SCOUT PROGRAMS

Severson Dells is excited to offer programs for Scouts to learn more about local habitats, wildlife and outdoor skills.

A 1.5-2 hour program costs $10/scout, with a minimum of $50 for the group.   

A 3-4 hour program costs $15/scout, with a minimum of $75 for the group.

For more information, or to register your troop for a program, call 815-335-2915 or email liz@seversondells.org.

Girl Scouts

Eco Learner - Daisies & Eco Friend - Brownies

We teach your scouts how to leave the outdoors better than they find it every time they go for a walk or hike.   (1-1.5 hours)

Outdoor Art - Daisies, Brownies, Juniors, Cadettes

All levels of Girl Scouts have an Outdoor Art component to their Outdoor Journey.  We help meet the requirements by introducing outdoor art in the style of Andrew Goldsworthy.   (1-2 hours)

Bugs - Brownies

Learn what makes insects insects, how to identify insect families, and then go catch insects in the field to study.  (1.5-2 hours)

Outdoor Adventurer - Brownies;  Camper - Juniors; & Primitive Camper - Cadettes

Need new camping/outdoor skills?  We can teach your scouts knots, shelter-building, fire starting, and more!  (2-3 hours)

Animal Habitats - Juniors

Illinois is home to many wonderful animals.  Come explore with us to discover who lives where.                (1.5-2 hours)

Flowers - Juniors

Using the framework of Tom Elpel’s Botany in a Day, we’ll help your scouts learn the basics of flower structure and ID. (1.5-2 hours)

Night Owl - Cadette

Nighttime is magical.  Join us for a night hike to earn your Night Owl badge.  (1.5-2 hours)

Trees - Cadette

Trees are important to people on many levels.  Join us for an ethnobotanical lesson about trees!                  (1.5-2 hours)

Cub Scouts

Backyard Jungle - Tigers

Looking to learn a bit about our local plants and wildlife?  We can help you out!  Bring your Tiger Scouts out for a walk to learn who lives in the woods and waters of Northern Illinois.   (1-1.5 hours)

Paws on the Path - Wolves

How to be safe outdoors and how to leave no trace are concepts at the heart of what we do at Severson Dells, and we can help you teach your Wolf Scouts how to do them, too.   (1-2 hours)

Finding Your Way - Wolves

Staying found is sometimes as simple as just being aware of your surroundings, but also knowing how to read a map and use a compass can come in handy, too.  Our staff will guide your scouts through some basic map reading exercises and teach them the rudiments of compass use.   (2+ hours)

Fur, Feathers & Ferns - Bears

Do your scouts need to learn some local natural history?  Then Severson Dells is the place to come!  We’ll start indoors with a tour of some of our taxidermy mounts (including an extinct species), and then head out for a walk to see what signs of wildlife we can find on the trails.  And because they are part of the whole web of life, we’ll teach you about some of our local plants as well.  (1.5-2 hours)

Scout Merit Badge programs are intense, requiring many hours of work in order to meet all the requirements for badge completion.  Many programs have long term projects that are required, but we can help you along the way!

We can help tick off several requirements as scouts work their way through the following badges:

Insect Study:  requirements 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (a), 6 (b), 7, 8, 11, 12, 13

Nature:  requirements 1, 2, 3, 4 (a-1), 4 (b-2), 4 (d-1), 4 (g-1) 4(h-1) - plan to make at least two visits to SDNC in order to accomplish all these requirements

Plant Science:  requirements 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 - Field Botany Option: A, B, C, F (5 - b & c)

Bird Study: requirements 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (requires pre-visit work to be completed), 7, 8 (a), 10, 11

Forestry: requirements 1 (we will get scouts started, or scouts can bring in what they have completed before visiting SDNC), 2 , 3 , 4, 5 (a), 7, 8

Orienteering:  requirements1, 2,  3, 4 , 5

Mammal Study: requirements 1, 2, 3 (a), 4 (e)

Reptile and Amphibian Study: requirements 3, 4, 5, 9 (a, b)

Soil and Water Conservation:  requirements 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Wilderness Survival: requirements 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 (a, b), 8 (minus the overnight portion), 9, 10, 11, 12 

If the scout has completed all the requirements, Severson Dells can also sign off on all of these Merit Badges as a Merit Badge Counselor is on site.

Contact us any time