Kids’N’Snow Winter Weekend! West Yellowstone Montana December 17-18th, 2011

Dec. 6, 2011 - PRLog -- Take a break from the Holiday rush and celebrate the wonders of winter with your children and grandchildren. Kids’N’Snow is a special weekend in West Yellowstone, Montana filled with winter activities, games, and classes, just for kids. A full list of activities is available at www.kidsnsnow.org.

Kids’N’Snow headquarters will be located at the West Yellowstone Visitor Center, 30 Yellowstone Avenue, and open from Friday afternoon through Sunday morning. Here, kids can pick up their “Passport” that contains a printed schedule and map. After completing three activities, kids can come back for a special reward.

Kids (and adults) can join a naturalist from the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center for a free presentation featuring live raptors on Saturday morning from 9:30 -10:30 AM! Meet some of our resident, non-releasable raptors and discover the adaptations that help them to survive our Yellowstone winters. Located at the West Yellowstone Visitor Center, 30 Yellowstone Avenue.

Returning again this year is last year’s favorite activity, “Snowcoach Sampler Tours” into Yellowstone Park. Local snowcoach businesses generously offer a 2-hour ride into Yellowstone Park on a snowcoach. The tour is at no charge, but a Yellowstone Park pass or single-day Yellowstone snowcoach pass is required. All kids must be accompanied by an adult or group leader. The tours will be offered on Saturday and Sunday at specific times during the morning and afternoon. Seating is limited and you can reserve your seats ahead of time.

On Saturday afternoon at 1:30 PM, join a Yellowstone National Park Ranger for a 2-mile snow shoe walk into Yellowstone National Park along the Riverside Trail. Discover Yellowstone’s fascinating winter ecology while wearing snowshoes. Join a ranger for a 2-mile walk into Yellowstone National Park along the Riverside Trail. Meet at the West Yellowstone Visitor Information Center.

Bring water and a snack. This is a free program with no limit on class size. Children 1st grade (approximately age 6) and under are asked to bring an adult (parent, guardian, friend) with them to participate. Bring your snowshoes or they are available for rent at: Freeheel & Wheel, Bud Lilly’s and Yellowstone Alpen Guides. A limited number of snowshoes/ski's for kids will be available to use at no charge.

Don’t miss S’mores & Skating & More! on Saturday evening from 6:00 – 9:00 P.M. Join the fun from 6:00 to 9:00 PM at the West Yellowstone Ice Rink. Warm-up with hot beverages, toast some marshmallows, and make your own S' more. All the fixings provided. Bring your own sled for our Kid's Sledding Hill. Or, try out West Yellowstone's ice skating rink.

The rink is located on 101 Faithful Street, just across from Westmart Do-It Center, just one block west of Yellowstone Avenue. A limited number of ice skates will be available at the rink that night for free use. Please come early for the best selection.

The Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center will be presenting their “Wild Winter Series” during the January Kids’ weekend. “The Mountain that Loved a Bird” will be featured on Friday, December 16th at 1:00 PM. Kids will enjoy a reading of this Alice McLerran book and then discover how all things in Yellowstone are interconnected. “Predator Play” will be featured on Saturday, December 17th at 1:00 PM. Kids will learn how predators adapt to be successful in winter, then use craft supplies to make a predator of your own!

“Ready, Set, Snow,” offered on Sunday, December 18th, 2010 at 1:00 PM, will help kids discover how people and animals prepare and adapt for winter through drawing their own picture. Shortly after the Wild Winter activities, kids (5-12 years of age) can also participate in the Keeper Kids program, which happens at 2:15 PM daily. (There is an additional $2.00 charge for this program and you must sign up by 2 PM.)

The “Wild Winter” programs are free with admission to the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center. Passes (good for two days) are $10.50 per adult, $5.50 per child (5-12 years) and free for less than 5 years old. You can receive a $1.00 discount coupon when signing up for the Kids’N’Snow program at the West Yellowstone Visitor Center, 30 Yellowstone Avenue.

"The Wild Winter activities are designed to show kids how much fun learning about winter wildlife can be,” explains AJ Chlebnik, the Center’s Outreach Coordinator. “Come join us this weekend and discover the wonder of winter firsthand!”  The Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center is located at 201 S. Canyon Street next to the IMAX Theatre in West Yellowstone, Montana. The Center’s primary mission is to provide visitors to the Yellowstone area an opportunity to observe, learn and appreciate grizzly bears and gray wolves

Take a break from the outdoors on Sunday afternoon where a Yellowstone Park  interpretive ranger presents an illustrated program highlighting a fascinating aspect of Yellowstone' natural, cultural or scenic wonders. Meet at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center at 201 South Canyon Street at 1:30 PM and 3:00 PM.

Kids (5-12 years) can also earn a Yellowstone Park Junior Snow Ranger badge during the weekend! The program is based on age-appropriate activities and easy to follow using an activity book.  Sign-up at the West Yellowstone Visitor's Center and receive a free activity book  

Choose from activities focusing on geology, wildlife adaptation, weather, snow crystals and more; attend a program let by a park ranger, record wildlife observations, make a record of geyser and hot spring activity, or hike, ski, or snowshoe a trail. A limited number of "snowpacks" can be checked out and special equipment like a crystal card hand lens for looking at snow layering, a thermometer for measuring variations in temperature in different layers, and a wind gauge anemometer for weather-related activity.

Can’t make it in January? Upcoming Kids’N’Snow weekends include February 4-4th, 2012 and will feature a free Saturday morning Ice Camp. All participating kids will receive their own rod and tackle, and a chance to go on-ice to practice as part of the NAIFC West Yellowstone Ice Fishing tournament being held that same weekend. The March program (March 3-4th, 2012) will include the Youth Ski Festival.

With the help of many partners, Kids’N’Snow is offering these programs for free or reduced cost. A limited number of children’s snowshoes and skis are available at no charge for specific activities, but must be reserved ahead of time. For more information and pre-registration for some limited space events, please email kidsnsnow@gmail.com or go to www.kidsnsnow.org.

Kids’N’Snow wants to offer the opportunity for all kids, both from our community and winter visitors, the chance to try new things in a safe and fun hands-on learning environment. Through the programs offered by our strategic learning partners, kids can get outdoors in the winter and try a new activity, like ice skating, cross country skiing or snowshoeing. Whether it is learning about snow safety, trying out cross country skis, or experiencing snow for the first time, our mission is to help kids discover a true delight in winter activities while developing healthy life-long habits.

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West Yellowstone Chamber provides information on Montana, Yellowstone Park, eastern Idaho, and West Yellowstone with event calendars, trip planning tools, tours, and monthly vacation specials. Yellowstone in winter, summer, spring, and fall.