Upcoming Events

Grab some work gloves, help restore the environment, and get a behind-the-scenes look at your preserves!

The Dunn Museum will be open to those who need a calm and quiet visit before it is open to the public. A quiet room for stimulation breaks will be accessible. Creative crafts and manipulatives will be provided in our café space.

Grab some work gloves, help restore the environment, and get a behind-the-scenes look at your preserves!

Grab some work gloves, help restore the environment, and get a behind-the-scenes look at your preserves!

Drop in to the Dunn Museum’s North Shore Gas Classroom to discover the winter survival strategies of local animals through hands-on discovery and a craft.

Back by popular demand! Join us to bind your own book and to learn about the practice of bookbinding over time. Participants will have the opportunity to explore unique bound diaries and journals in the museum’s collection. At the end of the program, you will have made your own bound book to take home. Materials included.

Join a history educator on a guided tour of the temporary exhibition, Art for Everyone: Bob Ross® and take a closer look at famous Bob Ross® paintings and his signature technique.

Learn about the adaptations and fascinating lives of coyotes. Hike the trail with an educator and listen for coyotes howling on a winter evening.

Dive into the Dunn Museum's collections to explore two 1800s Crofton family cookbooks that were used at Fort Sheridan. Learn more about the Crofton family's time stationed there, and hear about Nicole's experiences testing out some of the recipes.

Build a bridge to nature with your young ones. Experience how multisensory nature connections help young children develop healthy and happy brains and bodies. Time spent in nature is critical to children's social-emotional, and physical development. Child-centered, exploratory, imaginative play fosters creativity, emotional well-being, independent learning, and problem-solving.

The Lake County History Symposium is an annual gathering of people interested in the history of Lake County, Illinois.

Join a naturalist and take a nice leisurely stroll through this beautiful preserve. Learn about the history of this site and take a close look at some of the interesting plants and animals that we come upon.

The Dunn Museum will be open to those who need a calm and quiet visit before it is open to the public. A quiet room for stimulation breaks will be accessible. Creative crafts and manipulatives will be provided in our café space.

Join us for an introduction to identifying trees when there are no leaves. We'll learn how to use the branches, buds and bark of trees to tell them apart. Then, we head out into the preserve to practice what we learned.

Take a Bob Ross® style painting class with a designated Certified Ross® Instructor. Classes are specially suited for beginners; you need no previous experience to attend. You'll paint a beautiful Bob Ross® Wet-on-Wet Technique scene and at the end of your class you'll go home with a frame-ready painting that you never dreamed possible.

Learn about the work of Lake County artists and take a closer look at famous Bob Ross® paintings and his signature technique with a tour of the temporary exhibition, Art for Everyone: Bob Ross®. Then test your artistic skill with activities that you can then take home.

Listen to stories of how people and animals have repurposed materials, while you repurpose scraps of wrapping paper into a craft item to take home. Materials will be provided, but please feel free to bring any scraps of wrapping paper you have at home to use as well.

Hike under the glow of the "Wolf Moon" while learning about the animals that come out at night.

Move your kids outdoors for unstructured seasonal play, proven healthful and beneficial. Celebrate seasonal fun outdoors. Build mini habitats for toy animals and use natural materials and your imagination for creation. Try snow painting or other seasonal activities. Nature provides infinite possibilities to express creativity. See how nature ignites a spark in everyone.

Why do some birds migrate south in winter while others stay here all winter? Discover the answer to this question and more during this indoor presentation. We'll cover bird identification, adaptations and how to make your yard bird friendly year-round. We will end our program with a short winter bird walk.

Over time, the Lake County landscape has been changed and shaped by glaciers. Learn about the evidence that has been left behind from these events and where to see them in your local forest preserves. Then we will go into the Dunn Museum gallery to see examples from the ice age.

The Lake County History Symposium is an annual gathering of people interested in the history of Lake County, Illinois.

Bundle up and learn about your wild canine neighbors this winter. Then head out on a guided walk where we will listen for the howl, yip, or barks from our native coyotes.

Join an Environmental Educator and take a leisurely stroll through one of our preserves. This is a great opportunity to get some exercise and learn about nature. Join us and take a closer look at plants, birds and other wildlife.

Whether you are new to native gardening or a seasoned veteran, join us each month to learn about native plants and how to use them in your home landscapes.

See the forest preserves through a photographer's eyes. Join Scott McNeill, LCFPD volunteer photographer, and an environmental educator for an outdoor workshop that combines photography with natural history. Learn techniques to photograph winter wonders such as snowflakes and wildlife while learning about the ways our local plants and animals adapt to the frigid temperatures.

Learn about the adaptations of our winter birds and help contribute to science through our Project FeederWatch station. Make a birdfeeder of your own to take home.

Aren’t baby animals just the cutest? Did you know baby rabbits are called kittens or that to help their chances of survival, newborn deer have no scent? Join virtually to put your knowledge (and luck) to the test as you are quizzed on infant animal facts!

Join an environmental educator on this guided hike and walk the trails at Van Patten Woods while discovering clues that animals leave behind during the winter months.