Great Valley Nature Center
PO Box 82
4251 State Road
Devault, PA 19432
(610) 935-9777
http://www.gvnc.org/

For more than twenty years the Great Valley Nature Center has been helping to raise public awareness on environmental issues through a fine program of educational exhibits, demonstrations, and workshops.

The ten and a half acre site encompasses many diverse habitats, including a small stream, wetlands, a large pond, fields, and woods. The Center's Education Building is an historic fieldstone bank barn built between 1790 and 1815. A Please Touch exhibit room offers a variety of interactive displays and games for children. Live animals, a gift shop, auditorium, classroom, and a teacher's resource library complete the Education Building's features.

Outside, visitors can enjoy a system of nature trails, meet some farm animals, learn about raptors in the Bird of Prey Center, stroll through Wildflower Gardens, and explore a Lenape Indian Village. A 1793 Springhouse can also be visited.

Throughout the year families can participate in many nature-related programs and workshops, and fun and worthwhile volunteer opportunities abound. Special events and classes can include topics such as Life on the Farm, Tracking, Star Gazing, Bird Watching and Feeding, Wildlife Habitats, and much more. Call for a current schedule.

For families, the Center also offers great summer camp activities for children of all ages.

School and Scout Groups can enjoy a variety of programs, each lasting 30 minutes to 4 hours, depending on the program. All programs use hands-on activity for a first hand education. Self-explanatory Program titles include Farm Animals, Nature Search, Animal Works, Colors of Nature, Dinosaurs & Fossils, Sensory Saunter, Sheep to Shawl, Maple Sugaring, Lenape Life, Bird Basics, Pond Pondering, Cycle of Life, Spring Amphibians, Aquatic Survey, and many others. While some programs are definitely grade-specific, the majority can be adapted for any level, even for adults.

Minimum group size is 10, and there must be 1 adult for every 5 children. Outreach Programs cover similar subjects, and can also be customized to meet group needs.