Field Trips to SEEDS – Blacksburg Nature Center
If you are arriving in a school bus, the driver can drop off your class right in front of the nature center and park in the parking lot.
We most likely cannot provide special programs outside of our normal operating hours, but you are welcome to ask.
Cost:
We ask groups to contribute $1 per child that can be paid by cash or check made out to SEEDS. The nature center is run by Seek Education, Explore, DiScover – SEEDSTM, a local non-profit organization. SEEDS funds the entire operation and staff through donations and grants. The town of Blacksburg owns the property and grounds. Virginia Tech’s Dept. of Biological Sciences funds some of the director’s time and provides some of our exhibit items.
What to Expect:
When you arrive, your class will get an age-appropriate introduction and orientation to the nature center’s exhibits and grounds. We have two important rules:
● Have fun and learn
● Respect the exhibits by not touching fur, feathers, scales, and not tapping on glass.
We have a variety of living exhibits, a play room, a science classroom, an art room, and taxidermy exhibits that interpret and teach about our wonderful regional wildlife. We focus on native species, but also have a few examples of common introduced species (like our red-eared slider turtles).
If your group has fewer than 20 kids, then they can all stay together and spread out with your adult supervision inside at once. For larger groups, we recommend splitting the group. The groups can then trade off doing inside and outside activities. We are located within Blacksburg’s Wong Park which has walking trails, a playground and a picnic shelter. The picnic shelter can be reserved by calling Blacksburg Parks and Recreation at 540-443-1100.
We have a restroom and the building has ADA access.
Typically, class groups stay for about an hour, but you are also welcome to picnic on the grounds.
During our summer season (May 15 – August 15) we are operating with reduced volunteer staff and our teachers are running camps, so we are not normally available to host field trips during summer, but you are welcome to ask.