No Child Left Inside�                          April  2014  

 

A Newsletter from the Connecticut Department                                    Volume 20

of Energy and Environmental Protection

 
Image of Fox in Winter



 




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Have you noticed the birds are singing more, the red-winged blackbirds have returned to Connecticut and skunk cabbage and trout lilies are emerging?  Hopeful signs that spring weather will be here soon.  This year spring began on March 20, the vernal equinox, at 12:57 PM.  The vernal equinox is when day and night are approximately equal everywhere and the sun rises and sets due east and west. 

With the spring season comes plans for the  9th Annual No Child Left Inside� Great Park Pursuit (GPP):  CT State Parks Family Adventure.  GPP is being kicked-off on Saturday, May 10, 9 AM - 3 PM, at Chatfield Hollow State Park, Killingworth and will end on the summer solstice, June 21, 2014.  In addition to other fun activities throughout the seven weeks, on June 7 and 8th, as part of CT Trails Day, we will join our friends at CT Forest & Park Association on hikes throughout the state.   Our final GPP adventure will be a campout at the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs.  Normally we don't tell people at the beginning where the final event and campout is, but this year we are working with the professors and students at UCONN to plan so many great activities (and it will be so much fun to see all the new babies at the barns), we thought you would want to know early so you can make plans to be there.

Seven weeks of exciting adventures! Everyone is invited to attend even if they are not pre-registered, but to be eligible for the final prize families (someone over 18 with someone under 18) must be pre-registered by April 25th, must attend all the events, must check-in at the registration table at each of the guided events and must provide documentation (see registration information) that they attended the self-guided events. Registration will open on Tuesday, April 1 and will close at noon on Friday, April 25.

For more information contact Diane Joy, [email protected]

NatureCentersInterpretive Centers

Dinosaur State Park, Rocky Hill
James L. Goodwin Conservation Education Center, Hampton 

Kellogg Environmental Center, Derby
Meigs Point Nature Center at Hammonasset Beach State Park, Madison  

Sessions Woods Wildlife Management Area, Burlington   

 

HistoricalMuseumsHistorical Museums  

 

Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park, Groton  

Gillette Castle State Park, East Haddam  

Harkness Memorial State Park, Waterford  

Osborne Homestead Museum, Derby  

Putnam Memorial State Park, Redding   

Stone Museum at Peoples State Forest, Barkhamsted   

Heublein Tower, Talcott Mountain State Park, Simsbury  

Topsmead State Forest, Litchfield 

 




FeaturedEventFeatured Events

 

April Vacation Week  

 

Dinosaur State Park, Rocky Hill, Tuesday, April 15 - Sunday, April 20.  Each day there will be a full schedule of films, animal demos, trackway talks and a craft.  On Thursday, April 17 there will be a live raptor program at 1:00 PM.  

 

Meigs Point Nature Center, Hammonasset Beach State Park, Madison, Tuesday, April 15 & Wednesday, April 16.  Tuesday: Snakes' Camouflage at 11 AM &  Native American Games, 1 PM. Wednesday: Touch Tank Creatures of Long Island Sound, 11 AM  

 

Kids' Discovery, Monday April 14 - Friday, April 18.  Monday:  Nature Journaling, noon - 2 PM; Tuesday, Tracking 10 AM - noon; Wednesday, Vernal Pools, 10 AM - noon; Thursday, Owls & Pellets, 1 PM - 3 PM (Registration required); Friday, Scavenger Hunt, 1 PM - 3 PM.  

 

For more events 

  


No Child Left Inside is an initiative of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.