While walking the Paw Paw Trail one of the most enjoyable things to do in Charlotte, I encountered one of our youngest visitors staring into the sky. Always seeking an opportunity to hear about an outdoor experience at the Museum, I asked what had caught her eye. After pausing a moment, she proclaimed with a smile, “Some, big, old trees!” Pleased and curious, I inquired what specifically captured her attention: a bird perched up high on a branch? A collection of leaves exploding with color?

She responded with a shrug that she “just loved looking at the big trees.”

Thinking about my own love for these pillars of the forest, I continued my stroll. Thankful for the... Keep reading.

Starting this Friday, February 18 through Monday, February 21, Charlotte Nature Museum will be participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count. Tens of thousands of avid birders across the nation will be counting birds and submitting their data to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and Audubon Society. We want to help Charlotte, NC regain its rank as the number one locality to submit checklists, so we are inviting you to join us!

The data collected from Charlotte Nature Museum combined with data collected around the nation provides a “real-time” snapshot of where birds are across the continent. The Great Backyard Bird Count allows scientists and bird enthusiasts to create a detailed picture of winter birds and their location. This activity is so important because... Keep reading.

I remember when I was in preschool and we visited the Vanderbilt Museum in Suffolk County, New York. As we hopped out of the station wagon and approached the seemingly huge halls, I remember by the enormous insect collections. There were more butterflies in all shapes, sizes and colors than I had ever seen in my life, neatly arranged telling me the story of each where it was collected, date, time and of course its name. That was the day I decided I loved bugs. This small natural history museum, with a hodgepodge of collections and artifacts, a planetarium that made me feel as if it were raining indoors and the vast property that connected us to the outdoors, was the day that I realized I love all things natural.

Walking through Charlotte Nature Museum, with children squealing with... Keep reading.

What if fish had legs and walked amongst the ocean dregs?
Would they wear blue jeans and shoes and run to spread the latest fish news?

What if flies had teeth and chomped bits of meat?
Would they floss with horse hair and brush with flowers?
Smiling and saying cheese on top of dung towers?

What if frogs had helping hands and croaked and clapped?
Would they paddle on lily pads and twiddle their thumbs while they sat?

What if boys and girls had fins and wings?
Or jumpers and little parts that sting?
Or maybe they squawk instead of talk?
Or maybe hop instead of walk?

Would they cackle like chicks or sting like bees?
Or would they be like crickets and have ears on their knees?

I don’t know friend but in the end legs or gills, hands or wings,
As you watch the moon... Keep reading.

George, an Eagle Scout volunteer, recently installed a “fairy garden” on the Paw Paw Nature Trail. This experience is FREE with Museum admission and all little builders are welcome!

Take a walk and fall under nature’s spell to the enchanted garden where fairies dwell. Folklore has it that fairies are the spirits of the plants and animals that live in the woods. It is also said fairies love to visit houses in natural habitats. Using non-living natural materials, children of all ages delight in the construction of fairy houses. From mansions to cottages small hands create miniature homes hidden in the hollows of trees, on the sides of rocks or even in low hanging branches. Imaginations run wild as little builders use nature’s bounty to design homes in... Keep reading.