Burpee Museum of Natural History

04/11/2026

Imagination Expo
April 11th 10am-7pm
April 12th 10am-5pm

Join us for an exciting event filled with interactive booths, live demonstrations, and engaging activities for all ages. From science and nature to art and imagination, there’s something for everyone to explore!

Don’t miss your chance to:
• Meet passionate educators with live talks!
• Discover amazing animals and exhibits
• Dive into hands-on learning experiences
• Shop unique items from vendors
• Enjoy delicious food while you explore

Whether you're bringing the family, meeting friends, or just looking for a fun day out Imagination Expo is the place to be! See you there!



Stay curious. Stay creative. We’ll see you there!

04/10/2026

The Wildest Weekend in Rockford! 🦎🌎
Scales, Tails & Imagination Expo
Live Animals • Talks • Marketplace • Hands-On Science
LEARN MORE: https://burpee.org/imagination-expo/
📅 April 11–12, 2026 (10am–7pm)
📍 Burpee Museum of Natural History
Join us for a celebration of the incredible animals that share our planet and the ecosystems that depend on them.
From ancient lineages to modern-day survivors, you’ll meet species that have shaped life on Earth for millions of years—and learn what it takes to protect them today.
Vendors Include:
Obviously Art, Adeline Robinson Art, H**p Jungle, Carvings and Canvas
Ereptile Dysfunction, Fangs Of The Forgotten, Fisher Made, Drawn To Scales, Leaning Doodle LLC, S&T Uromastyx plus/Stephanie's creations, Miláček Gliders
Cef pets, Burpee Museum

Lecture Schedule Available Online!

🐢 Get up close with live animals
🧪 Explore hands-on science
🌿 Discover how these species support healthy ecosystems
🛍️ Shop a curated wildlife marketplace

Whether you’re a reptile enthusiast, a curious kid, or simply someone who loves the natural world, this is your chance to connect with the animals that quietly keep our planet in balance.

Come curious. Leave inspired to protect what you’ve discovered.
We share the weekend with World War I Days! Make it a double museum adventure! Rockford will be a special place for learning this weekend!

**petology

03/26/2026

We have two great partner events coming up on April 9th that you are not going to want to miss! Learn more and register at www.winnebagoforest.org/events.

📅 April 9 @ 9:00 a.m. - 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐔𝐩 with Burpee Museum of Natural History
📍Burpee Museum of Natural History, 737 North Main St, Rockford
Help prepare the Nature Nook exhibit for spring! The morning will start with an educator-led learning session, followed by hands-on work in the Nature Nook. Great for all ages!

📅 April 9 @ 5:00 p.m. - 𝐁𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 with The Xerces Society
🌐 Online via Zoom
Learn how you can help the preservation of bee diversity and enhance pollinator appreciation by becoming a bee monitor during this training led by Michelle Boone, an entomologist from The Xerces Society! Great for new or returning volunteers!

03/25/2026

Love hosting happy students! Thanks for enjoying Burpee Museum as part of your curriculum!

03/25/2026

Looking for something to do this Spring Break? 🌿
Come spend a day at Burpee.
https://burpee.org/visit-burpee/
❤️ Mrs. Della Burpee founded our endowment nearly 90 years ago with a simple wish: she wanted to inspire generations of curiosity and, above all, a joy for nature.
✨ The Spark: At PaleoFest this year, a 13-year-old volunteer showed up convinced there was nothing cool here. A few hours later, he was teaching younger kids the difference between mammoth and mastodon teeth and couldn’t wait to check out the museum again. You never know what will spark curiosity.
✨ The Reach: This year, our new Burpee Van helped us reach 10,033 people through outreach at schools, fairs, libraries, and community events. We also awarded 24 scholarships to students and teachers for our Utah dinosaur expeditions.
✨ The Open Door: Through Museums for All, we are working to make sure every family can feel pride in their museum. Curiosity should not depend on income.
Harry and Della Burpee knew it from the start, if we want people to care about our world, we have to help them love it first. People save what they love. Come find out why your world is a wonderful place! We’d love to see you this Spring Break.
Burpee has always been a place to explore, ask questions, and connect with the natural world!
Learn more about Burpee Here:
https://burpee.org/our-mission/

03/21/2026

Burpee is growing...and we’re hiring.

🦖 Paleontologist!
🌿 Educator!
👋 Visitor Experience!
☀️ Summer Interns (High School & University Students)
…and more
If you want to be part of a museum that is actively building, researching, and evolving:

👉 https://burpee.org/work-at-burpee/

Please share! We’re looking for great people.

03/16/2026

03/15/2026

Rockford has never had a wild expo like this before.
Live animals. Rare species. Incredible vendors.
Welcome to Burpee’s first-ever Scales, Tails & Imagination Expo. 🦎✨
📅 April 11–12 | ⏰ 10 AM – 7 PM
🛍 SHOP a One-of-a-Kind Marketplace
This isn’t just a museum visit: it’s an expo experience. Browse vendors featuring:
• Live Exotics: Cold blooded cuties ready for new homes.
• Nature’s Art: Ethically sourced taxidermy, pinned insects, and skeletal displays.
• Bioactive Habitats: Terrariums and specialized gear for your scaly sidekicks.
• Curiosities: Books, apparel, and dark-academia oddities you won’t find anywhere else in the region.
🐍 Meet Incredible Living Creatures of Burpee Museum
Get face-to-face with animals most people never see:
• Softshell turtles that bury in river sand
• Ancient Gar fish that swam with dinosaurs
• Snakes with unbelievable survival tricks
• Bizarre amphibians like the axolotl
Some are threatened species. Some are evolutionary survivors. All have amazing stories.
🐢 Live Animal Experiences
All weekend long: Animal encounters, reptile demonstrations, and conservation stories. Science becomes an adventure when you meet the animals up close.

Before we can protect the natural world, we have to fall in love with it.

🎟 Tickets & Info: https://burpee.org/imagination-expo/

Tag your favorite REPTILE REBEL BELOW👇

03/13/2026

Happy : HELP US CELEBRATE! Drop a photo in the comments from PaleoFest 2026! Before the stats, share your 📸 favorite moments!

🦖 PaleoFest 2026 by the numbers was a historic success:

✨ Investing in Our Future: 2026 is officially our most successful PaleoFest on record! Thanks to a surge in sponsorships, grants, ticket sales, and gift shop revenue, we are over 2.5 $ times ahead of any previous year. This record-breaking support allows us to reinvest directly into our mission, expanding world-class exhibits, research, educational programming, and outreach for all.

✨ Top-of-the-Food-Chain Attendance: Our most successful through-the-door year ever! From our first-ever sold-out Woodward Hall Dinner (catered by the award-winning farm-to-table Abreo) to packed lectures and workshops, the energy was incredible.

✨ Giganotosaurus-Sized Impact: On Friday alone, PaleoFest speakers reached over 1,000 students in classrooms and auditoriums across the region.

✨ The “Heavy Hitters” of Paleo: Our stage featured global icons such as Keynote Dr. Jingmai O’Connor (Field Museum)! Dr. Mary Droser took us to the dawn of early animals, Dr. James Napoli (Stony Brook) revealed new insights into Rockford’s own Jane, and the legendary Dr. Thomas Holtz (University of Maryland) explored the Mesozoic.

✨ Diverse & Global Discoveries: Our lineup spanned the globe: from Antarctica with Dr. Fatima Husain (MIT) to Texas Ice Age caves with Dr. John Moretti (UT). We also celebrated homegrown talent, including Madelyn (Maddie) Turala!

✨ Global Migration: Burpee is worth the travel! Speaker Dr. Kimi Chappelle joined us from South Africa, and our PaleoMarket welcomed vendors from as far as Michigan alongside local favorites.

✨ Strength of the Team: This was a mastodon-sized lift, and the Burpee staff handled it with incredible grace and professionalism.

YOU are part of this community: scientists, educators, thinkers, and curious minds helping secure Burpee’s place as a powerhouse for science. Thank you! As we approach the museum’s 90th birthday, the future is looking bright!

12/09/2025

Snakes, Turtles, HUGE Ice Age mammals! These classes will charm you with the beauty of Natural History Collections. Guided by a Burpee Educator, guests engage their senses and curiosity with hands-on activities, creative expression, and storytelling that promote learning, relaxation, and connection.

Today's topic: Snake Charmer
https://burpee.org/accessible-education-for-all/

Caregivers are Free!

11/20/2025

Alligator Snappers vs. Common Snappers!
These two turtles are wildly different.
Alligator snapping turtles look straight out of the prehistoric past—with spiky, ridged shells, giant blocky heads, and the title of largest freshwater turtle in the world. They’re also now listed as threatened in Illinois.
Common snapping turtles are the ones most of us see in Illinois—smoother shells, smaller heads, and much smaller bodies overall. Their populations are generally stable across North America. Don't let them fool you, they have a FAST bite!

Cool fact: Alligator snappers hunt by lying still and wiggling a worm-like lure on their tongue to trick fish into swimming right into their mouths.

Two turtles. Same attitude. Totally different worlds.