Tykes on Trails Night Hike with Childrens Nature Institute
Tykes on Trails Night Hike
Temescal Canyon in Pacific Palisades
Check directions for location
Friday, March 19, 2010
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Ages: 4-7 (everyone welcome)
Cost: $20 per child ($17 per child for members)
Website
Now that the sun sets later in the day, head out at dusk to explore the Temescal Canyon with the Children’s Nature Center Tykes on Trails Night Hike! Search for constellations, listen to the croaking of frogs in the creek, and discover the all the night life in Temescal Canyon. This walk is geared toward 4-7 year olds, but all are welcome! Bt be prepared for chily weather and make sure to bring a snack, warm layers and a flashlight. The trails are smooth and all strollers are allowed.
DIRECTIONS:
From Westside and Valley: San Diego (405) Fwy to Sunset Blvd west. Continue (approx 6 miles) to Temescal Canyon Road. Turn right (north) on Temescal Canyon Road, then immediate left into first parking lot. From PCH: Exit Temescal Canyon Road (there¹s a stoplight) heading north. Cross Sunset Blvd into the park. Turn left and meet in the first parking lot closest to Sunset Blvd. DO NOT park at any of the parking lots near the camp store.
Start your adventure at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium with a fun and informational slide show about the fascinating life of the Pacific gray whale. After the show, the journey will continue at Spirit Cruises in San Pedro where we will head out on a two-hour voyage in search of whales, dolphins, sea lions and sea birds.
The release of 80 endangered adult 
An annual favorite in Los Angeles from April to September, the Pavilion of Wings provides you the rare opportunity to be surrounded by hundreds of butterflies, some that may just land right on you. The enclosed tent on the grounds of the Natural History Museum will be home to more than 40 species of butterflies and moths in various stages of metamorphosis. A knowledgeable entomologist is usually on hand to answer everything you want to know about what you are seeing. Timed entrances ensure that it doesn’t get too crowded in the pavilion and that everyone gets ample QT with the butterflies! At $3 per entry (and free if you are a Natural History Museum member) this is a spring staple not to miss. (
Another hands on experience, Kidspace Children’s Museum in Pasadena is once again offering its Caterpillar Adoption Program. For $5 your child can adopt a caterpillar at the Busy Bee Learning Store. Your child will bring home the caterpillar in its own container with food and care instructions. In one short month, the caterpillar will turn into a butterfly and your child can release it into the Kidspace Garden during the Butterfly Release ceremony on Saturday, April 17, 2010. Caterpillar adoptions begin on Wednesday, March 17, 2010. (
What better place to see butterflies than in a lush botanic garden. Butterfly Brigade at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden on Saturday, March 20, 2010 will include a leisurely stroll through the garden searching for these colorful insects in their favorite habitats. The kids will learn about the butterfly life process along the way. In the end, your child will take home her own caterpillar to witness a metamorphosis with her own eyes. (
The Little Scientist’s Lab at the California Science Center offers a Field Trip program for kids ages 4-6 years old. At the How do Butterflies Get their Wings? field trip program, kids will learn about life cycles and explore the amazing transformation that these creatures undergo. The field trip is for groups of 20 kids or more, so if you don’t have 20 friends and siblings to bring on this large playdate, let your preschooler’s teacher know that this field trip exists. Pre-registration is required and the cost is only $7 per student (adult chaperones – no maximum number – are free!). (
Get your hands dirty and feel good about it while helping to maintain the Native Butterfly Garden Installation along Griffith Park’s Fern Canyon Trail with the Children’s Nature Institute on Saturday, March 27, 2010. This project is a part of The Children’s Nature Institute’s continuing efforts to create thriving environmental-science resources for the children of Los Angeles county. Bring your hat, sunscreen and water to mulch, gather rocks and mark plants – the flittering native butterflies will thank you for it. (
A hands on experience for the kids, the Caterpillar Adoption Program is once again happening at Kidspace Children’s Museum in Pasadena. Butterfly adoptions begin on March 17, 2010. For $5 your child can adopt a caterpillar at the Busy Bee Learning Store. You’ll receive the caterpillar in a container with food and instructions on how to care for it. In one short month, the caterpillar will turn into a beautiful butterfly and your child can release it into the Kidspace Garden during the Butterfly Release ceremony on April 17. The day will include performances in the Kidspace amphitheatre and other special programming. 
The cherry trees at Schabarum Park in Rowland Heights are still relatively young, but their blossoms are no less stunning. The first blooms have already started to appear along both sides of the mile-long walkway in the pristine park. Pack your kids, your family and a picnic and hurry 
to the park to take a storybook stroll alongside the iconic beauties. The cherry trees bloom for just a teeny bit of time, maybe two weeks, each year, and once they are at their peak, only mother nature and her winds and rain will determine how long they will stay. If luck and nice weather are on your side, you may have until April to enjoy the views.