WEEKEND PICK: No Child Left Inside Contest

Each month, the Harvard Museum of Natural History presents a Sunday afternoon program for children and their families on Sunday at 2 p.m. Renowned authors, Harvard faculty, and other scientists offer educational and entertaining presentations on their latest work. The program is free with museum admission ($9 for adults and $6 for children ages 3-18.)
This Sunday's program - "No Child Left Inside" features author and bird expert Bill Thompson III.

"Kids are fascinated by birds, which makes bird watching an excellent way to get kids out of the house and into the natural world. Author and birder Bill Thompson III spent three years working with his daughter's elementary-school class to create a new bird book for kids, The Young Birder's Guide to Birds of Eastern North America (Houghton Mifflin). He'll discuss how to get kids interested in nature, and offer some insight into countering the growing trend of "nature deficit disorder."

Thompson's lively guide is an invitation to get kids outside and to look at birds.

"At the heart of bird watching is the excitement of seeing a new species. Bird watchers keep a Life List of all the birds they have seen once in their life. There are more than 800 species that nest or occur regularly in North America and it takes even hard core birders to see most of them. This collecting of a list of birds is easy for young birders to get into. Each species account in The Young Birders' Guide has a space at the bottom of the page to check off that species once it's seen and to note the date and the place..."

Thompson offers the following tips to get kids interested in birds and bird watching:

* Start at home in the backyard searching for birds

* Put out bird feeders or seed feeders

* Point out obvious birds close to home - ie Canada Geese, Rock Pigeons, etc

* Get them tools - binoculars, a field guide or a bird book.

CONTEST

Publisher Houghton Mifflin has generously donated 2 copies of Thompson's book to be given away to Bay State Parent readers.

To enter, e-mail editor@baystateparent.com

In the slug put - No Child Left Inside Contest.

In the e-mail, put your name, e-mail address, and tell us what your favorite feature in Bay State Parent magazine.

Winners will be announced on Monday, April 14 on the magazine's blog.

For directions and parking information on Harvard Museum of Natural History visit http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu/plan_your_visit/directions_and_parking.html

To learn more about the museum's family programs visit: http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu/kids_and_families/kids_and_families.html