Outdoors notes: Youth summer camps, clinics get going

Have a child who drives you crazy with questions about toads, fossils, butterflies, rodents or rocks?

The Sternberg Museum of Natural History, at Fort Hays State University, would like to take him or her off your hands for anywhere from a weekend to a week. When they’re done, the child should be smart enough on such matters to answer any of your questions.

Registrations are ongoing for Sternberg’s 2015 Summer Science Programs and Camps. These are not the kind of camps where kids learn to paddle a canoe, weave baskets, finger paint or sing hokey songs around a campfire. These are serious educational opportunities for budding naturalists.

Camps are offered to groups largely based on age and education. They’re taught hands-on and in some of the top research areas in western Kansas. The classes are led by students and faculty of Fort Hays State and the Sternberg Museum. For more information, call David Levering at 785-639-5249 or email dalevering@fhsu.edu.

Family fishing nights – Jessica Mounts is looking for some families who want to learn more about fishing.

“Basically we’re wanting families to mark a date on their calendar to go outside and do something with their kids,” said Mounts, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism fisheries biologist for the Wichita area. “We want to get parents to fish alongside their kids so we can teach parents how to take their kids fishing.”

Mounts said her department’s Family Fishing Nights will be this Thursday, then on June 25 and July 23, from 6-8 p.m. All are free and at the Great Plains Nature Center and Chisholm Creek Park.

“We furnish all of the equipment and each kid gets a little tackle box,” said Mounts. “We want to make it as easy as possible for them to go again on their own.”

The fishing will be at the park’s Island Pond, where Mounts holds many clinics. The pond is heavily stocked. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

The event is free but limited to 40 people, including adults. Registration is needed and Mounts said last year’s event filled quickly. Registrations can be done online or by calling 316-683-8069.

This story was originally published May 20, 2015 at 2:31 PM with the headline "Outdoors notes: Youth summer camps, clinics get going."