Nature Box Check Out

What is a Nature Box?

Nature Boxes are a reservable, educational resource that includes pre-planned activities around a specific nature topic. They are designed for children in early elementary and can be checked out at no cost.

• Available for early childhood educators at homeschool groups, daycares, preschools, elementary schools, and more.
• Teacher Guide included with background info and activity instructions to ensure educators are comfortable teaching about each topic.
• Activities may include puzzles, crafts, games, finger plays, poems, felt boards, and nature items to explore. 

Check Out a Nature Box

• Contact Naturalist Clair Pfantz to reserve a Nature Box. 515.232.2516 or cpfantz@storycountyiowa.gov
• Two week check out is FREE.
• Boxes can be picked up and returned to the Conservation Center at McFarland Park during business hours, weekdays 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. They can also be dropped off and picked up by a Story County Conservation volunteer during weekdays, if that is preferred. Contact Clair Pfantz to arrange a day and time for drop off. 

Nature Box Subjects

Pre-K through Kindergarten

• Camouflage: types of camouflage, insect camouflage, and monarch butterflies
• Creatures of the Night: night-time animal adaptations, bats, owls, and nocturnal insects
• Dirt and Seeds: soil, worms, and insects, as well as seed types and formation
• Honeybees: bee characteristics and behaviors including eyesight, body structure, and jobs
• Spiders: spider characteristics and behaviors including web design, life cycle, and body structures
• Pond Habitat: life in a pond including tadpoles, frogs, insects, and ducks
• Prairie and Insects: life in a prairie including insects, grasses, and flowers
• Woods Habitat: life in a woodland including parts of a tree, leaf shape, and woodland animals

1^st through 3^rd Grade

• Rocks & Fossils: compare rock types, rock formation, and fossils
• Tracks: identifying animal signs including mysteries and track matching
• Ice Age Mammals: comparing the ice age to recent years through mammal characteristics, glaciers, survival techniques, cultures of early people, and tools of paleontologists and archaeologists

Click here to view the Printable Nature Box Guide to share with your child's educator!