Community Resources | Activities for Kids | Resources for Teachers
Specimen Rentals and Kits
The Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History is a great place to visit for nature and science exploration, and we want to join you as you continue to explore at home and outside.
The Museum At Your Side is a collection of hands-on activities, informative articles, and engaging videos to connect you with nature and science wherever you are!
Community Resources
Activities, guides, lectures, workshops, guided nature experiences, and other resources to support your nature explorations from home or while outside. See more.
- Collections Close-Up: Santa Cruz Fossils and the People Who Dig ‘Em
- Collections Close-Up: Preserving Our Past
- Naturalist Night: Santa Cruz Habitats and History
- How to See Comet NEOWISE
- Collections Close-Up: Malacology
- Visualizing Science: Illustration and Beyond
- Collections Close-Up: Kelp and Conservation
- Monterey Bay Algae Guide
- Lecture: Data is Not the Destination with Christian Schwarz
- Meet a Painting: Magnetic Mousing by Hajra Meeks
Activities for Kids
Family-friendly and youth-focused activities, videos, articles, and more to aid in your nature exploration! See more.
- Celebrating California Biodiversity Day!
- How to Create a Moon Phenology Wheel
- Summer Solstice Sun Prints
- Ocean Sing-Along
- Observation Jar Activity
- Mini Museum Activity
- How To Draw a Flower Video
- Light Spectra Activity
- Phenology Wheel Activity
- May Day Flower Crown Video Tutorial
Resources for Teachers
Activities, worksheets, videos, and more developed to support standards and formal learning. See more.
- Bird Beak Activity | 2nd grade
- Animals in Their Habitat Activity | 2nd grade
- Plant Growth Observations Activity | 2nd Grade
- Weather Observation Activity | 3rd grade
- Skull Detectives Activity | 2-3 grade
- Ohlone Matching Game | 3-4 grade
- Pollinator Matching Activity | 2nd grade
- Food Web Activity | 3-5 grade
- Great Horned Owl Activity | 3-5 grade
- Tree Canopy Activity | 4-5 grade
Rockin’ Pop-Up
Join the Geology Gents, Gavin and Graham, for weekly conversations about rocks live on Facebook. Each week we’ll explore a different geologic topic, from Santa Cruz formations to tips for being a more effective rockhound. See more.
- Rockin’ Pop-Up: Impacts of Fire on Geologic Landscapes
- Rockin’ Pop-Up: 115 Years of Geologic History in Santa Cruz
- Rockin’ Pop-Up: Coastal Geology
- Rockin’ Pop-Up: California’s State Symbols
- Rockin’ Pop-Up: Sea Level Rise and the East Antarctic Ice Sheet
- Rockin’ Pop-Up: Volcanoes and Mass Extinctions
- Rockin’ Pop-Up: Science Communication
- Rockin’ Pop-Up: Ask a Scientist
- Rockin’ Pop-Up: Geologic Time Part Two
- Rockin’ Pop-Up: Geologic Time Part One