Celebrate Earth Day OC Style

Earth Day is officially Thursday, April 22nd but the celebrations are well underway in the OC. Some of the events for the next two weeks of celebrations and festivals kicking off this great day of awareness are listed below.

Saturday, April 17th @ UCI 10am - 6pm
Aldrich Park hosts carnival style games, multicultural foods, a car show and multiple stages featuring student performances.

Saturday, April 17th @ Huntington Beach Wetlands 10am - 4pm
This educational and exciting family event will feature interactive booths and a touch tank. The goal is to educate families on how our local wetlands affect our everyday lives. A highlight for this day will feature a release of rehabilitated Pelicans.

Saturday, April 17th & Sunday, April 18th @ San Clemente Park 1:00- 8:30pm
Featuring family fun and educational booths, this affordable carnival and expo will be host to several live performances. Enjoy the day and on into the evening with this fun-filled event.

Earth Day Thursday, April 22nd
Visit the official Earth Day website to find events in your local area to participate in. You can search for events that will be in your city or search by zip code. The website is also filled with ways to reuse, recycle and reduce for greener living.


Sunday, April 25th @ Peter & Mary Muth Upper Newport Interpretive Center
This family friendly day will include the Sharkmobile touch tank, science discovery booths, event scavenger hunt, and arts and crafts. It is a fabulous way to discover the natural resources and beauty of our great planet.

For more information on FREE and Low Cost activities in Orange County visit OC Fun Guide.

Be sure to sign up for our monthly OC Activities and Events Calendar so you won't miss another great OC event and hear about it later.

Happy Earth Day!

Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center

It is remarkable how many free or low cost activities their are available for children in Orange County. Today I was pleasantly surprised at the interactive and educational fun we had at The Peter and Mary Muth's Interpretive Center in Newport Beach.

The center is located in the Back Bay and parking is free. Their is a great little trail that lead right up to the center's building that is tucked away and cannot be seen from the road. Not having been to this amazing center, I was curious as to what we would find when we arrived after our short 2 minute hike. The views along the way were absolutely spectacular so bring your camera for bright sky days like today.

Once we arrive inside we made our way to the children's activity room where we found Ranger Sue reading a book about bats, which was the theme of today's "Wild Tales" program they hold every week on Friday from 10:30-11:15am for ages 2-8 years old. She explained all of the places bats like to call their home and their eating and sleeping habits. She prepared all the little ones for possibly spotting a bat in the night and gave tips on where they like to sleep locally (under the Jamboree bridge).

After the story, the kids were kept interactively entertained with a craft that was all focused on bats, which they all enjoyed. Then we were led on a nature hike on the trail that connects the center to the back bay guided by Ranger Sue, a real park ranger. She was very knowledgeable and pointed out all the wildlife around us such as the lizards, dragonflies, any species of birds that flew overhead and our favorite, the flying fish in the channel. Our destination on this hike was to the bat boxes the nature scouts made for the center where the bats are able to hide in the day. It was really amazing and even the mommies and daddies learned so much.

After the hike, the kids were able to play at the center with all of the toys that feature a wild life theme. Among their assortment of toys were stuffed bats, coyotes, raccoons, possums, and many more local wildlife animals. They had a display of live snakes common among the area (in their aquariums of course) and they had all sorts of information on each species.

The cost for this great morning full of fun and learning was only $5 including the craft. Now that's a bargain! For more information on this program or the many others at The Peter & Mary Muth Interpretive Center click here to visit their website directly.

Happy Bat Hunting!