UGA Marine Education Center and Aquarium  on Skidaway Island will be closed for renovations Dec. 6 2010 to Feb. 13 2011.

After 40 years, the aquarium will replace the glass tank fronts on the exhibits. All tanks will be drained and the fish relocated to temporary tanks elsewhere. Follow the aquarium’s progress on their Facebook page here.

During this time the Jay Wolf Nature Trail and picnic area will be open dawn to dusk. The Skidaway Interpretive Cabin will be Open Monday-Friday 9AM-4PM.

 UGA’s Marine Education Center and Aquarium is at 30 Ocean Science Circle, Skidaway Island.

Oatland Island Wildlife Center has two baby bison which are are now on exhibit. Come visit the newest members of Oatland’s herd.

Stop by the gift show between now and Sat. Dec. 18 to submit names for Oatland’s “Name the Bison” contest. Submissions will be accepted until noon Sat. Dec. 18.

The public is invited to help Oatland select winning names by casting votes on the top 10 finalists ($1 donation per vote) Votes will be accepted be accepted between Dec. 18-Dec. 31.

On Sat. Dec. 18, Oatland invites the public to celebrate the new bison babies from 10 AM-4 PM. Events include a bison-themed scavenger hunt; vote on your favorite bison name; Bison Olympics from 11 AM-2 PM; Bison-themed snacks at 1 PM.

For more info on Oatland Island Wildlife Center in Savannah, click here.

Toddler Tuesdays are back at Oatland Island Wildlife Center after a summer hiatus!

This season, there will be TWO Toddler Tuesdays timeslots each week, as opposed to one. Same topic and activities for each one. One program will be at 10 AM and the second at 11 AM.

Michele Mazzei, the beloved leader of the popular weekly programs, said the goal of having two sessions is to keep the classes small and intimate.

Preregistration via phone at 912.395.1500 $3 program fee per child and adults free!

The theme of Tues. Sept. 7 is Welcome Back Toddlers! and will feature a visit from Daisy, Oatland’s resident opossum.

Oatland Island Wildlife Center is located just outside Savannah. Click here for info.

We finally made it to The Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island this weekend, with the kids in tow, because we’ve heard such great reviews.

We have to say, Georgia’s first sea turtle rehab, research and education facility lives up to all the kudos. A 90-minute drive from Savannah, the center provides state-of-art emergency care to sick and injured sea turtles.

My 3-year-old’s favorite part was looking through the treatment room window and seeing staff do various procedures on the sick or injured turtles. The one-story center, open since June 2007, also has just enough interactive exhibits to hold a preschooler’s attention and teach. In the Rehab Pavilion, kids can see the patients and learn about the various reasons why the turtles are sick or hurt (Caution: Your turtle-safety savvy kids will never again let you use a plastic bag after your visit as turtles are known to mistake discarded plastic bags for jellyfish and eat them).

Certain times of the year, you can take part in guided turtle and nest walks on the beach. A guided behind-the-scences tour is also available for an extra fee (but call ahead if you are interested as the behind-the-scence tour was not available on the day of our visit). The center also hosts special events, birthday parties and holiday celebrations like Turtle-ween. Summer programs are available for children, educators and seniors. Learn more by clicking here.

The Sea Turtle Center is in Jekyll’s pristine Historic District, where you can treat the kids to an ice cream at the nearby Sweet Shoppe or have lunch outdoors at Rah Bar on the Jekyll Historic Wharf, all within walking distance of the Center. Consider timing your visit to coincide with the Jekyll Island Beach Music Festival and BBQ Bash Aug. 21 or the Shrimp & Grits: Wild Georgia Shrimp Festival on Sept. 17. For more info on those festivals, click here.

Georgia Sea Turtle Center, 214 Stable Rd, Jekyll Island. Cost: $6 for adults (13+ years); $5 for Seniors (65+ years); $4 for children (4-12 years); FREE for children 3 and under. $5 for Active Duty Military Personnel, Students and Teachers (ID required). For more info, call 912.635.4444 or click here.

Support Oatland Island Wildlife Center by helping Pack the Park!

We know SouthernMamas readers love Oatland Island Wildlife Center. Here’s your chance to show it.

Michele Mazzei, naturalist at Oatland Island Wildlife Center and star of the center’s popular Toddler Tuesdays, is offering SouthernMamas readers this fabulous offer: a FREE BIRTHDAY PARTY at Oatland Island to those who sell 20 or more Sand Gnats tickets for August 18th’s Pack the Park Fundraiser to benefit Oatland Island.

A portion of ADVANCE ticket sales will benefit Oatland.

Michele is volunteering her time for the Birthday Party to honor all the great support SouthernMamas have shown to Oatland and to her over the last few years.

At the Wed. Aug. 18 Sand Gnats game, kids can visit some of Oatland’s most popular animals. The gates open at 6 PM and the game starts at 7:05 PM.

To benefit Oatland, purchase tickets at the following locations before the game:

Oatland Island Wildlife Center
Davis Produce – Talahi Island
Sea Kayak Georgia – Tybee Island
Tubby’s on River Street

For more info on the birthday party contest, contact Michele at 912-395-1500. Good luck!

If you’re planning a trip to Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in nearby Columbia, SC this summer, Tuesdays will be your best bet.

On Tues. June 15, Riverbanks will kick off a summer promotion called Toucan Tuesday, where two can come for the price of one…the catch: just bring two cans of food or other non-perishable food items to qualify for the deal. Each week collected food items will be donated to Harvest Hope Food Bank to help feed hungry families in South Carolina.

Buy-one, get-one admission isn’t the only perk you will receive for visiting on a Toucan Tuesday. Riverbanks will also offer $2 ICEEs, to help beat the summer heat, and 2-for-1 specials in the Elephant’s Trunk Gift Shop.

Toucan Tuesdays will run for 10 consecutive Tuesdays throughout the summer and end on August 17. Promotion applies to general admission rates only (Explorer wristbands and memberships not included). Purchase one admission and get the second of equal or lesser value free. Visitor must turn in two canned or other non-perishable food items to receive the discount.

Riverbanks is located at 500 Wildlife Parkway, Columbia, SC 29210. The Botanical Garden entrance is located at 1300 Botanical Parkway, West Columbia, SC 29169. The park is open daily from 9am to 5pm, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas day. Admission is $9.75 for adults, $7.25 for children ages 3 – 12 and free for children 2 and under. Group rates and other discounts may apply. Rates, dates and times are subject to change. For the most current information, call Riverbanks at 803.779.8717 or visit www.riverbanks.org

 SouthernMamas reader Monica Patel emails that the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island is well worth the visit. The drive is about 1.5 hours.  Indoor exhibits are geared more towards young elementary-school-aged kids, but Monica’s 3.5 year-old loved the turtle rehabilitation area and turtle hospital, where he got to watch one of the turtles being given a multivitamin and another turtle get rubbed with ointment, to undo some of the damage caused by the recent cold weather.  She writes the staff there is very friendly and willing to answer questions.

Thanks for the recommendation, Monica!

The Georgia Sea Turtle Center  introduces you and your children to Georgia’s turtles with hands-on activities, games, crafts, and outdoor exploration.

Find out the various methods sea turtle biologists use to follow sea turtles as they migrate from the beach to the ocean. And how you too can follow sea turtles online.

Georgia Sea Turtle Center, 214 Stable Rd, Jekyll Island. Cost: $6 for adults (13+ years); $5 for Seniors (65+ years); $4 for children (4-12 years); FREE for children 3 and under. $5 for Active Duty Military Personnel, Students and Teachers (ID required). For more info, call 912.635.4444 or click here. Stay savvy with the happenings at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center via the center’s blog.

On your next trip to Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens in Columbia, S.C. make sure you stop by Koala Knockabout to catch a glimpse of Oliver, the Zoo’s newest resident, a joey (or baby koala). More info here.

The park is open daily 9am-5pm. Admission: $9.75 for adults, $7.25 for children ages 3 – 12 and free for children 2 and under. For more information, call Riverbanks at 803.779.8717.

Kids and their parents are invited to a Family Sleepover Educational Program this month @ UGA’s Marine Education Center and Aquarium, 30 Ocean Science Circle, Skidaway Island.

Time 6 PM – 8 AM Sat-Sun. Jan. 23-24. Cost: $25/person all children must be accompanied by an adult.

The sleepover’s activities will focus on coastal development. All activities will be hands-on and exciting. There will also be a mini fishing clinic. Program includes snack and continental breakfast.

Please bring the following items: sleeping bag, pillow, hand towel, pajamas, bug spray, toothbrush and paste, flashlight, fishing pole, camera, and change of clothes.

Maximum of 25 participants. Advanced registration required. 912-598-2496 or email fish@uga.edu

You can help the Friends of Oatland “Bring Back a Bear” to the Oatland Island Wildlife Center

A campaign is under way to bring a bear to Oatland after Oatland’s bear died earlier this year. Come to a cocktail party to benefit the bear campaign Wed. Oct. 21  5:30-8 PM at First City Club, 7 East Congress Street (2nd floor)

A cash bar will be available for attendees that aren’t FCC members. Email Sandi Roth to RSVP or for more info: friendsofoatland@gmail.com

Donations will be accepted throughout the event, plus raffles, a silent auction and other prizes. To ensure your donation is tax deductible, please make your donation to Friends of Oatland Island, Inc. (FOO) – a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

Summer’s end means the popular raptors flight show is back at  The Center for Wildlife Education and The Lamar Q Ball Jr. Raptor Center in Statesboro.

The raptors flight show – with falcons, owls, hawks and more – is at 3 PM Saturdays, following a 2 PM reptile show, that includes insects, tree frogs, snakes and more. The flight show was on hiatus during summer.  

Other features of the Wildlife Education Center include a Discovery Trail which includes a opossum and skunk; a Habitat Walk includes a live bald eagle in her nest; 10 displays housing several live birds; a wetland preserve with ducks and wading birds, a playground; and “Discovery Logs” where kids can crawl inside and see encased ladybugs, grasshoppers, frogs, beetles and more.

Large groups, including school field trips, moms-tot groups and homeschool groups, can request a weekday raptors show. Call 912.478.0831.

The center also offers several birthday party packages that include the reptile show or bird show. There’s also a Birthday Overnight Camping Adventure.

The center is open 1- 5 PM  Saturdays during the school year. For more info, click here or call 912.478.0831.

Only a few more chances remain for your child to get upclose and personal with an alligator, learn their habits and have pictures taken with a mouth-taped-tightly-shut gator.

We recently enjoyed the “Get to Know a Gator” program at the Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn Plantation on Hilton Head. The program from Gatorland features a live alligator and busts several myths about gators, including the legend about running zig-zag if a gator ever chases you. Apparently, you should just run. And never feed alligators.

The program is held several times every Thursday through Aug. 13: 9:30 AM, 11:30 AM and 2 PM. For cost info, click here.
For reservations, call 843.689.6767 ext 223.

My son is still talking about the pony ride he took on “Cookie” last week at Lawton Stables on Hilton Head Island. And the goats he feed; as well as the llama, bunnies, sheep, chickens, turtles, roosters, donkeys, miniature ponies and trail horses he visited at Lawton’s FREE animal petting farm.

Pony rides for children ages 7 and younger are $10.

Kids can also pet and feed a friendly retired Clydesdale, Harley, at the stables, located inside Sea Pines Resort. Don’t let the gates at the Sea Pines entrance keep you from visiting. You don’t have to be staying at Sea Pines to visit Lawton Stables. It’s open to the public. Entrance to Sea Pines is $6 per car.

Lawton Stables also has a gift shop with horse-related items and a coin-operated horse for kids too young for the pony experience. Lawton also hosts kids’ horse-themed birthday parties and offers horse trail rides and carriage rides.

Click here for more info.

Butterfly kisses were my 2-year-old son’s main objective during a recent visit to the Karen Wertheimer
Butterfly Enclosure on Hilton Head Island. He was all about trying to touch a swallowtail to find out if they really felt like eyelashes fluttering on his cheek. Fortunately for the butterflies, he wasn’t quick enough.

The butterfly habitat is a treat for kids. The small screened enclosure includes a variety of butterflies as well as nectar plants to feed the butterflies and host plants to feed the butterfly larvae.

Kids can see a live caterpillar and see butterflies in all four stages of their metamorphosis up close.

The habitat is at the Coastal Discovery Museum in Honey Horn Plantation on Hilton Head Is, which also has other children’s activities. For the butterfly habitat’s hours click here. 

Visiting the habitat is FREE. $3 museum donations are suggested.

There’s also a weekly Butterfly Discovery Tour, a guided tour through the butterfly enclosure to get up close and personal with native butterflies. Kids learn about the different stages of a butterfly’s life cycle, see a living caterpillar and a chrysalis. Museum guides also share how to help butterflies survive and thrive and also explain their adaptations and characteristics. Reservations suggested. 843-689-6767 ext 223.

Click here for more info about Hilton Head Island’s butterfly habitat.

If you’re planning a day trip to Hilton Head Is. from the Savannah area, visiting the butterfly enclosure won’t take up too much time. It’s a good kids’ activity to pair with a visit to the Sandbox Interactive Children’s Museum or to the animal farm at Lawton Stables, which also has horseback riding, pony rides, birthday parties, trail rides and more. All of which make up a great outing for Savannah moms groups.

Don’t forget. Father’s Day is this Sun. June 21.

Dads can spend this Father’s Day at Charleston’s South Carolina Aquarium for FREE with a paying guest or child. Click here to download a special Father’s Day coupon for free admission to all dads on Sunday. The website coupon must be presented to take advantage of this offer. Fathers also will be recognized during daily programs.

The aquarium’s newest exhibit, Penguin Planet!, features four Magellanic Penguins in a brand new interactive exhibit. Watch as penguins dive underwater, learn about penguin colonies, discover what makes these unique birds march. The animals are on loan from SeaWorld.

On Saturday and Sunday, June 20 – 21, the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum is offering all Fathers half off of admission rates. The Museum admission rates for fathers this weekend will be $5. On Father’s Day, a special brunch will be offered in Chef Matt Cohen’s New South Pub, open daily from 11 AM to 3 PM.

The Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum is @ 175 Bourne Avenue in Pooler, off of I-95 at Exit 102.

SouthernMamas is always telling you about free or low-cost Savannah area children’s activities.

Especially when it comes to finding fun, inexpensive ways to enjoy your summer staycation in Savannah with the kids.

But not until now did we have all those low-cost children’s summer activities in one place. Check out our new page entitled Low-cost Savannah summer kids’ activities. Check it out here.
Let us know what events you love or which ones need improving by sharing your comments.

Thanks to Lynn Adams for compiling this list.

Have a great SouthernMamas summer.

The Aquarium on Skidaway Island is a good destination for a summer picnic.

Inside the Aquarium, kids can see seahorses, turtles, loggerhead turtles, nurse sharks, lionfish, catfish and more in tanks. There’s also a little touch tank where kids can pick up conchs and touch a live horseshoe crab.

Behind the Aquarium is a shady spot, just off the nature trail, with plenty of picnic tables overlooking the water and a patient heron who seems to be a regular.

Click here for directions and hours. 912.598.3474 or email fish@uga.edu.

Take the kids to see the newborn male giraffe calf born at Riverbanks Zoo and Garden.

The 12-day-old reticulated giraffe calf measures approximately 5 feet, 5 inches and weighs 126 pounds.
Born to parents Sharon and Charlie on Feb. 9, the calf will nurse for about one year and will remain at Riverbanks for two to three years before being placed at another zoo.

The name of the calf will be announced early next week.

If you’re planning to take your family for a visit, remember the weather in February can be a bit unpredictable. Be sure to check the temperature before you plan to see the baby. The weather should be favorable and the temperature must be above 45 degrees before the giraffe can have access to the exhibit.

For more info, call Riverbanks at 803.779.8717 or click here.

 Thanks to savvy SouthernMamas reader Lia Hyatt for sharing this tip: Oatland Island Wildlife Center will not cancel their regular Toddler Tuesdays story, craft and animal visitor program after all. The good news was announced @ this past week’s Toddler Tuesday.

Last month, organizers had said  there are no plans to continue the popular program this year because of budget cuts. The wildlife center receives funds from money-strapped Savannah-Chatham County Public School System.

We’re thrilled the program is expected to start up again mid-January. Click here for upcoming updates on when it will start.

What a great reason to become a member of Oatland Island, especially now that membership rates have been lowered. It now costs $35 for a family of six, compared to the previous price of $60. Click here for membership info and here for rates.

You spent all summer cultivating your child’s love for the ocean.

Now you can celebrate that nautical love @ Gray’s Reef 2008 Ocean Film Festival. The festival has a special program for kids – Seaside Saturday. It will be 9-10 am Sat. Sept. 20 @ SCAD’s Trustees Theatre – Broughton Street. All children are invited to attend this FREE! event with their parents.

The event includes these kid-friendly films:

• Sanctuary Sam – (1 min) – The National Marine Sanctuary System’s “flippered” ambassador delivers a message.
• Water Detectives – (11 min) – Children of one Mexican town teach the adults how to conserve water.
• Ride of the Mergansers – (11 min) – Baby mergansers get their first look at the world.
• Always Ready – (4 min) – A kid-sized view of the U.S. Coast Guard produced by 8-year-old Herbert Gilman.

For more info, click here.

Add this to this week’s kids events we highlighted in your weekly SouthernMamas newsletter (If you didn’t receive yours, email anne@southernmamas.com): crafts and coastal reptiles @ Skidaway Island State Park on Fri. Sept. 5.
2 pm: crafts and critters bags @ the park’s interpretive center.
4 pm: coastal reptiles. Learn all about them. See live ones. Bring your camera for pictures.
8:30 pm: sensory awareness night hike. Learn about different creatures that come out at night and awaken your senses with experiments on this hike.
For more info, call 912.598.2300. For driving directions, click here.

Coming Sat. Aug 23: the opening of Oatland Island Wildlife Center’s new Wolf Wilderness exhibit.

No more looking down on the six wolves from a viewing platform, behind a chain-link fence and several feet away.

The Wolf Wilderness observation cabin, pictured under construction here, will allow you to stand at four 6-foot-tall windows and watch the creatures at ground level, according to this article in the Savannah Morning News. The article points out the special safety glass in the windows is the same tough stuff used in zoos for gorillas.

Other creatures will also be displayed in the cabin – bats, snakes and a tarantula. Nearby will be enclosed displays featuring a peregine falcon and some armadillos.

You’re invited to the release of the loggerhead sea turtle, Squirty 1:30-3:00pm Thurs. Aug. 7 @ the Tybee Island Pier.

Burton 4-H Center on Tybee Island has raised Squirty since he was one week old and weighed only 20 grams. He arrived as a straggler hatchling so he could be an ambassador to children. Since then, 12,000 students have seen him and learned more about endangered sea turtles. Squirty is now almost two years old and weighs in at an impressive 19 lbs.

Squirty’s “bon voyage” party Thursday will include educational booths with info about sea turtles and other animals; food and T-shirts for sale to help raise money for 4-H’s next sea turtle; and a 2 pm demonstration nest and contest. Then, Squirty will make his way to the ocean.

Burton 4-H Center is accepting donations to help fund the release. Donations can be made by clicking here

A big thank you to SouthernMamas subscriber Deborah Evans for letting us know about this fun event.