Springs Preserve provides activities, exhibits

All summer long the Springs Preserve is an adventure, inside and outside, seven days a week. With a wide array of special activities and exhibits offered every day, summer camps and weekends loaded with classes, live animal shows, demonstrations, tours and more, there's a desert adventure for every member of the family.

The Springs Preserve Summer Camp offers young explorers a chance to come face to face with a Gila monster, unearth hidden treasures on an archaeology dig, act up on our stage or go for a swim -- all in one week. There's something for every explorer at Springs Preserve Summer Camp. One-week camps, for ages 6-12, are offered June 13 through Aug. 26.

The Origin Museum's Frontier Gallery is the new home for traveling, limited-engagement, interactive, science-oriented exhibits for kids of all ages. The summer offering "Exploring Trees Inside and Out" runs June 11 through Sept. 5 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It's an interactive experience where fun and learning about trees and the natural environment connect and is designed to help everyone discover nature through multiple perspectives and inspire them to get outdoors and connect with the natural world.

Located in the Desert Living Center, the Nature Exchange is a cool trading post on hot summer days where young collectors can "trade" their natural found items and learn more about them seven days a week. Trained staff is always there to talk to the collector about their find, share their knowledge and encourage further investigation. Collectors gain points that can be used for trading for other items.

On summer mornings, the Children's Playground lets kids escape into the sights and sounds of a recreated desert canyon complete with a gigantic peregrine falcon, skeleton of a woolly mammoth and a massive concrete sidewinder snake.

Live animals abound at the Springs Preserve. Its live animal shows continue throughout the summer every weekend in the Big Springs Theater. The Southwest is home to some amazing animal habitats, and visitors can witness these animals up-close and in action as the Spring Preserves presents live animal shows and demonstrations twice daily each weekend and on holidays. Animal feeding experiences as well as behind-the-scenes tours of the permanent Living Collections are offered each Saturday and Sunday.

The permanent Living Collections exhibits introduce visitors to Mojave native critters and show how animals adapt to survive the extreme temperatures and dry climate of the desert. The Living Collections exhibits include desert tortoises, kangaroo rats, pocket gophers and other animals in their underground burrows, a Gila monster and other wildlife.

Every weekend the Springs Preserve provides a variety of educational classes and activities for kids that explore and explain the desert world. Children can take advantage of a variety of fun, hands-on classes on Saturdays and Sundays starting at 10 a.m. with scheduled topics changing monthly. The classes and activities are organized around the general themes of desert animals, gardening, eco art, archaeology, history, storytelling and more.