Riverwood Junior Naturalists

We are @yourriverwood ‘s Junior and Mini Naturalists Clubs. Based in #Mississauga, our mission is to reconnect kids with #nature through hands-on experiences.

[Riverwood Junior Naturalists @JrNaturalists]

Our Mini Nats couldn’t let the big kids have all the fun. We headed to Richard’s Memorial Park in Mississauga to pick as much invasive Garlic Mustard as we could. And of course, hard workers deserve a treat, so we ended our meeting at the playground. We were so proud 🥰

[Riverwood Junior Naturalists @JrNaturalists]

If you’re looking for committed young naturalists who care about the Earth, you’ve come to the right place! We toughed it out in the rain today to pick 15 bags of invasive Garlic Mustard in Birchwood Park in Mississauga. Our hope is to free up space for native plants to grow.

[Riverwood Junior Naturalists @JrNaturalists]

Happy Mini Nat Mother’s Day! Today our youngest naturalists explored the forest of the Cawthra Estate looking for wildflowers. We found unite a few, had fun matching our paint chips to different part of nature and ended with a special flower-themed Mother’s Day craft 🌹🌸💐🌺🌷

[Riverwood Junior Naturalists @JrNaturalists]

We couldn’t have asked for a better day to explore the woods of the Cawthra Elliot Estate looking for wildflowers. Highlights from both group included colour matching with paint chips, sketching flower parts, so many wildflowers and other nature finds, plus LOTS of snakes!

[Riverwood Junior Naturalists @JrNaturalists]

Our Cohort #1 Junior Naturalists contributed to science today by conducting their own BioBlitz this weekend. They scoured @uoftmississauga for as many different organisms as possible and then uploading them to iNaturalist.

[Riverwood Junior Naturalists @JrNaturalists]

Our Mini Nats are mighty log rollers and incredible risk takers. Today we searched the forests of Riverwood for salamanders and other critters. Then we spent some time with Shelly the Red Eared Slider and Sunny the Corn Snake.

[Riverwood Junior Naturalists @JrNaturalists]

Rain schmain! Cohort #2 had a fantastic reptile and amphibian meeting. We searched under logs at Riverwood and found so many amazing creatures, including many Red-Backed Salamanders. We then enjoyed a meet and greet with Shelly the Red-Eared Slider and Sunny the Corn Snake.

[Riverwood Junior Naturalists @JrNaturalists]

A big thank you to Mother Nature today for not raining on our Mini Naturalist fun fossil finding adventure. We looked for beavers, saw ducks and found brachiopods, crinoids and lots of bryozoans

[Riverwood Junior Naturalists @JrNaturalists]

Both Junior Nat groups enjoyed an excursion to Claireville Conservation Area this weekend and took part in their “Owl Prowl” program. We used binoculars, played games, tried owl calls & dissected owl pellets. We had just the best time! 🦉❤️

[Riverwood Junior Naturalists @JrNaturalists]

Our Mini Naturalists are incredible risk takers. Today, they used real binoculars to see ducks at Lake Ontario. We saw Long Tailed Duck, Mallards, Mute Swans, Bufflehead, Scaup, Canada Goose & Mergansers. Bonus bird…newly migrated Tree Swallows.

[Riverwood Junior Naturalists @JrNaturalists]

What a beautiful day for Cohort #2 to go on a fun fossil hunt. We found coral, brachiopods and crinoids. A big surprise at the end, two fishermen invited the group to watch them reel in a huge rainbow trout, which was released. Plus, some incredible post-meeting art too!