On December 12th, 18th and 19th from 6:30-9 P.M., hundreds of families will bundle up and experience Holidays at the Heard, the most unique holiday event in North Texas. Holidays at the Heard brings the beauty of the holiday season into nature. Guests will see lights and holiday décor along a half mile Heard nature trail. In keeping with the Heard’s role as a nature preserve, this light display is designed to enhance, rather than overpower, the sanctuary’s natural beauty.

Children and the young at heart will enjoy the opportunity to have a photo taken with Father Christmas and Mother Nature in a festive setting. Hot beverages and treats will be available for purchase. Family-friendly entertainment will complement the holiday atmosphere. Local musicians will delight audiences with live holiday music in the Heard outdoor amphitheater.

Visitors to Holiday at the Heard will get to support the Heard and have fun with the whole family at this holiday fundraiser. Tickets at the door are only $9 for adults & seniors and $5 for kids 3-12 (children 2 and under are free). Guests who purchase their tickets online before the event will save $2 per ticket! The public is also welcome to purchase event tickets as gifts. Tickets are now available to the public at www.heardmuseum.org/holidays

About Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary
The Heard is a private 501(c)3 nonprofit and was founded in 1967 by Bessie Heard. Miss Heard was 80 years old when she saw the need to preserve a place where future generations could experience nature. Today, the Heard's mission of bringing nature and people together is carried out through education, particularly of young people, which emphasizes an appreciation of nature and its conservation. For more information, visit heardmuseum.org.

On October 17^th, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., visitors from across North Texas will experience Collin County’s premier family-friendly Halloween event at Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary. Halloween at the Heard features a safe environment to experience the joy of trick-or-treating along the eerie Dinosaurs Live! Live-Size Animatronic Dinosaurs trail.

Families will enjoy an evening full of fun activities at this fun family fundraiser including a presentation of a family-friendly movie on the Heard's outdoor amphitheater stage. Kids ages 12 and under will also have the opportunity to participate in a costume contest.

Those who dare will be able take a trail detour after the movie through our "Haunted Forest" and “Ghost Town” where they may encounter a ghost or creature of the night (not recommended for younger children)! Guests can also have a photo taken in their costumes.

The Heard recommends that guests bring insect repellant, flashlights, water-resistant blankets and/or stadium seats for use during the movie. Concessions will be available for purchase. Guests may also bring their own picnic dinner and non-alcoholic beverages.

Ticketing is now open to the public, while supplies are available. Tickets for this annual event sold out ten days early last year, so the Heard encourages guests to purchase theirs as soon as possible. Admission to this event is $15 for adults, $10 for children ages 3-12, and free for children ages 2 and under. See heardmuseum.org for more details. 

Halloween at the Heard is sponsored in part by NBC5 and ClifKiD. Proceeds from this event benefit Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary, a private 501(c)3 organization. The Heard was founded in 1967 by Bessie Heard.  Miss Heard was 80 years old when she saw the need to preserve a place where future generations could experience nature. Today, the Heard’s mission of bringing nature and people together is carried out through education, particularly of young people, which emphasizes an appreciation of nature and its conservation. 

The mission of Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary in McKinney, Texas is to bring nature and people together to discover, enjoy, experience, restore and preserve our priceless environment. Please help the Heard to continue to make this possible by helping the Heard protect native animals on the Heard Wildlife Sanctuary.

Though the Heard Wildlife Sanctuary is private property and hunting is not allowed, we have recently collected evidence that prohibited hunting activities are going on in this nature preserve. By helping us purchase additional wildlife cameras to monitor more areas of the wildlife sanctuary, we will be able to work more effectively with local game wardens to help us enforce applicable laws and protect our wildlife, such as White-tailed deer, Northern raccoons, Eastern cottontail rabbits, owls, songbirds and much more.  This will also help us collect valuable scientific data and information about the behavior and health of the resident animals.

For just $550 each, we will be able to purchase wildlife cameras that transmit images and real-time information wirelessly to Heard staff. $80 per month will help us secure the data plan to transfer the data. This means that, for less than $7,000, you can help us better protect all 289 acres and the wildlife living there for years to come. Will you please consider helping us meet this goal? Any amount will get the Heard closer to this $7,000 goal and will be appreciated!

When Bessie Heard founded Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary in 1967 at the age of 80, her foresight was keen. She realized that someday natural spaces would not be as available. She saw that one day there may be a need to conserve a special place for people to spend time in and learn about nature. "Miss Bessie" (as the children called her) knew that natural spaces and wildlife were important and should be shared with future generations.

Forty-eight years later, in keeping with Miss Bessie's vision, the Heard consists of a 289 acre wildlife sanctuary and a natural science museum for the primary purpose of educating children about the appreciation of nature and its conservation.

Tomorrow, on North Texas Giving Day, September 17, from 6 a.m. to midnight, your donation of $25 or more will go further with bonus funds if you donate to Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary through NorthTexasGivingDay.org.

Please make a gift to Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary on this day and help the Heard save resident wildlife for years to come. The Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary is a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, making your gift tax-deductible. 

Time spent in nature provides almost limitless opportunities for hands-on learning. Studies continue to demonstrate the harmful effects of a child’s separation from nature and, conversely, the benefits of strengthening this connection. These studies also show that time spent in nature can improve a child’s physical, intellectual, and social-emotional development.

Register your preschooler today for Heard Preschool Nature Explorers to encourage your child’s connection and fascination with nature. This informal science program introduces your child to the natural world through nature walks and hands-on science activities that foster cooperation with others, language development and creative play! This 13-week program begins the week of September 8 and meets one day each week on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday from 9:30AM - 11:30AM. Preschool Nature Explorers is appropriate for children ages 3 and 4 (please use child’s birthday as of September 1.)

Heard Preschool Nature Explorers will learn about habitats and ecosystems. From forests to prairies to wetlands, they will explore their surroundings. Songs, finger plays, and stories demonstrate how animals and plants make up a habitat, and how they adapt to that habitat. Preschoolers will study animals that are awake at night and cope with living in the dark, dinosaurs, fossils and much more. In these classes, participating children will talk about our responsibility to nature, and what they can do to help the plants and animals around them. These children will also explore the many different habitats on the Heard Wildlife Sanctuary, and get up close to living animal ambassadors. Additional information about this program and the registration form is available at www.heardmuseum.org/preschool.

Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary is a private 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. The Heard was founded in 1967 by Bessie Heard, who was 80 years old when she saw the need to preserve a place where future generations could experience nature. Today, the Heard’s mission of bringing nature and people together is carried out through education, particularly of young people, which emphasizes an appreciation of nature and its conservation.

You had a chance to see dinosaurs in the theaters this summer. This fall, come see them in a natural environment. From September 19, 2015 to February 21, 2016, visitors to Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary will be able to let their imagination run wild as they walk back in time along a half-mile nature trail with nine life-size animatronic dinosaurs during the ninth annual Dinosaurs Live! Life-Size Animatronic Dinosaurs exhibit. These animatronic dinosaurs move and roar, providing an experience sure to captivate visitors who will be able to also learn interesting facts about both herbivorous and carnivorous dinosaurs.

The exhibit features the infamous Tyrannosaurus Rex, a frequent favorite among past guests. Other dinosaur replicas on exhibit include a spitting Dilophosaurus, a Carnotaurus, a Torosaurus, an Acrocanthosaurus, an Edmontonia, a Stegosaurus, a Styracosaurus, and a Pachycephalosaurus.

Children will also have the opportunity to play on static Apatosaurus and Parasaurolophus baby dinosaurs and on a photo-op T-Rex. The Dinosaurs Live! exhibit trail is jogging stroller friendly (umbrella strollers not recommended), giving families and friends a unique, exciting and educational activity to experience together. This annual exhibit is included in general admission and provides a great setting for a family outing on weekends and during the holidays. More information about this exhibit available at heardmuseum.org/dinosaurslive.