The Junior Naturalist Program is designed to encourage children to explore nature all year. The group will meet every other month to discover, investigate, and have fun adventures in the outdoors. Nature Center programs at Lost River Cave are designed to give young people hands-on experiences.
WHO: Children ages 6 -12
WHAT: The Program consists of 6 individual sessions. The fee for all 6 sessions is $50 per student. Individual sessions may be purchased for $10 each.
WHERE: Lost River Cave, 2818 Nashville Road, Bowling Green KY
WHEN: The 3rd Saturday of January, March, May, July, September and November from 2pm-4pm.
Almost everyone loves to collect things - rocks, baseball cards, etc. The Nature Trading Post at Lost River Cave encourages children and families to explore the natural world and create their own collections of natural objects. As items are found, they can be added to your collection or brought to The Nature Trading Post at Lost River Cave and traded for other items for your collection.
Check out this short video exploring The Nature Trading Post, and how you can help make this fantastic educational experience happen.
To get this project off the ground we need:
-Rocks
-Fossils
-Leaves, seeds, pressed flowers, or unaltered wood
-Sea Shells
-Dried Sea organisms (such as sand dollars or star fish)
-Sand
-Bundles of dried flowers
-Number 2 pencils
-Zip lock bags of all sizes, including very large ones
-5 to 7 cubic foot chest freezer or $100
-Posters that teach about nature or a natural phenomenon (geologic cycle, insect metamorphosis...)
-$5.00/pound to help purchase bulk rock, minerals and fossils to jump start the trading.
-Clean Bones/skulls, antlers or teeth, cocoons, spider webs, snake skins, turtle shells, and exoskeletons of insects (such as tarantulas)
No items regulated by U.S. Endangered Species Act, Migratory Bird Act, CITES (Convention of International Trades of Endangered Species), or other local, state, national or international laws and agreements-NO EGGS, FEATHERS or NESTS. No living animals, no dead animals that have been hunted or hurt. No items of archaeological interests: if it has been made or altered by historic or prehistoric man. Nothing that is icky, smelly or meaty.
Although we will need donations all year to keep the Nature Trading Post going, donate by December 17 to recieve an invitation to the Nature Trading
Post Grand Opening April 14th!
Young visitors can become
a Junior Tour Guide by participating in three of five activities
outlined in the Junior Tour Guide booklet. Everything you need to
get started is provided FREE in the Lost River
Cave Visitor Center.
Pick Three Activities:
• taking a Cave tour
• leading your family on a hike
• interviewing Park Guides
• teaching others about Lost River Cave and Valley
• showing pride in the park
When three activities
are completed, take the booklet to the Visitor Center. You will
receive a Junior Tour Guide certificate and a Lost River Patch.
Junior Tour Guide T-shirts are available for purchase in the Gift
Shop.
As a Junior Tour
Guide you will:
• Learn about the history and geology of Lost River Cave and
Valley
• Explore nature along the Valley Trails
• Gain knowledge to share with others
• Share knowledge through story-telling and public speaking
• Protect a natural and historical resource
• Be physically active in the outdoors
Lost River Cave is the only place in Bowling Green and
Warren County where you can purchase Rain Barrels. These unique,
environmentally friendly rain barrels are sold at cost! When used
to collect rainwater from rooftops, only 1/10th of an inch of rain
from an average roof can fill a 50 gallon rain barrel. Our rain
barrels consist of a large plastic barrel, spigot, overflow pipe,
garden hose section, and an inlet with a screen. Feel free to decorate
your barrel to display your own personality or creativity.
Rain barrels reduce the amount of storm water that enters the sewers
and sinkholes. The barrels also eliminate the need for excessive
water bills because all of the water is reusable for your lawn or
plants. The barrels are easy to use and will greatly benefit anyone
who decides to purchase one. Barrels are sold for $60.00, which
is the cost of production.
The partners for the Bowling Green and Warren County Rain Barrel
Program are; KY Division of Water, WC Division of Stormwater Management,
City of Bowling Green, UK Cooperative Extension – Warren County,
BGGreen Partnership for a Sustainable Community, BGMU, Lost River
Cave, Central KY P.R.I.D.E., and the KY Waterways Alliance