Severson Dells

ⓒ Photo By Robert Renk

In the plant world, skunk cabbage is one of the first signs of Spring. Severson Dells member Robert Renk captured these images of skunk cabbage March 28 during the Skunk Cabbage Meander at Anna Page Park.

ⓒ Photo By Robert Renk

It’s called skunk cabbage for good reason: It stinks. And it’s a good survival strategy as the rancid odor attracts flies, bees and gnats that pollinate it. Skunk cabbage blooms way before other wildflowers. The plant generates heat and is sometimes seen surrounded by snow and ice.

It grows in wet areas like creek and river bottoms, and wetlands. Its maroon petals and green leaves provide marked contrast to the leave litter that it emerges from.

Even though parts of the plant are poisonous, Native Americans used skunk cabbage to treat headache, muscle ache, hysteria, respiratory problems, epilepsy and various other ailments.

Why bring a child to summer camp? How about because nature experience changes lives.

Rockford Register Star Go columnist Geri Nikolai discovered that last year when she brought her granddaughter to a Grandparents and Grandkids camp at Severson Dells.

The experience changed her granddaughter’s life, replacing a sense of fear about nature with a sense of wonder and opening her eyes to the splendor of nature.

Click here to read the story. GERI NIKOLAI: Teach children to love nature

Learn more about Severson Dells Nature Center’s Summer Camps here.

From the Rock River Times

By Don Miller, Education Director, Severson Dells Nature Center

If you are taking the time to read this article, you are probably well aware of Richard Louv’s book, Last Child in the Woods. In it, he uses the term “nature deficit disorder” to describe the end result of kids not getting outside.

Connor and Donovan McClelland having snow fun.

I disagree with very little Louv says in the book, but I find it somewhat frustrating when we make it sound like the children are the main ones to blame for this “nature deficit disorder.” Fingers are pointed at the kids for being obese, for playing too many video games, for not developing a sense of place and not wondering about the natural world around them. As parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends, neighbors or whatever to kids, are we not responsible for their nourishment, growth and education? Have we not let them down?

I think the key to turning this trend around is instilling a sense of wonder.

Read more

Camp Peek-Into-Creek

Grade level: 2nd-5th Grade (2008-2009 school year)
Tuesday-Thursday, June 16-18, 2009 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

(Early and late drop offs and pick-ups can be arranged)
$55.00 Members of “Friends of Severson Dells”; $70.00 Non-members (Multiple sibling discount available)

Dive into the ecology of stream life; whet your appetite and wet your feet. Take part in the A, B, Sees (appreciation, biology and silliness) of this watery world. We will explore the creeks located at Severson Dells Forest Preserve and Seward Bluffs Forest Preserve. (Campers will be expected to be dropped off and picked up at the appropriate scheduled locations.) The camp will be led by a professional staff with a 5 to 1 student to teacher ratio. (Maximum number of campers is 20.) The camp will end with the legendary creek slosh through the dells in the beautiful Hall Creek of Severson Dells.

Please call to register, or for more information: 1-815-335-2915

Download Creek Camp Registration Form Here

Check out the slide shows from creek camp 2008.

Grandparents and Kids Camp

Camp #1: Monday-Tuesday, June 22-23,
2009
Camp #2: Thursday-Friday, July 9-10, 2009
9:00-11:30 a.m.
Come One, Come All
Young and Young at Heart
(for grandparents and their grandchildren ages 5-12)

“There is no such thing as a grown up person”

Spend three fabulous mornings with your grandchildren enjoying the out-of-doors. We offer a variety of activities to complement differing levels of ability. No need to be an expert, just come and have fun.

“It is not half so important to know as to feel when introducing a young child to the natural world.” — Rachel Carson

$30.00 for members of “Friends of Severson Dells” for grandparent(s) and one child ($4.00 each additional child)
$40.00 for non-members for grandparent(s) and one child ($6.00 each additional child).

Please call to register, or for more information: 1-815-335-2915

Download Grandparents and Kids Camp Registration Form Here

See a story from Grandparents and Kids Camp 2008

Nature Play For Little Kids

Designed Just For Younger Explorers (4-6 Years Old)
Fun! Mud! Water! Bugs! Outdoors!
Monday-Wednesday, July 6-8, 2009 — 9:00 -11:30 a.m.
Cost: $25 for members of “Friends of Severson Dells”
$30 for non-members

Please call to register, or for more information: 1-815-335-2915

Download Nature Play Registration Form Here

See Video from Nature Play Camp 2008.

Adventure Quest

It’s fun! You won’t want to miss it!
Grade Level (2008-2009 school year) 6th-9th grade
Monday- Wednesday, July 20-22, 2009
9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. (Monday)
8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (Tuesday & Wednesday)
(early drop-offs and late pick-ups can be arranged)

Cost: $125 per member of “Friends of Severson Dells”; $140 per non-member
These 3 days are for students going into the 6th-9th grade who want to
experience some exciting places and learn hands-on about rivers, wetlands,
woodlands, and caves.

Day 1 will be spent at Severson Dells walking in and exploring our creek.

Day 2 we will travel by van to a mystery destination.

Day 3, also by van, will take us to Maquoketa Cave State Park in Iowa to investigate the wonderful world of caves.

Please call to register, or for more information: 1-815-335-2915

Download Adventure Quest Registration Form Here

Bird Hike
Saturday, Feb. 21
8:30-11 a.m.
Join volunteer naturalist Phil Schwab at Severson Dells Forest Preserve as we begin by identifying birds at the feeders.

We then will walk outside with the hopes of seeing the numerous winter residents of Severson Dells.

Meet at the Nature Center, 8786 Montague Road

Bring binoculars and dress for the weather. No fee.

Call 1-815-335-2915 to confirm.

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And Sunday . . . .

e-Notes From the Dells

Phil Schawb is the conductor of this group and his job is to get you an opportunity to watch and hear the orchestra of fall birds. Some migrants are already here. American redstarts, black and white warblers and Canada warblers grace the list of early birds spotted at Severson Dells. And more are on the way.

  2. He Walks. He Talks. He Sings. He’s Jim.

Programs. We’ve got your programs. Here’s a peek at the fall. Details will come next week in your printed newsletter.

 

6. A Book is a Terrible Thing to Waste

Bugs! Mud! Water! Fun!

Summer camp isn’t just for kids.

This week, 15 grandparents and their grandkids came to Severson Dells Nature Center for an outdoor adventure, and the chance to bond in nature. 

Creek sloshes, butterfly catching, pond mucking and scavenger hunts were among the activities that people from age 7 to 70 took part in.

One of our campers was Rockford Register Star Columnist Geri Nikolai, who grew up on a farm but hadn’t dipped her toes in a creek since she was in grade school. She wrote about the camp on the paper’s Website in a story, Camp reveals creepy — and fun — side of nature.

It wasn’t the first time I’d waded through a creek, but it’s been 50 years since the last time. And I would not have been there, except that granddaughter and I were at Severson’s grandparents/grandkids nature camp, and the 9-year-old insisted I go in the creek with her. I’m glad she did.

I had forgotten how cold the water feels in some spots, and warm in others where the sun is hitting it. How fun to maneuver over the rocky bottom and discover what’s living under the rocks. Our group found bugs, jellylike eggs, and two crawfish — one live and one dead.

For Geri and her granddaughter, fun was a byproduct; the camp had a purpose. Her granddaughter was afraid of the woods. See related video: Overcoming Fear of Deer

One reason I signed us up for this camp was my grandchildren’s fear of anything approaching wild. Last summer, when we were searching for 17-year cicadas at another forest preserve, 9-year-old refused to walk down a trail surrounded by woods. Bears, she shrieked.

At Severson, she walked down wooded paths with groups, found no dangerous animals, and let on that it was kind of pretty out there. She freaked when we discovered a snake in a downed tree, but later forgot about that as she entered prairie grass to net a butterfly.

Experience is a great way for kids to overcome fear. And there’s now better way to experience nature than with grandma, grandpa, or both.

Read Geri’s story:  Camp reveals creepy — and fun — side of nature.

If you missed it last week, Severson Dells Nature Center and the Natural Land Institute teamed up with 74 6th graders from Rockford Christian to sow 6.5 acres of drainage area with the 40 native species.

The site drains the Red Oak Estates subdiivsion on Rockford’s east side, near the southwest corner of Bell School and Rote roads.

Rockford Register Star reporter Melissa Westphal and photographer John Elbers came out to cover us, as did a videographer WTVO 17 and Fox 39.

Click here to read the story.

PDF version

It was a great, fun and muddy day! Thanks to the students, for giving back to nature, to Greg Keilback of the Natural Land Institute, to Rockford Christian science teacher Julie Rohl and especially to Rockford developer Herb McKiski, who had the idea to bring nature into his subdivision.