Fall Family Fest and more fun at Grange Insurance Audubon Center

The Grange Insurance Audubon Center offers fun events and activities for all ages to connect with nature. The Audubon Center is located in downtown Columbus, but you’ll feel like you are away from the city and immersed in nature along the Scioto River. 

Grange Audubon Center offers STEAM-based programming for youth, birding and conservation experiences, as well as indoor and outdoor fun.

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Seasonal Fun at Grange Insurance Audubon Center

Sip and Paint with Wine and Canvas

Sign up now for our 2022 Sip & Paint afternoons with Wine and Canvas! Enjoy an indoor fire with wine and hot beverages to sip while creating your masterpiece! Register HERE

“Earth Day” Sunday April 24, 1p-4p
“Fall Harvest” Saturday October 29, 1p-4p
“Winter Cardinal” Saturday December 17, 1p-4p

Fall Family Fest with Simba Jordan Band

Saturday, October 29, 2022 from 5-9pm
Come in your Halloween costumes or wear your cowboy hat and boots for the FREE Fall Family Fest with the Simba Jordan Band.

This family-friendly event features activities all evening and requires advance registration.

Schedule of events included with registration:

5-7pm: Live entertainment from the Simba Jordan Band and Trunk or Tweet. Hot dogs and cider also served during this time, please note there is a separate optional food ticket

7-9pm: Flashlight hike, carved pumpkin competition and outdoor fire. Please bring your own flashlights. The concert will be outside so be sure to bring chairs and blankets for the lawn. In case of inclement weather, the concert will move inside. You are welcome to bring your own food and drink to this event, please note that alcohol is not permitted within the park.

Participants can pick up a FREE pumpkin ahead of the event to carve and return to the center for the carved pumpkin contest. All carved pumpkins received by Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 5pm will be entered into the contest. Select the pumpkin entry ticket to be notified when they are available for pickup.

Prizes will be awarded for the most creative pumpkin in each of the following categories: Bird, Animal, Flower, Scariest, Funniest. Deadline to register for this event is Wednesday October 26.

Trick or Tweet

Saturday, October 29, 2022  

Spook up some fun with this not-so-scary nature themed, family fun, fall celebration for preschoolers and children grades K-2. Costumes are fun and encouraged, especially for our costume parades throughout each event!

Enjoy games, scavengers hunts, short hikes, crafts, read-alouds and even a snack to take home!

Registration will open in late Summer.

Regular Fun at Grange Insurance Audubon Center

Preschool Story Time

Each Thursday morning at 10:00 am for nature-themed, read-alouds and maybe sing a song or two. Stay after to enjoy outdoor play time in our play space located near the native plant gardens or visit the turtles inside. Registration is currently required, program is free. Register here.

Birdwatching for Beginners

Saturday mornings from 10 – 11:30 am
Take a guided hike with our Grange Insurance Audubon Center Educators or Columbus Audubon Volunteers to see what birds you can find in your Scioto Audubon Metro Park each Saturday at 10 am. Guided hikes will give you the basics of birding and help you learn about areas in our park that are great for birdwatching! You can enjoy self-guided hikes in the park anytime during open hours.

Register at the link here.

First Friday’s Let’s Do Yoga Together

Start the evening with a yoga class intentionally welcoming of the LGBTQIA+ community and the people who support them, and designed to be a space where people can be themselves without fear of judgment. After yoga, join us for an optional bird walk around the center grounds and Scioto Audubon Metro Park.

The program will include 1 hour of yoga, led by Andy King, with the beautiful city skyline as a backdrop and a 45 minute bird walk by a Grange Insurance Audubon Center staff member or Columbus Audubon member, Sheila Fagan. Participants are asked to bring a mat or towel to use during the yoga class. 

Use this registration for the following dates:

April 1st, 6 pm
May 6th, 6 pm
June 3rd, 6 pm
*Red, White and Boom will be held the evening of Friday, July 1st so we’ll be unable to carry out yoga. Feel free to come to the surrounding Scioto Audubon Metro Park to view the spectacular fireworks instead!*
August 5th, 6 pm
October 7th, 6 pm *no bird walk after this session as sunset will still be too early – feel free to stay and take a self-guided walk around the park or sign up for the Saturday, October 8th Beginner Bird Walk at 10 am

Registration is $10 per person. Please email Allison Clark at allison.clark@audubon.org the day of the program to see if space is still available the day of if you’d like to come last minute. Please be sure to check in at the front desk of the Grange Insurance Audubon Center. Check-in will be available starting at 5:30 pm the day of the event. 

Reserve a private playtime!

Small indoor play room with books, bird watching, costumes, climbing structure and cave.
Reserve your playtime! Have an adventure while engaging in imaginative play in the Grange Insurance Audubon Center Forest Room Playroom and Climbing Area with your family and/or playgroup. No more than 20 in the group (infants included).

Reservations are $25-$40. See website for details and cancellation policies. Reserve your playtime here.

Grange Insurance Audubon Center
505 W Whittier St. Columbus OH 43215
614-545-5475
website | Facebook
Hours change seasonally; see details here.

Past events at Grange; tba for 2022

12 Days of Audubon: Yuletide Holiday Celebration Series

Details tba for 2022. Enjoy 12 days of seasonal activities including night hikes, wine tasting events, holiday music, programs, movie night, gingerbread house decorating, painting, a last-minute pop-up art shop and much more!

Many events are free, while others have a small fee to cover the supply costs. Registration is required; find details and links to register on the website. 

Winter Lantern Walks

Join us on select Saturday evenings and every Wednesday evening from 6:30-8pm this winter for lantern walks around the Grange Insurance Audubon Center grounds and surrounding Scioto Audubon Metro Park. After a 45 minute walk with lanterns in hand, we’ll gather by the fire inside the center and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate to warm up.

Tickets are $5. Participants over the age of 2 must have a ticket. Be sure to dress for winter walking (we’ll be following paved paths but those paths may be slick). Click on the links below to purchase tickets.

Saturday Winter Lantern Walks

January 8
January 22
February 12
February 26

Wednesday Winter Lantern Walks

Wednesdays, January 5 – February 23

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Wednesday Spring Audubon Adventures for Preschoolers

Every other Wednesday from 10 am – 11 am for ages 2-4. Preschool-age children can bring their special adult to join our educators as we explore the season of spring with spring-themed stories, activities or science experiments, crafts and short outdoor exploration hikes on the Grange Insurance Audubon Center grounds and surrounding Scioto Audubon Metro Park (hike weather permitting)

• 4/6/22 Audubon Adventures: Spring has Sprung
• 4/20/22 Audubon Aventures: Rainbows and Weather
• 5/4/22 Audubon Adventures: Bugs and Insects
• 5/18/21 Audubon Adventures: Flowers and Trees

Registration closes at 10 am the day before each program. Price is $15 per child 2 and over and their favorite adult (2 people total included in the ticket). Additional child and adult tickets may be purchased for $5 per adult and child 2 and over.

Juneteenth/Summer Celebration at The Grange Insurance Audubon Center

Sunday, June 19, 2022 from 1 pm -7:30 pm 

An entire day of nature, art, community, family, music & more! Details tba for 2022.

Red, White & Boom Fundraiser Celebration 2022

Friday, July 1, 2022 at 5:30 pm 

General Admission: Provides access to Nocterra Brewing Company Beer Garden 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Beer tickets available at $8/beer. No preferred parking access.

General Admission ticket holders are encouraged to find a spot in the park and reserve it for viewing the fireworks after access to the Nocterra beer garden closes at 8pm. General Admission ticket holders will not be permitted to stay in the roped off area to view the fireworks.

VIP ticket options (5:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.) includes access to Nocterra Brewing Company Beer Garden, appetizers, food stations (grilled chicken, pulled pork,  petite vegan Impossible Burgers, a selection of sides & salads and dessert station), beer/wine Tickets, live music by the Village Brass quintet, preferred parking (full table only)and a prime spot on the lawn to view the fireworks display.

VIP and sponsor ticket holders can remain in the beer garden area to view the fireworks.