Events

Every December, tens of thousands of volunteers fan out across the country to count every bird they can find in a single day. The Christmas Bird Count is the longest-running citizen science project in America, and it welcomes families with kids of any age. Plan a full weekend around it and your family comes home with a life list, a story, and a new way of seeing the outdoors.

Every spring, cities across the country compete to find and photograph the most wildlife in four days, and any family with a phone can join in. The City Nature Challenge turns a walk around the block into a genuine scientific expedition. This guide covers when it happens, how to participate through iNaturalist, and how to build a full weekend around the hunt.

Every February, the Great Backyard Bird Count turns kitchen windows and backyard feeders into real scientific field stations. Families spend as little as fifteen minutes counting the birds they see, then submit their tallies to a global database that researchers actually use. It is one of the easiest ways to do genuine science together without leaving the neighborhood.

Every July, National Moth Week invites families to flip on a porch light, lay out a white sheet, and discover how many remarkable moths live right outside the back door. It is one of the easiest citizen science traditions a family can build, requiring no special gear and no travel. The data you collect goes directly to researchers studying moth populations across North America.