidal shoreline, salt marshes, estuaries as well as freshwater riverbanks, forest, swamps, ponds and bogs, as well as taking daily trips to look for the birds, amphibians, fish and invertebrates in the area. Each week includes different activities; participants can sign up for one week, or both.

The program is intended for students entering grades 3-6. It runs from 9 a.m.-noon, Monday – Friday. Session 1 runs July 9 -13, and  Session 2 runs July 16-20. The costs is $125 per participant, per session.

Wednesday afternoon programs

For four Wednesdays during the summer participants will meet at the Natural History Museum from 1-2:30 p.m., to learn about different topics. Intended for  children entering grades 2-6.  The cost is $10 per member, or $12 per non-member.

The schedule for the Wednesday afternoon programs is as follows.

July 11: Exploring our micro-world with the museum’s  new digital/video microscope.

July 18: Travel the world with the museum’s new HTC Vive virtual reality set. Using the museum's new virtual reality set and Google Earth, participants will be immersed into a street level view of various locations.

July 25: Trip to Bird Island with Marion Harbormaster. Bird Island provides a unique nesting habitat for a variety of shorebirds, including the endangered Roseate Tern.

August 1: Participants will work together to design a new display for the museum, using some of the museum’s artifacts, and the students' own artistic creativity.

To register for any of these programs, visit www.marionmuseum.org.