FIELD NOTES BLOG

Severson Dells Adventure Packs

Liz Wiener
February 22, 2024

Do you want to turn “I’m boreeeeed…what do you mean go explore outside, there isn’t anything to DO outside” into “Can we turn this tablet off and go explore at Severson Dells with an Adventure Backpack?” in one simple step*?

*Number of steps to amazement and wonder not guaranteed

With the new Adventure Backpacks by Severson Dells, your outdoor wanderings can turn to outdoor amazement!

Take your day from this… To this!

These Adventure Backpacks were graciously sponsored by the Alpine Kiwanis Club and expertly curated by the Severson Dells Nature Center education team! Designed for the modern explorer, these backpacks are your ticket to experiencing the great outdoors like never before.

Each backpack is stocked with a variety of tools to help enhance your experience while out on the trail. We’ve also included a handy dandy guide of activities, scavenger hunts, and tips and tricks in each pack!

Let’s dive into each pack to learn more about what is inside them!

Beaks and Binoculars

Do you have a budding birder on your hands? The Beaks and Binoculars backpack is designed for avian enthusiasts, complete with binoculars, bird ID guides, bird song books and even a monocular with a cell phone adapter! We’ve included an “Adventure Log” so you can write down all of the feathered friends you encounter on your journey. 

Bug Watch

For those that love the “creepy-crawlies”, be sure to check out the Bug Watch Backpack. This pack comes with a bug net, magnifying bug viewers, ID guides, hand lenses, and story books to enhance your outdoor time. “Good Trick Walking Stick” is a staff favorite! 



Nature’s Palette

Move over, Monet! With Nature’s Palette, your aspiring artist can draw, paint, sketch, and color everything that inspires them. This pack includes watercolor postcards, a sketchbook, paints, crayons, colored pencils and more! When you have finished your creation, you get to keep the postcards and sketchbook! 



Rock On!

This pack rocks…literally! Explore the 458 million year old Dells and surrounding area with this pack, and really get in touch with a piece of history! Included in this pack are hand lenses, a bag of fossils to inspect, a geological calendar, and a “Mohs Scale” for testing the hardness of different rocks and minerals. 



Plant Pursuers

Let your imagination bloom with this pack! You can use this pack to identify trees, flowers, grasses, and more! Use the Super Secret Smellum Potion™ to unlock secret smells of the prairie (we recommend smelling the bergamot!). Take home a rubbing of your favorite leaf or bark, and be sure to check this pack out every season to see what’s growing! 

These packs are designed to inspire curiosity and foster a deeper connection with the natural world, and are packed with resources and tools to ignite a passion for exploration and discovery. 

The best part about these packs (besides all the amazing hands-on learning contained inside them)? They are completely FREE to check out! You can use a pack from 8am-4:30pm any day the Nature Center is open (Monday-Saturday). If you are a Severson Dells member, you can reserve a pack by calling 815-335-2915 or emailing admin@seversondells.org . All packs must be returned on the day they are checked out. 

So, what do you think? Are you ready to get out on the trails and explore with a Severson Dells Adventure Backpack? Come on in and then get out! We can’t wait to hear what you discover! 

Adventure Packs are 100% recommended by severson campers, photo by sdnc staff

RECENT ARTICLES

Climate in the News: Coastal Sea Levels Are Higher Than Previously Thought

By Emma Zimmerman • March 10, 2026
A new study published in the journal Nature, titled Sea Level Much Higher Than Assumed in Most Coastal Hazard Assessments is making headlines around the world. In case you missed it, researchers have recently found that coastal sea levels are, on average, 8 -12 inches higher than many maps and models have previously suggested. This discovery means that many coastal areas are at an even greater risk from rising sea levels than we previously believed.

Spring Community Science

By Caedyn Wells • March 10, 2026
Explore Community Science

The Grove - Low Down with Linda

By Linda Sandquist • March 5, 2026
I’m a grandma. I have four grandchildren who I assume are the most perfect children in the world. If you’re a grandparent, I know you have perfect grandchildren too. It’s nice to be part of the same club. If you’re like me, you probably worry about your grandchildren and what our technology-heavy future holds for them. Admittedly, times have changed and children are changing too. They are not outside playing “until the street lights come on” like we did. Things are more organized and structured. Children are involved in organized sports, organized lessons of all sorts, and homework on tablets take up their afternoons and evenings. Games are happening on screens with gameboxes, people feel less trusting of their neighborhoods, and children are not seen engaging in outdoor play, tag, hide the flag, or simply riding their bikes around the block. That’s why I’m so proud to be here at Severson Dells Nature Center. Our mission is to create a connection between people and nature. We focus on hands-on, science-based activities designed to inspire a love for the natural world and the stewardship of it. For children specifically, Severson Dells is home to the only free nature playscape in the area. Called The Grove , this nature playscape is a playground strategically built without traditional swing sets, slides, jungle gyms, and other apparatuses. Children get to use their imaginations to explore natural materials in a playful way. There is a block lab with wooden blocks and tree cookies that children use to build, stack, and create. A covered shack allows children to hang out, play house, school, or store, and display treasures on the shelves inside. Kids can paint with water from the rain barrel just outside the shack or play on the sand table. And there are logs that children can climb on, rearrange, and use to make up whatever adventure stories they want. Rules for the playscape are simple: get messy, touch it all, be respectful of others, explore, pretend, and make friends. Have fun and leave electronics at home. For parents and grandparents: bring a book, something to sit on, a waterbottle, sun screen, and maybe some bug spray. If your kids are like my grandchildren, you’re going to be here a LONG time! The Grove Nature Playscape is located just inside Severson Dells Forest Preserve. It’s open every day from sunrise to sunset and admission is free. Climbing features are intended for ages 5 - 12, but fun for all ages, from 0 to 99 is guaranteed.