The Museum and Nature Center at John James Audubon State Park is temporarily closed to visitors. During this time of self-isolation, our staff is working to bring you entertaining and engaging content that you can explore from home. On Fridays we will be sharing a summary of that week’s content in a “Weekly Roundup” post on the Friends of Audubon blog.
Here are this week’s latest videos, activities, and social media posts from our museum curator, art educator, and park naturalist.
Museum Mondays
Normally at this time of the year, admission to the museum at John James Audubon State Park would be free on Mondays. In the past, we’ve called this day Museum Monday. Since the museum is currently closed, we are looking for ways to bring the museum to you at home.
Every Monday our museum curator, Heidi Taylor-Caudill, will share stories uncovered from the museum archives in a short “Museum Monday” video. This week we published our first video about Susan Starling Towles, a small-town librarian with a vision to create a museum in Henderson, Kentucky, to preserve and share John James Audubon’s story with the world. It took 30 years to make this wish come true! Learn more about Susan’s story in “From the Archives: Susan’s Dream.”
On Mondays, check out @johnjamesaudubonstatepark (Facebook) and @JJAStatePark (Twitter) to see our newest Museum Monday video. You can also find the videos on the Friends of Audubon blog.
Wild Wednesdays
On Wednesdays, join our park naturalist, Lisa Hoffman, for virtual explorations of John James Audubon State Park, a beautiful nature preserve of hilly forests, lakes, and wetlands in northwestern Kentucky.
Several “Wild Wednesday” videos are now available on Facebook @johnjamesaudubonstatepark. Past videos include:
- A virtual tour of the Audubon Wetlands
- A demonstration with aquatic turtles in the nature center
- A look at early spring wildflowers in the park
This week’s video focuses on Recreation Lake and the ecosystem below the water. Learn about freshwater snails, tadpoles, dragonflies, and more!
Fantastic Fridays
On Fridays, our art educator, Kim McGrew-Ligget, is sharing fun projects to help kids practice and develop their artistic skills. You can find how-to’s and videos on Facebook @johnjamesaudubonstatepark and Twitter @JJAStatePark. Past projects include:
This week’s project with Mrs. Kim teaches kids how to create a “crazy bird.” Feel free to share your crazy birds in the comments section on Facebook or Twitter!
#Archive30 on Twitter
Every year @ARAScot hosts #Archive30, a social media campaign that highlights archives around the world and the work of archivists. We will be posting about the daily topics below throughout April. Check back every day to see what we’re sharing from our museum archives!
A collection of our tweets from Week One of #Archive30 (April 1-7, 2020). The topics this week included: Your Archive; Favorite Item; Archive Path; A Collection; Conservation Win; Something New; and Famous Archives.
Week Two of #Archive30 (April 8-14, 2020) included tweets on these topics: Archive Celebrations; Archive Secrets; Food & Drink; Object; Archive People; Outreach; and Environment.
For Week Three of #Archive30, we’re sharing items from our museum archives on these topics: Sport; Archive Advice; Archive Building; Typical Day; Archive Mystery; Unusual Item; and Misconceptions. Learn about John James Audubon’s account of popular Kentucky sports, read a poignant letter from Lucy Audubon to her son Victor Gifford and his wife, Eliza, about loving and living for each other, hear the story of Maria Audubon’s efforts to prove that John James Audubon was the Lost Dauphin, and more.
Visit our Twitter page @JJAStatePark to see our newest posts!
Online Puzzles
Need a distraction for a few minutes? Try some of our new online puzzles! The puzzles feature photography of John James Audubon State Park, art and artifacts from our museum collection, and bird and flower images from 19th century greeting cards used by John James Audubon’s descendants. There are different levels of difficulty and you can change the number of pieces based on your preference. New puzzles will be added each week.
Need More Museum and Nature Content?
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to see what we share over the next week.
Facebook: @johnjamesaudubonstatepark
Twitter: @JJAStatePark
Instagram: @audubon_state_park
Also consider following the social media of other Kentucky State Parks and nature-centered organizations, such as the National Audubon Society and the Children & Nature Network, for engaging content and fun activities to enjoy at home.
This blog post was written by Heidi Taylor-Caudill, Curator of the John James Audubon State Park Museum.