By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The staff at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center is always busy. The KWEC provided 105 in-house programs for school students during April and May. Director Curtis Wolf said plenty more activities are planned for the summer months, including a pair of WILD Club activities. On Friday, June 14, attendees can learn about small mammals.
"They'll be looking at doing some small mammal trapping," Wolf said. "We'll check the traps, talk about animal tracks. There's no registration needed for this. We'll take anyone that shows up. We can accommodate a lot of people for that one."
WILD Club activities take place at the KWEC from 10-11 a.m. The theme for Friday, July 12 will be insects. Attendees can trap the bugs and learn how to identify them using a field manual. KWEC is also offering several drop-in craft and educational opportunities on Fridays from 1-4 p.m. throughout June and July.
"It's a very informal-type thing," Wolf said. "When you come in the door, we'll have a little station set up with a different craft activity the kids can do. It'll probably take 30 minutes to do the activity, then you'll have time to check out the rest of the exhibits at the Center."
Make a seed kaleidoscope on June 14, and create a pollinator puddler on June 21. On July 5, attendees can use shed snakeskin to make a suncatcher, and on July 12, can use the natural dyes of plants to create a hammered flower banner.
There are still openings for both KWEC Discovery Camps. Grades 1-3 will have their camp on July 16 and 18, and just a few spots remain. Camp dates for grades 4-6 are July 23 and 25 with several spots still open. Camps will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on those dates, and there is a $20 registration fee. Parents can drop kids off as early as 7:30 a.m. and pick them up as late as 5:30 p.m. for an additional $10. Camp attendees will need to bring a sack lunch but snacks will be provided. Call the KWEC at (877) 243-9268 to register.
Admission to the KWEC is always free but the Center is again participating in the Sunflower Summer program, which gives Kansas families access to more than 220 tourism attractions across the state. New this year, KWEC will be compensated for each visitor who uses the app. Those who do use the app will also receive a take-home nature craft kit.