School Programs

Programs are FREE of charge within Licking County. Field trips are primarily outdoors and scheduled in September, October, April and May. Grades K-5.

To request a program, Click Here to fill out the Google form

Please be able to provide the following information:

• Preferred and alternate dates.

• School name, address, phone number, email, and contact person.

• Grade/age level.

• Number of students. Schools must provide enough adult chaperones for a 1:10 adult/student ratio. Max 100 students.

• Any special requests. Programs can be customized to meet your needs.

Space is limited, so please make arrangements early. Three months in advance is preferred.

Questions? Contact us at 740.587.2535 or by email at: Anne.Balogh@LickingParkDistrict.com

Infirmary Mound Park

4351 Lancaster Rd, Granville, OH 43023

Infirmary Mound Park offers diverse habitats to explore, including wetlands, prairies, wooded areas, and Mirror Lake. Park features include the Wildflower Trail, which becomes the fairy trail from May through September, the Nature Playscape, large picnic shelters with vault toilets, and the Infirmary Mound.

Lobdell Reserve – Disc Golf Entrance

5474 Battee Rd, Alexandria Ohio

Lobdell Reserve features a stream, unique geology, meadows, hiking trails, and riparian woodlands. An open air shelter provides a meeting space and a new vault toilet provides restroom facilities.

Taft Reserve South 

10383 Fairview Rd, Heath, Ohio

Taft Reserve South features a pond, stream, meadows, and woodlands. The Taft Center provides an indoor meeting space and restrooms.

Outreach At Your School

Can’t visit us? We can come to you. From programs like skins, skulls, and stories or bird beak buffet for the younger audience to programs more suitable for upper elementary like owl pellet dissection, we can customize a program suitable for your classroom or school grounds.

Field Trips – An All Day Affair!

Typically field trips are 4 hours in length.  Students rotate between outdoor STEM activity  stations with an additional time period for lunch.

A popular option is having one rotation at the 3 acre Nature Playscape if at Infirmary Mound Park.

Below are example learning topics. Whatever you choose, we can customize to grade and  content standards.

Guided Nature Hikes

Take a themed hike with an educator to make observations and discuss findings along the trails. Examples of themes include habitats, the basic needs of living things, forest ecology, the history of Ohio’s early people, tree and flower identification, Ohio’s birds, food webs, and adaptations.

Water Quality

Every field trip typically contains a rotation with Licking Soil and Water Conservation District. Students sample aquatic  macroinvertebrates, perform chemical tests, analyze results  and  determine the health of the stream or lake. Activities may also investigate the water cycle.

Habitat Happenings

Investigate different Ohio ecosystems and what plants and animals need to survive in each. Example topics include the riparian zone, habitat detectives, food chains/webs, backbone bonanza, life cycles and adaptations, macroinvertebrates, human impacts, and data collection.

Ohio Wildlife

Learn about the birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians that call Ohio home.  Activity stations may include skins and skulls, games, and field explorations. Example activities include bird beak buffet, migration challenge, owl pellet dissection, bird hike, Oh Deer! and animal adaptations.

Pollinator Power

Bees, butterflies, and bugs, oh my!  Explore the importance of the tiny side of life. We will learn about insect characteristics and  investigate metamorphosis, life cycles,  adaptations, migration, and their oversized importance to the world around us.  Students may use field guides and nets!

C.I.A. – Conservation in Action

Humans are part of the natural world and our actions can impact other living things. Explore how local ecosystems are changed by land and water use and take part in a service project. Examples include tree and native plantings, invasive plant removal, and trash clean-ups.