nature center

Limited Re-Opening of the Nature Discovery Center

The Center’s two Discovery Rooms will be reopening slowly, with added precautions in place, as we continue to heed the health and safety advice of City, County, and State officials. We know that each family has to weight their own personal risks in deciding whether or not to visit the Center during this transition time, but we want you to know our re-opening plans so that you can make the best decision for your family.

Our rooms will be touch free until it is safe to add interactive elements back. All hand lenses, binoculars, puzzles, books, toys, and loose specimens have been removed. But we encourage you to come in and visit our live animals and see the specimens we have on display in enclosures. The Discovery Rooms will be disinfected throughout the day with CDC recommended cleaning products for the safety of our guests, volunteers, and staff.

For now, our plan includes the following additional precautions:

  • Restricted Hours: Saturday’s ONLY beginning May 16 from 12 pm – 3 pm (possibly switching to Sundays ONLY after May 30)
  • Limited Attendance: 12 visitors at a time will be allowed inside the Center. Kids must be supervised by an adult at all times.
  • Masks will be required inside the Center.
  • One Way Flow in and out of the Center (please observe directional signs on-site)
  • Hand washing will be required in the upstairs bathroom before entry to the Discovery Rooms.
  • Individuals and groups should practice social distancing from unrelated visitors, whether inside in the Discovery Rooms, or outside waiting on the porch.

We hope to see your family when you feel comfortable returning to the Center!

Please know that we are happy to continue to welcome you and your family to the Center’s Discovery Rooms free of charge. We do welcome donations to help cover our operating costs, including staff time and animal care, and the additional costs we now face in protecting visitors, volunteers, and staff from the virus.

Touch-free donations may be made online here, or in person at the Center via the credit card “Dip Jar” located on our entry information table just inside the front door. We appreciate your support during these difficult times!

Read more

NDC Presents Online Content for April

The Nature Discovery Center presents weekly online content you can count on during these unusual times. Here is our schedule for the remainder of April.

For those of you not on Facebook, you can find our Facebook Live Videos embedded here on at our website at the following links:

Animal Encounter and Feeding Time Videos: https://naturediscoverycenter.org/feeding-time-videos/

Virtual Story Time Videos: https://naturediscoverycenter.org/virtual-nature-story-time/

Park Walk Videos: https://naturediscoverycenter.org/park-walk-videos/

Read more

NDC Temporary Closure Extended – Again

Our temporary closure due to COVID-19 has now been extended to April 30. We will continue to monitor the guidelines of the CDC and the policies and recommendations of Harris County, the City of Bellaire, the City of Houston, and the State of Texas. And we will make further modifications to our closure schedule if and when it becomes necessary.

Center Staff will be contacting program participants and those who had events scheduled during the extended closure window about refunds and any attempts to reschedule programs and events to later dates.

Take care, and please enjoy some time in nature while social distancing (if it is possible) until we see you again!

~ NDC Staff

Read more

NDC Offers Virtual Experiences during COVID Closure

During our COVID-19 closure, NDC Staff have been making Facebook Live videos of animal encounters, feeding times, walks in the park, and Nature Story Time. Teachers, scout leaders, and parents, we realize that sharing Facebook videos with the kiddos in your world isn’t ideal (not everyone has access to Facebook), so we’ve set up some pages on our website with the videos embedded so that you can more easily use and share these resources.

Animal Encounter and Feeding Time Videos: https://naturediscoverycenter.org/feeding-time-videos/

Virtual Story Time Videos: https://naturediscoverycenter.org/virtual-nature-story-time/

Park Walk Videos: https://naturediscoverycenter.org/park-walk-videos/

Nature Journaling Video: https://www.facebook.com/NatureDiscoveryCenter/videos/2683136501812953

Read more

NDC Temporary Closure Extended

Our temporary closure due to COVID-19 has now been extended to April 10. We will continue to monitor the guidelines of the CDC and WHO and the policies and recommendations of Harris County, the City of Bellaire, and the City of Houston. And we will make further modifications to our closure schedule if and when it becomes necessary.

Center Staff will be contacting program participants and those who had events scheduled during the extended closure window about refunds and any attempts to reschedule programs and events to later dates.

As you may have seen during our recent Facebook Live Feeding Time videos, we are continuing to provide quality care for our resident ambassador animals in the Discovery Rooms and in our outdoor Critter Classroom. We are currently working on plans for their future care at our own homes should there be a stay home order from city officials. If this were to happen, we would continue to provide updates on our animals via Facebook and Instagram during their “vacations” away from the Center.

Take care, and please enjoy some time in nature while social distancing (if it is possible) until we see you again!

~ NDC Staff

Read more

NEW Covid 19 Update 3/13

After we released our Covid19 Update for the Nature Discovery Center last night, we became aware that HISD was cancelling their Spring Break Camp programs next week and suspending classes through March 30.

The WHO and CDC have indicated that community-wide measures to increase social distancing will be a key element in the fight against the spread of this pandemic and in the protection of our healthcare systems. Closing schools and cancelling programs and events where people are gathered in close proximity is now a priority.

Out of an abundance of caution, and in keeping with our policy of following HISD closure schedules in times of emergency, we have decided to cancel the Spring Break Camps we had scheduled for March 16 – 20. Center staff will be contacting program participants regarding refunds today.

The Center itself will remain open to the public during our normal operating hours of 12 to 5:30 Monday – Friday and 10 – 5:30 on Saturday and Sunday.

*************************************
From our earlier statement:

For visitors’ health and safety, we have increased the frequency with which we disinfect surfaces throughout the building. Please assist us in this endeavor with thorough hand washing. Hand Soap and Hand Sanitizer are readily available.

In addition, we respectfully request that visitors be courteous to other guests and delay their visit to the Center and participation in Center programs if they or their children are experiencing possible illness, or if they have recently traveled overseas.

Thanks to all of you for helping us keep the Center clean and safe for all visitors.

We encourage you to enjoy the great outdoors during this time, as nature is always good for our health!

Be well! And, we look forward to seeing you soon!

~ NDC Staff

Read more

Covid-19 Update from the Center

The Nature Discovery Center staff recognize the importance of our community’s health and safety.

During this time, we are following recommendations by the CDC and WHO. Our Center also follows the schedule and recommendations of HISD and the City of Bellaire. We are currently following the HISD recommendation of cancelling large gatherings only. We are still holding our regularly scheduled programs, and the center is still open to the public at this time. We will update our site and social media with any changes as the local public health strategy evolves.

If you would like to cancel your participation in any of our programs, we are happy to reschedule or offer you a full refund during this time. Please email us at mail@naturediscoverycenter.org to let us know of your cancellation in writing.

For visitors’ health and safety, we have increased the frequency with which we disinfect surfaces throughout the building. Please assist us in this endeavor with thorough hand washing. Hand Soap and Hand Sanitizer are readily available.

In addition, we respectfully request that visitors be courteous to other guests and delay their visit to the Center and participation in Center programs if they or their children are experiencing possible illness, or if they have recently traveled overseas.

Thanks to all of you for helping us keep the Center clean and safe for all visitors.

We encourage you to enjoy the great outdoors during this time, as nature is always good for our health!

Be well! And, we look forward to seeing you soon!

~ NDC Staff

Read more

Fall Changes to take NDC Discovery Rooms Back to their Roots

Over the next month or so, staff at the Nature Discovery Center will be making mission driven changes to our Discovery Rooms that will take the rooms back to the Center’s roots as a place of exploration and discovery. Visitors will notice a shift in focus from indoor nature play to hands-on learning at activity and observation stations designed to ignite curiosity, understanding, and respect for nature. While we still want to encourage nature based imaginative exploration upstairs, we want to move away from indoor play for play’s sake and hopefully discourage the misuse of specimens and Discovery Room tools that have too often been incorporated into the play-based experience our visitors have had in recent years.

We are excited by these changes, and we can’t wait to see our visitors make new discoveries as they interact with natural objects, explore with kid friendly tools of the trade, “research” areas of interest in resource books, create simple nature crafts, and engage with volunteers and naturalists at themed demo and activity tables. We know there will be a period of adjustment as our visitors acclimate to our new Discovery Room philosophy, but we also know that the changes will be rewarding and worth it! Connecting kids with nature and igniting their curiosity through hands-on discovery is our passion!

What can you expect:

  • removal of the Backyard Habitat house and most of the toys that have been upstairs
  • a focused area for imaginative interactions with a smaller selection of puppets and stuffed animals
  • a general local wildlife theme in the large discovery room with activity and observation stations
  • a more focused bones, skulls, and skeletons theme in the small discovery room
  • an interactive naturalist table staffed by volunteers on weekends at posted times with themed activities and/or hands-on animal encounters
  • more accessible tools of the trade so that kids can explore specimens with hand lenses, rulers, microscopes, and balances, and observe wildlife through the windows with binoculars
  • a “Stars of the Park” exhibit space where kids can bring in and display small curiosities and interesting objects they have discovered while exploring the park
  • increased respect for our specimens and tools by staff and visitors alike
  • an expectation that our visitors will help us keep the rooms clean by helping their children learn to put things back where they belong
Read more

New Small Mammal Added to our Menagerie

Our new male Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec at the nature Discovery Center.

We’re super excited to announce a new addition to our menagerie of live animals at the Center, a super adorable male Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec. Our little guy doesn’t have a name yet and we are open to suggestions! You can leave a comment here or look out for a Facebook Live video later this week and add your name ideas to the comments then. Note that he isn’t quite ready for visitors, but we’ll be sure to tell you when he is! 🙂

Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec (Echinops telfairi)

Tenrecs are found on the island of Madagascar. Though they look and act very much like hedgehogs, they are actually not closely related to them. They are nocturnal, wandering the night in search of insects, worms, and other small invertebrates. If bothered, they will roll into a ball, exposing only their pointy spines. Tenrecs are good climbers, and will make their dens in tree cavities, as well as in and under logs. They mark their territories and communicate by scent marking objects.

Many thanks to Charity Tutt (https://www.facebook.com/charity.tutt) for placing this sweet rescue animal with us!

Read more