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Family Activities

Family-friendly events for families with children of all ages. Looking for Summer Camp information, visit our Summer Camp page? 

In Gallery Activity

A father and son reading a dinosaur book in the Museum

Offering different in-gallery activities every Saturday as part of admission. In-gallery activities will be at 12:30 pm, 1:30 pm, and 3 pm. Below are the potential in-gallery activity, dependent upon which staff is working.

  • Children's Reading & Activity Time - Join Hailie, educator, for a children's story and associated activity.
  • Garbology - Join Stephanie, anthropologist, to find out about the scientific study of trash, including its origins, patterns, and society and the environment.
  • Basket Weaving Bracelet - Join Kristal, local artist, in creating your own unique bracelet from cornhusk.
  • Origami - Join Sarah, local artist, to guide you through the process of making your own origami animal.
  • Timeline Tour - Join Trevor, budding paleontologist, for an in-depth guide into Idaho's fossil timeline.

Open Spaces: The Role of Land Trusts in Biodiversity Conservation

Balsamroot in the foreground and hills in the background

November 18, 2025

6 to 8 p.m.

Free

Discover how land trusts are making a difference in Southeast Idaho! Heath Mann and Eric Pankau will explain what land trusts do, why this work is so important, and highlight the wildlife and native plants thriving across more than 10,000 acres of protected open space.

RSVP

Heath Mann, Executive Director, Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust
A native of rural central Nebraska, Heath has lived in Pocatello since February of 1995. After studying Business Management and Speech Communications at the University of Nebraska, he earned a BS in Zoology from Idaho State University. He has a diverse professional and volunteer background, including small business ownership (Mountain Mann Bicycles), project planning, management, and capitol campaign direction. 
Heath is a passionate supporter of the natural world, regularly participating in mountain biking, downhill and cross country skiing, camping, and sailing. He has been a Senior member, Instructor of OEC, Team Leader, and Candidate Class Coordinator of the Pebble Creek Ski Patrol for 26 years. While owning Mountain Mann Bicycles, Heath has been a strong advocate for responsible use of local multi-use trails, including rider education and technical skills training.
Eric Pankau, Stewardship Manager, Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust
Eric Pankau is a local of Southeast Idaho. Born in Idaho Falls and spending most of his childhood exploring Idaho’s mountain areas. Eric completed his bachelors degree in Environmental Studies at Boise State University, focusing on natural resources management and Geographic Information Systems. While working on his undergraduate degree Eric worked a unique series of jobs including salmon supplementation and post release monitoring, vineyard surveying, sage grouse diet analysis and pack rat nest aging. After this, Eric and his wife Caitlin moved to Alaska to live and work on a remote island facility focusing on large scale salmon production.
Following this foray in the Pacific Northwest, Eric and family moved back to southeast Idaho working for IDFG in the public fish hatchery system, until switching gears to work as a high school ecology and natural resources teacher. Eric is a former teacher at Pocatello High School. They have a lovely daughter named Isobel. Most recently Eric completed a masters degree in Education from Idaho State University and has been rounding out his range and forestry science/management skills working with agency and industry professionals to develop a dynamic curriculum for local high schoolers. He is an avid big game hunter and fisherman and loves pretty much anything outdoors. He looks forward to helping the SSLT meet their growing stewardship program needs.

Mental Health Nature Walks

Fall leaves in the foreground with a bison statue in background

Selected Tuesdays of the Month

3 p.m.

FREE

Meet at the bison statue on ISU Quad side

The Idaho Museum of Natural History is in collaboration with the Department of Psychology to bring the public an opportunity to relax by walking through campus and learning from an experienced guide.

Walks will approximately last 30-45 minutes and gives students, staff, faculty, and the public a chance to disconnect from their phone, reconnect with each other and decompress from the stresses around us. 

Nov. 4 - Rick Pongratz, Nature and Mental Health
Nov. 11 - Dr. Chuck Peterson, iNaturalist
Nov. 18 - Tut Tran, Draw & Decompress
Dec. 2 - Rick Pongratz, Finding Joy in Winter
Dec. 9 - Tut Tran, Draw & Decompress
Dec. 16 - TBA

Lunch & Learn

Lunch & learn at the Museum with a cartoon sandwich enjoying the lecture

November 19, 2025

12 to 1 pm

Free

Topic: Hair: Analysis to Aid Identification

Join us as we welcome Rachel Sutherland, ISU Department of Anthropology graduate student, who will discus how environmental factors and lifestyle decisions alter hair in ways that can aid in identification. Rachel will outline the aims of her thesis project, focusing on structural differences that assist classification.  By using both cross-sectional and lengthwise views, Rachel seeks to taxonomically identify animals at the family or species level, and how a person’s hair might provide clues about their life.  This work has potential applications in environmental and wildlife conservation, archaeological research, and forensic investigations.

Rachel is a second-year Master’s student in the Department of Anthropology at Idaho State University.  She received a Bachelor of Science in Biological Anthropology and a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science from Utah State University.  Her interests center on the many ways that human and animal organic materials are influenced by the decisions they make during their life, and what those changes can reveal after death.

Your event or program registration is transferable

If you are unable to attend a workshop or program, you may transfer your registration to another person or to a different date for the same workshop or program. Transfers may take place up to one week prior to the program date. Please email your request to us. Include the order number and name of the person originally registered for the program and the name and contact information of the person taking your place.

If you must cancel:

  • If you request a refund 15 or more days prior to your workshop, you will receive a full refund
  • If you request a refund 8—14 days prior to your workshop, you will receive a 50% refund
  • If you request a refund 7 or fewer days prior to your workshop, no refund will be issued
  • If a camper or anyone in their immediate family is feeling ill, please stay home! Parents or guardians can email imnh@isu.edu or call 208-282-3168, and we will work to place you in another day of camp or workshop when you are feeling better.