Community Calendar

Silver Maples: Intro to Composting
Join Justin Gish, Kalamazoo’s Sustainability Planner, to talk all things compost; from large-scale industrial setups to the tumblers in our own backyards!

This program is geared for adults 50 and up, but all ages are welcome.

Date: August 20 11:00AM-1:00PM

Meet: Cooper’s Glen Auditorium inside the Visitor Center

Fee: Included in regular KNC admission; KNC Members free!

Registration recommended, drop-ins welcome

Audience: Geared for Adults 50+, but all are welcome

Join the staff from Nature’s Way Preschool to learn about the benefits of risky play and how to encourage and develop risky play opportunities for your child. Our preschool team will share photos and video examples demonstrating the developmental gains that children achieve while playing in nature, with time for questions and discussion.

Saturday, August 22, 2026, 10-11 am

Meet: Cooper’s Glen Auditorium inside the Visitor Center

Fee: Included in regular KNC admission; KNC Members free!

Audience: Parents and grandparents

Learn the history and basic techniques of working with tin! Students will make simple items from tin using fundamental cutting, bending, and joining techniques. Other covered topics include patterns and pattern-making, tips for finding tools for home tinsmithing, and the historic wares and traditional role of the tinsmith.

Learn the ancient skill of basketry with common pine trees found in Michigan. Celebrate native flora and learn about identifying the differences between red, white, and Jack pine trees (with real life examples). Use pine needles to craft a small basket (perfectly sized for holding keys or jewelry), plus gain timeless knowledge to create endless designs. Participants will take home their unique crafted basket and tools needed to make more, along with tips for harvesting pine needles ethically. Come enjoy a new hobby, craft from the wild, and turn mulch into memories with this workshop.

Herbal Oil Workshop
Connect with nature’s harvest and bottle the very best that summer has to offer as we create our own infused herbal oils! Join Lea Sevigny of Joyful Wildcrafting for a guided look into the world of summer herbs. We’ll learn to identify local plants and talk about the ways we can preserve their benefits to use long after summer’s end.

Saturday, August 29, 2026, 10 am-12 pm

Meet: Visitor Center Classroom

Fee: KNC Members $16; Non-Members $20

Please Register >

Audience: Adults

Discover how to turn wild plants into effective herbal remedies in this hands-on workshop. We’ll explore the properties and uses of yarrow, elderberry, cherry bark, and mullein, along with additional herbs for supporting the body through several common ailments. You’ll learn basic plant identification, safe usage, and practical methods for preparing tinctures, salves, teas and more at home. Designed for beginners and experienced learners alike, this class builds confidence in ethical foraging and remedy-making. Participants receive a sample of one of the wild remedies covered in class to take home, plus printed instructions covering all recipes.

Nature Journaling
Immerse yourself in the art of slowing down, looking closely, and connecting more deeply with the natural world. These nature journaling workshops are designed for anyone—who wants to cultivate a mindful, creative practice that blends observation, writing, and sketching.

These workshops invite you to step outdoors (or view nature from a window) and tune in to textures, colors, patterns, and stories unfolding around you. Along the way, you’ll explore topics such as seasonal change, nature-based mindfulness, basic field sketching techniques, and how to use your journal as a tool for wonder and awareness.

Please bring your own sketch or notebook. A limited amount of supplies will be available for those who may have misplaced their journal.

Meet: Glen Vista Gallery inside the Visitor Center
Fee: KNC Members are free; Non-Members $10
Audience: Teens, adults
Time: 10:00 – 11:30AM

Raptor Piñata Making
We love working with our birds of prey, and they need a lot of enrichment to keep their brains active. Help us keep our birds occupied by making bird piñatas!

Hiding food in shreddable containers is a great enrichment for our raptors, and it’s great to have unique exciting piñatas for them to destroy. Create a fun new toy for our birds and learn about the ways we keep our predators engaged and happy.

Saturday, September 5, 2026, 10 am-12 pm

Meet: Classroom inside the Visitor Center. This is a drop-in program.

Fee: Included in regular KNC admission; KNC Members free!

Audience: All ages

Please join us the first Saturday of each month at 9 AM (barring special events or bad weather which will be announced on our Facebook page), for "Beginning Birding Walks," led by experienced birders from the Audubon Society of Kalamazoo. This event is free and open to the public. Meet at the second parking lot at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery in Mattawan, just off SR 43. All skill levels are welcome.

We will enjoy nature while typically identifying 20-40 species of birds, plus butterflies, frogs, etc. Over 200 bird species have been sighted at Wolf Lake, which offers a variety of habitats and easy walking trails. Annual highlights include colorful songbirds like orioles, warblers, tanagers, hawks and eagles, kingfishers, Great Blue and Green Herons, and over 20 species of waterfowl. Eastern Bluebirds can be found year-round! Children accompanying adults are welcome. The focus is on birding fundamentals, and extra binoculars are always available. The walk typically takes about 2 hours (but feel free to arrive late or leave early).

This beginner class will be a walk thru the property to examine the utilitarian roles of local herbs, trees, and shrubs. Plants for dyes, fire making, glues, containers, and shelter uses will be explored. Wear walking shoes and dress for the weather.