Mondays | June 3 – July 29, 2024 | 8:30 – 11 AM |
Children’s Ramada | Free with Admission
Join us this summer as we get in touch with nature and make some desert discoveries! Each week will focus on a different desert theme – from cactus to clouds. Come gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the desert we call home. There is something for everyone this summer at Desert Discovery Days! All ages are welcome.
Don’t forget to bring a hat and water bottle!
ACTIVITIES
Connect to Nature
Nature Journaling
Bring your curiosity and wonder as we deepen our connection with nature through the art of Nature Journaling. We will follow the prompts I notice… I wonder… It reminds me of… Each week we will chronicle our Sonoran adventures in new ways.
Nature Support
Native Bee Habitat
We are home to over 1,000 species of solitary bees! These bees don’t live in a colony nor build a hive. They live on their own in holes in plants or in the ground. Learn how to make them a new home using adobe and take home your own bee habitats.
Bird Feeder
The Tucson area is home to over 500 bird species. Many birds are migratory while others are permanent residents that enjoy our desert weather year round. Let’s make a bird feeder to make sure all birds that pass by have a food source in your neighborhood.
Start a Seed
Sonoran Seed Harvest You do not need to go to the store to buy seeds, you can collect them anywhere in town. The best time to harvest seeds is when the environment is at its dryest, before the monsoon. Learn how to harvest seeds and grow them for your gardens at home.
Tepary Bean
Plant and take home the most heat resistant food crop and Sonoran Desert native, the Tepary Bean! Learn how to take care of your Tepary Bean plant from seedling to harvest.
Nature Adventures
Private Eye
Hone your observation skill as you become a Private Eye and investigate the natural world using a hand lens and microscope to unlock mysteries of unseen environments.
Nature Adventure
Hike our trails and keep a keen eye open. Check as many different species as you can find off of your Tohono Chul Nature Guide list.
Weekly Nature Themes
NIGHT BLOOMING CEREUS
July 15th
Meet the Queen of the Night, the star of Tohono Chul. Discover how this unique desert survivor thrives in our region, showcasing its remarkable resilience and beauty.
Activity | Private Eye
MONSOON RAIN
July 22nd
A true desert revival, visit our Sin Agua Garden and Sonoran Seasons Garden to learn more about how this thunderous event brings new life.
Activity | Start a Seed: Tepary Bean
BIRDS
July 29th
Our avian friends are well-adapted to desert life. Discover the incredible diversity of bird species that make the Sonoran Desert their home.
Activity | Nature Support: Bird Feeder
While you’re here exploring the gardens,
check out our on-site mobile scavenger hunts here!
Desert Players Performances
June 20th & July 18 | 10am | Education Center | Free with Admission
Follow That Star
The Desert Players of Tohono Chul, a live-action pantomime group, are back again this summer with another entertaining and educational show about the desert and the fascinating creatures who live here.
Come along with Shadow and Eve, two Lesser Long-nosed bats as they make their way home on migration to our desert from far down in Mexico. But wait…Shadow has arrived, yet Eve is still missing. What has happened to her? Has she been eaten by a predator, or is she lost, or has she come to some kind of peril along the way?
Meet familiar characters such as Night Eyes, the Great Horned Owl, and Ditzy Star, who has fallen down from the sky, as well as our two charming Elf Owls, Midget and Moonbeam, who all offer their thoughts as to where Eve might be. But a mystical Barn Owl named Spirit may have the answer. After all, he can see into the future and knows secrets about many things that happen in the dark hours of the night.
After the show, children will have the chance to dance with the characters and have pictures taken too. Then they will leave with an informative packet with two mask templates, a bat and an owl, so that they can create their own masks at home.
MORE CHANCES TO SEE THE DESERT PLAYERS PERFORM
Friday, June 7, 2024
8:30 AM
Steam Pump Ranch
Thursday, June 13th, 2024
3:00 PM
Wheeler Taft Abbett Sr. Library
Wednesday, July 3, 2024
3:00 PM
Eckstrom-Columbus Library
Friday, July 5th, 2024
10:00 AM
W. Anne Gibson-Esmond Station Library
Tuesday, July 23rd, 2024
2:00 PM
Joel D. Valdez Main Library