Part of 1000 Islands Environmental Center’s mission is to provide knowledge and skills to build a sustainable balance between the environment, economy and community. In keeping with our mission, we provide nature inspired educational opportunities for children and adults throughout the year.
School Field Trips and Summer Camps
Over 18,000 school children from Northeast Wisconsin make this their environmental field trip each year. We offer a variety of naturalist-led field trip options for Pre-K through High School. All programs are designed to provide hands-on experience in nature by utilizing items such as animal mounts or skulls, live crayfish or worms, sap from maple trees, or digging up soil and gathering water from the Fox River. Many programs have an indoor classroom element as well as an outdoor activity and/or hike on a trail.
Program Guide (PDF)
Program Listings (PDF)
Field Trip Request Form (PDF)
Public Programs and Events
1000 Islands provides environmental based education opportunities throughout the year. Each winter we host an Eagle Days event for everyone to learn about the Bald Eagle and the opportunity to see a live eagle soaring above the river or perched on a branch looking for a meal. Spring is welcomed at the Nature Center when sap is flowing from our maple trees and time to make delicious maple syrup. Each May the Friends of 1000 Islands host a nature inspired art fair. The summer is always the best time to borrow a net and bucket to catch crayfish in the Konkapot Creek. Fall is especially special at 1000 Islands with our new event Focus on the Fox, bird migration, goats on-site to help eliminate invasive species and storybook walks on the trail.
Programing changes seasonally at 1000 Islands and varies each year. We always provide live presentations which can be on migratory birds, reptiles or raptors. Programs may include workshops on bird feeding, seed starting, recycling/composting, beehives and making honey, and attracting monarch butterflies. Family events can vary from naturalist-led hikes and campfires, storybook walks and activities, and scavenger hunts.
Here is a list of current and upcoming programs: