Learn about the wonders of the natural world on a Bell Museum overnight! Your group will enjoy all the museum has to offer - tours of the dioramas, educational programs about Minnesota’s facsinating animals and environment, and games and activities - and spend the night camping out in the museum’s Touch & See Room.

All overnight programs are lead by Bell Museum Interpretive Staff and are designed to be educational, fun and relaxing experiences.

Group size: Minimum group size is eight. Maximum is 36.

Cost: $50 per child for groups of 8-19 youth; $45 per child for groups of 20-36 youth. Costs include interpretive staff, all materials needed for activities, an evening snack and light breakfast. One adult chaperone free and required per 10 children. Additional adults $20 each.

Scheduling: Overnights can be scheduled for Friday or Saturday nights September through April. Overnight experiences begin at 7:00 p.m. and end the following day at 10:00 a.m. Please call to check availability.

Please call 612-624-9050 or e-mail registrations@bellmuseum.org to make reservations for Friday or Saturday overnight programs.

Overnight Activities
Groups select and participate in three one-hour programs as part of their overnight experience. Please choose from the following activities:

Astronomy - Explore the night sky with a graduate student from the University of Minnesota’s Department of Astronomy. On a clear night, head up to the roof and look at stars and planets through a telescope. If its cloudy, we’ll discuss what astronomers do and see a slide show about the planets.

Black Bears - Bears are one of the most fascinating animals in Minnesota. Explore this animal’s adaptations, methods for finding food, and follow it through a year of its life.

Butterflies - Learn about the insect lifecycle and how to tell a butterfly from a moth. View a collection of butterflies and moths from around the world.

Collections Tour - Visit behind-the-scenes of the Bell Museum’s collections and research labs. View thousands of specimens and meet some of the researchers who work with them. Appropriate for children age 12 and up.

Creepie Crawlies - Get an up-close-and-personal look at some of the most misunderstood creatures in the animal kingdom. Meet giant cockroaches, huge millipedes, honey bees and flesh-eating beetles.

Flashlight Tour - Tour the Bell’s dioramas with the lights out and learn how nocturnal animals have adapted to hunting in the dark.

Nature Printing - Create a memento of your Bell Museum experience using rubber footprints, plant and animals objects and paint to design and create your own t-shirt. (T-shirts $3.00 each)

Nature Detectives Tour - Learn to identify the hidden clues nature leaves behind in this tour of the Bell’s dioramas. Develop an eye for the subtle hints to what’s happening in the scenes and spot the less obvious plants and animals.

Paper Making - Come and recycle already used paper ad discover special paper making techniques and tools of the trade.

Predators/Prey - Explore the relationship between the hunters and the hunted. Old attitudes give way to new ones as you learn how interdependent these species are and hunted species actually rely on predators to strengthen their population.

Reptiles and Amphibians - Snakes, lizards, turtles, salamanders, and frogs all live in the Bell’s Touch & See Room. Explore these species in a hands-on program. Watch a snake eat, learn what make a salamander different from a lizard and learn how Bell staff cares for these animals.

Scavenger Hunt - Explore the Bell Museum’s habitat dioramas and be the first in your group to find all the scavenger hunt treasures!

Track Making - Learn how to identify different animal tracks and make a plaster track of your own to take home.