Down on the Farm at Charlotte Nature Museum | Arts & Culture

Hay, that’s enough horsing around! We are giving two (green) thumbs up for local farms and their animals when Charlotte Nature Museum hosts its June Creature Feature event, Farm Day, Saturday, June 16, from 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

"Ewe" can discover the amazing ways farm animals are alike and different from animals you might find in your own backyard. For example, did you know sheep (Ovis aries), have a split in their upper lip that they use to nibble on leafy delights such as grass, lettuce and other tasty plants? Or, chomp on this fun fact: lettuce is actually a member of the sunflower family. Meet visiting sheep, their lambs, and other animal friends up close including:

• Goats [Capra aegagrus hircus];
• Adult and kitten rabbits [Oryctolagus cuniculus];
• Ducks [Anas sp.];
• Chickens and chicks [Gallus sp] and;
• Miniature horse [Equus caballus].

Humans like to munch on tasty tidbits just as much as their animal friends and our palates even share some of the same tastes. The fruits and vegetables you eat every day travel from the field to your fork, and where they come from can make a big difference to how they taste. Did you know that we are eating 900% more broccoli than we did 20 years ago? Take a bite out of tasty gardening secrets, and find out why local farming is important during hands-on demonstrations on backyard gardening. There’s more fun to be had – plow over to the James River Equipment display and sit on a real life-size tractor!

Kids both human and goat also can enjoy story time with a menagerie of tales about our animal pals including “Louella Mae, She’s Run Away” by Karen Beaumont Alarcon, “The Hungry Duckling” by Deborah Kovacs and “The Cow That Went OINK,” by Bernard Most. Go wild during the Puppet Show “Growing Up Wild” and get crafty by making a pig nose mask and scary scarecrows from paper towels rolls. Trails’ End Store will be offering cool items including farm-related coloring books and the Chickyboom Chicken Counting Game.

Also, take root with Fort Wild, an outdoor natural play area funded by The National Wildlife Federation that opens to the public on Saturday, June 16. A backyard play habitat that that encourages unstructured play and exploration of nature, Fort Wild demonstrates how guests can create outdoor play spaces from natural elements found in their own backyards.

Creature Features, supported by The Guild of Discovery Place, Inc., are monthly special events and include crafts, Puppet Shows and storytelling. Creature Feature activities are free with Museum admission.  Admission: $6 ages two and older, younger-than-two and Members are free. Parking is free.

Charlotte Nature Museum is located at 1658 Sterling Road, Charlotte. Hours are: Tuesday-Friday 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Sunday noon – 5:00 p.m.; and closed on Monday.

Charlotte Nature Museum offers visitors the chance to get close to wildlife and walk among free-flying butterflies in Butterfly Pavilion, observe live animals in Creature Cavern, buzz by Insect Alley or just hang out in Our Big Backyard. Visitors can learn together during workshops, summer camps and more. Daily programming including hands-on activities provide the opportunity for structured learning and informal play for kids of all ages. Charlotte Nature Museum is operated by Discovery Place, Inc.