There’s many ways to learn, explore, experience nature and have fun at the Confluence Learning Center!
Would you like to see a program here or hold a program? Please email info@natureattheconfluence.com
Click the “Categories” button below to see programs and events specifically for youth, adults, families, and free programs!
Bring the kids to experience the “Woods Of Wonder” programs at Nature At the Confluence!
- Each week features a fun, new theme
- Held each Tuesday, 10am-11:00am June 16 through July 21
- Recommended for ages 4-7. Siblings are welcome.
- Must be accompanied by an adult. This is not a drop off program, adult must stay with the kids.
- Free Program! *
- No registration needed.
- Come once, or come for all!
- These themes also repeat throughout the summer on various Saturday and Sundays. Click here to view free programs.
* This program is offered at no cost to the community through support from Jeffrey and Judith Adams
Program Themes
- Wings, Worms & Woods Of Wonder June 16
- The Mysterious Owl – June 23
- Enchanted Woods – June 30
- Creatures of The Night – July 7
- Butterfly Magic – July 14
- Flying Dragons & Singing Insects – July 21
Would you like to receive updates on new Nature Kids programs? Sign up below.
Whether you’re a seasoned drummer, or have never picked up a drum, you are invited to participate! We have all kinds of fun percussion instruments for you to try!
- Free S’mores are always part of the fun.
- Hula Hoops, Dance Ribbons!
- No registration, Free event!
- Fun for the whole family!
- Event is cancelled if there is rain.
- Join in the fun each month on the 3rd Thursday, June-Sept, 6:30-8:00pm
Become a Master of the Woods of Wonder!
You’ll learn how to make and follow a map, use a compass, and will find and follow trails. You’ll also learn about how people marked trails in the past. You’ll also learn the “Leave No Trace” ethic. We’ll also explore the new Rock River Birding and Hiking Trail to find out what creatures live down there based on their tracks and the markings they leave behind!
- Cost is $5 per family – Registration is required – please register below.
- Wear shoes and clothing that can get muddy.
- This is part of “Woods Of Wonder” program series. Click here to see more programs.
Bring the kids to experience the “Woods Of Wonder” programs at Nature At the Confluence!
- Each week features a fun, new theme
- Held each Tuesday, 10am-11:00am June 16 through July 21
- Recommended for ages 4-7. Siblings are welcome.
- Must be accompanied by an adult. This is not a drop off program, adult must stay with the kids.
- Free Program! *
- No registration needed.
- Come once, or come for all!
- These themes also repeat throughout the summer on various Saturday and Sundays. Click here to view free programs.
* This program is offered at no cost to the community through support from Jeffrey and Judith Adams
Program Themes
- Wings, Worms & Woods Of Wonder June 16
- The Mysterious Owl – June 23
- Enchanted Woods – June 30
- Creatures of The Night – July 7
- Butterfly Magic – July 14
- Flying Dragons & Singing Insects – July 21
Would you like to receive updates on new Nature Kids programs? Sign up below.
The Mysterious Owl with Hoo Haven
Who’s the silent master of the night woods? Come find out when you meet Hoo Haven’s owl ambassadors in this fun interactive family program! Registration required!
- Children must be accompanied by an adult.
- This program is offered at no cost to the community through a Hoo Haven grant from Ecolab
- Space is limited! Registration required – register below
About Hoo Haven: We are dedicated to rehabilitating and releasing, sick, injured and orphaned, North American Wildlife, and to educating individuals to the importance of the conservation of Mother Earth, to maintain the land, clean and beautiful for all. Visit their website to learn more.
All Hoo Haven Programs Sponsored by a Grant from Ecolab
- Woods of Wonder | Tortoise & The Hare with Hoo Haven – Sunday May 17, 1pm
- Woods of Wonder | The Mysterious Owl with Hoo Haven – Sunday, June 28, 1pm
- Woods of Wonder | Amazing Raptors with Hoo Haven – Sunday, July 19, 1pm
Register below – space is limited!
Bring the kids to experience the “Woods Of Wonder” programs at Nature At the Confluence!
- Each week features a fun, new theme
- Held each Tuesday, 10am-11:00am June 16 through July 21
- Recommended for ages 4-7. Siblings are welcome.
- Must be accompanied by an adult. This is not a drop off program, adult must stay with the kids.
- Free Program! *
- No registration needed.
- Come once, or come for all!
- These themes also repeat throughout the summer on various Saturday and Sundays. Click here to view free programs.
* This program is offered at no cost to the community through support from Jeffrey and Judith Adams
Program Themes
- Wings, Worms & Woods Of Wonder June 16
- The Mysterious Owl – June 23
- Enchanted Woods – June 30
- Creatures of The Night – July 7
- Butterfly Magic – July 14
- Flying Dragons & Singing Insects – July 21
Would you like to receive updates on new Nature Kids programs? Sign up below.
Bring the kids to experience the “Woods Of Wonder” programs at Nature At the Confluence!
- Each week features a fun, new theme
- Held each Tuesday, 10am-11:00am June 16 through July 21
- Recommended for ages 4-7. Siblings are welcome.
- Must be accompanied by an adult. This is not a drop off program, adult must stay with the kids.
- Free Program! *
- No registration needed.
- Come once, or come for all!
- These themes also repeat throughout the summer on various Saturday and Sundays. Click here to view free programs.
* This program is offered at no cost to the community through support from Jeffrey and Judith Adams
Program Themes
- Wings, Worms & Woods Of Wonder June 16
- The Mysterious Owl – June 23
- Enchanted Woods – June 30
- Creatures of The Night – July 7
- Butterfly Magic – July 14
- Flying Dragons & Singing Insects – July 21
Would you like to receive updates on new Nature Kids programs? Sign up below.
Time to put your exploration and detecting hat on! In this fun interactive program you’ll learn how to use a metal detector and learn a bit about the amazing history of the confluence land! Then we’ll head out on an exploration to see what treasures we can find buried beneath the soil and in the stoney bank of the Rock River and Turtle Creek.
The Time Traveler Series is sponsored by a Greater Beloit Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors Grant
Offered on two dates:
- Thursday, June 11, 6-7:30 pm and Thursday, July, 9, 10-11:30 am – register for only one date!
- Cost is $5 child (for ages 10 and up)
- Registration is required – please register below.
- Waiver form required – please click to download
- Wear shoes that can get muddy.
- This is part of “Woods Of Wonder” program and “Time Traveler” Series
Register Below
Amazing creatures live in Turtle Creek and Kelly Creek! In this citizen science program kids ages 7-11 will learn about the animals, fish and tiny creatures called macro-invertebrates that live in these streams. They’ll learn how how healthy our watershed is and how they can be good stewards of our watershed. We’ll also take a hike to see our new trail in the Rock River bottomland and learn about this special eco-system.
- Creatures of The Creek is offered on two dates: Sat, July 11, 10am AND Tues, Aug 18, 1pm – Only register for one!
- Cost is $5 per family – Registration is required – please register below.
- Wear shoes and clothing that can get wet or muddy. A towel and change of clothes are recommended.
- This is part of “Woods Of Wonder” program series. Click here to see more programs.
Register Below
Illinois Folk Singer Bucky Halker will have you spellbound as he musically weaves the story of the people who labored and lived at the confluence land…from the men who rode the rails and lived in encampments during the depression era, to the Irish workers who toiled to build the railroads, and the men who labored in the foundries We invite you to join Bucky Halker for a musical program with commentary that features folksongs of Illinois and songs from Woodie Guthrie. This is a program Of Our “Time Traveler Series” which is supported by a grant from the Greater Beloit Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors. Bucky’s performance is brought to the community through the Illinois Road Scholar program.
- This is a free program for all ages.
- This program will be held outdoors if weather permits. Please bring lawn chairs.
About the presenter: Bucky Halker is a musician and historian with 15 albums to his credit, including “Anywhere But Utah: Songs of Joe Hill” (2015), honoring martyred Swedish labor songster Hill, “The Ghost of Woody Guthrie” (2012), an original music tribute to Guthrie, and “Welcome to Labor Land,” featuring renditions of historic labor protest songs from Illinois. Halker, a Ph.D. in labor history, is the author of For Democracy, Workers, and God: Labor Song-Poems and Labor Protest, 1865-1895 and the producer-scholar for the Folksongs of Illinois CD series, vols. 1-5. He has received numerous awards, including the Archie Green Fellowship from the American Folklife Center in 2012, and served as guest professor in Germany at Carl von Ossietzky University in 2016. Since 2007 he has been the director of Company of Folk, an organization devoted to folk and ethnic arts and traditions in Illinois.
Website: http://www.buckyhalker.com
Illinois Humanities is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Illinois General Assembly [through the Illinois Arts Council Agency], as well as by contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations. 
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed by speakers, program participants, or audiences do not necessarily reflect those of the NEH, Illinois Humanities, our partnering organizations, or our funders.
