Indian Creek Nature Center

In-Service Camp: Winter Fun Day
2025-02-10 09:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago)
Make the most out of your child’s day off school!**
Send them to the “Winter Fun Day” In-Service Camp at ICNC. Students will get to play games and enjoy time outdoors in nature.
Please send a sack lunch and snack and dress kids for indoor and outdoor play. This program is available for all K-5th grade students, with a maximum of 12 students.
**Please check your school’s calendar to see if this is an in-service day for your child.
9:00 AM-3:00 PM (drop off: 8:45-9AM, pickup: 3-3:15PM)
M $55; NM $75
Pre-registration is required for this program. We cannot accept walk-in participants. Thank you!
Register

Full Moon Hike
2025-02-10 19:00 - 20:00
Lace up your snow boots to join a small group of adventurers for a guided night hike. The ICNC prairie and woodland trails will be lit by the light of the full moon, but you’ll also want to bring a flashlight or headlamp, just in case of cloud cover. Night hikers will explore some of our favorite spots on the property. Encounters with wildlife are sure to occur! Hikers should dress for the weather and wear snow boots. Children are welcome, including babies in carriers. (Strollers not recommended). Friendly dogs on leashes are also welcome.
Fee: $5 Members $10 Nonmembers.
Pre-registration is required (and will end 24 hours before the start of the program). We can no longer accept walk in participants.
Register

Creekside Forest School Open House
2025-02-11 13:00 - 14:00
Join Director of Education, Marcy Fratzke, for a look at Creekside Forest School. Prospective families, interested community members, current or pre-service educators are welcome to attend.
Register

Project FeederWatch
2025-02-11 13:00 - 15:00, 2025-02-12 10:00 - 12:00, 2025-02-18 13:00 - 15:00, 2025-02-19 10:00 - 12:00, 2025-02-25 13:00 - 15:00, 2025-02-26 10:00 - 12:00
Project FeederWatch is a winter-long citizen science survey of birds. Join us for just a few minutes or stay for awhile in our Bird Room at Indian Creek Nature Center as we participate in this citizen science project. We’ll send our counts to Project FeederWatch to help scientists track broadscale movements of winter bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance across North America.
All are welcome! FeederWatch is conducted by people of all skill levels and backgrounds. Free. Registration is welcome but not required.
Register

Preschool Trail Trekkers: Feathered Friends
2025-02-12 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-02-15 10:00 - 11:00
Explore the fascinating world of our feathered friends and go bird watching with a naturalist. Take a peek at our collection of bird nests and colorful feathers while you learn about their songs, characteristics and habitats. For preschoolers with adult. Dress for outdoor activities.
Fees: $5 preschooler (ages 3-5), free for ages 2 and under, adults free.
Registration Deadline: 2 days prior to program date
More information: https://indiancreeknaturecenter.org/trail-trekkers/
Register

Building Closed
2025-02-17 00:00, 2025-02-24 00:00

Cub Scout Arrow of Light: Into the Wild
2025-02-22 09:30 - 11:30
Learn about and meet animals up close. Explore animal habitats. Play a food chain and food web game to learn about ecosystems and connections. Explore a model of human interactions on wildlife habitats. (You will be responsible for requirement #2 on your own)
Fees: $10 per scout, Scout leaders free (limit 2 per group), $5 per adult
Registration deadline: 2 days prior to program date
More information: https://indiancreeknaturecenter.org/scouts/cub-scout-bsa-workshops/
Register

Backyard Maple Syrup Making
2025-02-22 10:00 - 11:00
Learn the basics of making your own maple syrup!
Time will be spent learning how to identify a maple tree in winter, how to tap a tree, collect the sap and the process of boiling it down to syrup. Please dress in layers as some time will be spent outdoors in the sugar bush with everyone having a chance to help tap a tree. Sap collection products will be available for purchase at our Amazing Space building. This class is geared towards adults.
Fee: $5 Members $10 Nonmembers
Pre-registration is required for these programs. We cannot accept walk-in participants. Thank you!
Register

Cub Scout Arrow of Light: Into the Woods
2025-02-22 12:30 - 14:00
Trees are everywhere! What kind are they? Learn how trees work, how we use trees and more. Search for and identify trees, plants and animals of the forest (You will be responsible for Requirement #4).
Fees: $10 per scout, Scout leaders free (limit 2 per group), $5 per adult
Registration deadline: 2 days prior to program date
More information: https://indiancreeknaturecenter.org/scouts/cub-scout-bsa-workshops/
Register

In-Service Camp: Outside the Lines (Crafts and Games)
2025-02-24 09:00 - 15:00
Make the most out of your child’s day off school!**
Send them to the “Outside the Lines (Crafts and Games)” In-Service Camp at ICNC. Students will create one-of-a-kind masterpieces and enjoy indoor and outdoor games and activities.
Please send a sack lunch and snack and dress kids for indoor and outdoor play. This program is available for all K-5th grade students, with a maximum of 12 students.
**Please check your school’s calendar to see if this is an in-service day for your child.
9:00 AM-3:00 PM (drop off: 8:45-9AM, pickup: 3-3:15PM)
M $55; NM $75
Pre-registration is required for this program. We cannot accept walk-in participants. Thank you!
Register

In-Service Camp: Outside the Lines (Crafts and Games) - SOLD OUT!
2025-02-28 09:00 - 15:00
EVENT SOLD OUT – WAITLIST ONLY
Make the most out of your child’s day off school!**
Send them to the “Outside the Lines (Crafts and Games)” In-Service Camp at ICNC. Students will create one-of-a-kind masterpieces and enjoy indoor and outdoor games and activities.
Please send a sack lunch and snack and dress kids for indoor and outdoor play. This program is available for all K-5th grade students, with a maximum of 12 students.
**Please check your school’s calendar to see if this is an in-service day for your child.
9:00 AM-3:00 PM (drop off: 8:45-9AM, pickup: 3-3:15PM)
M $55; NM $75
Pre-registration is required for this program. We cannot accept walk-in participants. Thank you!
Join Waitlist

It’s Maple Syrupin’ Time!
2025-03-01 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-03-01 13:30 - 14:30, 2025-03-02 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-03-08 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-03-08 13:30 - 14:30, 2025-03-09 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-03-09 13:30 - 14:30
Bring the family for a maple syruping experience! Discover how easy it is to tap maple trees and make delicious maple syrup. Use the sugar maker’s tools to tap a tree, visit the Sugar House to learn how sap becomes syrup, and enjoy a taste of ICNC’s real maple syrup. Programs are 60 minutes long and are held completely outdoors (except for extreme cases). Please wear boots and winter clothing. ALL maple syruping programs will meet at the Penningroth Barn (intersection of Otis and Bertram Road).
Fee: $5 per person. Ages 2 and under free.
Pre-registration is required for this program. We cannot accept walk-in participants. Thank you!
Register

ONLINE Backyard Chickens Workshop
2025-03-04 17:30 - 19:00
Learn the basic information needed to raise hens in urban and suburban areas during this online class. Following class, registered participants will receive a certificate of completion through the mail, enabling them to get a permit to legally keep chickens in Cedar Rapids and other communities. The purchaser must be logged in and present to receive the certificate. A zoom link will be sent to participants the day before class.
Fee: $15 Members $20 Nonmembers.
Pre-registration is required for this program (and will close 24 hours before the class).
Register

Mardi Gras Farm to Table Dinner (SOLD OUT)
2025-03-04 18:00 - 20:30
This Farm to Table Dinner is sold out.
Join us March 4th, Fat Tuesday, for a Louisiana inspired Mardi Gras feast. Chef Matt Steigerwald, formerly of Lincoln Café and Wilson’s Ciderhouse, will be serving a multi-course dinner starting with cocktail hour snacks and featuring NOLA inspired cocktails.
Bonus: We’ll be doing a traditional King Cake for dessert and the five lucky attendees who get the classic baby figurine in their cake will be entered into a drawing for a Turducken!

Matt Steigerwald is a seasoned chef who has been crafting savory dishes across kitchens in Eastern Iowa. Matt Stiegerwald has the distinction of being a three-time James Beard Foundation nominee for Best Chef Midwest (2008, 2011 and 2015). Steigerwald was the culinary director at Wilson’s Farm and chef at Wilson’s Cider House in Iowa City and Cumming.
Cocktail hour begins at 6:00 PM. First course served at 7:00 PM.
Menu:
Appetizers (passed):
Wild mushroom dirty rice with roasted eggplant
Cajun cream cheese and pepper jelly rolls
Artichoke deviled eggs with roe
Courses:
Crawfish gumbo shooter
Creole Sea Scallops with smoked oyster remoulade, roots hash,
cane syrup bacon, and spiced pecans
Beef Short Ribs with absinthe parsnip puree, trinity gremolata, pickled radish and andouille jus
King Cake with Mardi Gras soft serve and candied orange
Vegetarian Courses:
roasted tomato gumbo
Creole Tofu “Sea Scallops with caper remoulade, roots hash, and spiced pecans
Roasted Oyster Mushrooms with absinthe parsnip puree, mushroom jus, trinity gremolata, and pickled radish
King Cake with Mardi Gras soft serve and candied orange

Watercolor Class: Clover
2025-03-09 11:30 - 13:30, 2025-03-09 14:00 - 16:00
Let’s paint a lucky clover wreath! This is a beginner level painting class and participants do not need any previous watercolor experience. A template is provided so you can enjoy and focus on the watercolor paint! Bring a positive attitude ready to learn a new skill. Supplies included in class fee: watercolor palette, brush, coldpress 140lb watercolor paper, Peerless Transparent Watercolors sample pack, as well as backing board and transparent sleeve to take finished work home*. Recommended ages: 8-100.
Cost: $40 (supplies included*) OR $32 (bring your own supplies**)
**Please bring your own: palette, brush (round 4, or similar size) and your preferred watercolor paint. You will be provided with 140 lb paper, backing board/transparent sleeve will be included to take finished work home.
Pre-registration is required for this program. We cannot accept walk-in participants
Register

Hike it Baby!
2025-03-10 10:30 - 11:30
Parents and their children from birth to school age are invited to join the Cedar Rapids Hike It Baby chapter for a family-friendly hike at the Nature Center!
Hike It Baby is a national non-profit organization that offers new parents an opportunity to connect and get into nature with their young children. Dress appropriately for the weather, as we will be outdoors for the full hour. Baby carriers and all-terrain strollers are welcome, but strollers are not suitable for all trails. Feel free to pack a lunch to enjoy with the group on the patio afterwards!
Free for Hike It Baby members, $5 per adult for non-members. All children are free. Pre-registration is required.
Register
