Shaw Prairie Day ideal for kids, families

Have you ever see a pioneer sod home? What about a Native American teepee? Or a tall grass prairie with acres of native plants?

What about trying your hand at making an arrowhead out of flint? Or have a taste of a bison burger?

All of these things will be possible if you and your family attend Prairie Day Saturday, Sept. 9, at the Shaw Nature Reserve southwest of St. Louis. The event will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Prairie Day is jointly sponsored by the Shaw Reserve and the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Barb Troutman is the special events coordinator at the Shaw Reserve. She said the annual Prairie Day celebration "demonstrates all aspects of prairie life during the pioneer days in Missouri. That includes plants, animals and humans."

Prairie Day provides an ideal early fall outing that mixes the outdoors, some on-display history and lots of interactive things for kids to do.

The Shaw Reserve is 2,400 acres (four square miles) just off I-44 southwest of St. Louis at the Gray Summit exit (No. 253). There are 250 acres of tall grass prairie recreated within the reserve.

Henry Shaw, the Missouri Botanical Garden founder, bought the first reserve land in 1925. He bought the rural land because he was concerned that air pollution in St. Louis was going to kill the plants in the Botanical Garden.

Pollution was particularly heavy in St. Louis because of the extensive use of coal for home heating. Some days in St. Louis visibility was measured in just feet.

In early pioneer days, Missouri was broken into miles of forest and also miles of prairie.

Ms. Troutman said the tall grass prairie was mostly in the western part of Missouri. However, she said there were examples of tall grass prairie as close at Union, Mo., just a few miles west of the Shaw Reserve.

She said the tall grass prairie lands in Missouri are different than the short grass prairies of western states such as Kansas. Missouri's tall grass prairies are often on rolling group and interspersed with forests.

That's how the Shaw Reserve prairie looks. There are acres of grasses but plenty of forests within sight. That terrain makes an ideal setting for the Prairie Day activities.

One of the most unusual displays is the sod house made two years ago. Ms. Troutman was involved in that construction. She said, "When we went in for a building permit, the county officials didn't know what to do with us."

But, the permit was granted and the small building constructed. The walls are squares of prairie sod and the roof is wood with sod as the shingles. After two years of varying Missouri weather, the home has held up quite well.

Ms. Troutman said, "Maybe next year we'll have to re-sod the roof."

Another visual highlight of Prairie Day will be the teepees dotting the hills. A brand-new large teepee is being built as a theater setting for the Earth Classroom group. The Rose Bud, Mo., organization will give 30-minute Native American interpretations.

There also will be re-enactors playing the parts of buffalo hunters, mountain men, blacksmiths, weavers and other craftsmen. Also, a flint-napper will show how Indians made arrowheads and other tools from flint rock. Kids will get a chance to try their skill at shaping flint.

Another participatory activity for kids will involve whittling. The adult whittler will do his work a knife on wood. The kids do their carving with bars of soap.

Another pioneer skill on display will be people who make dyes from native plants.

The Missouri Department of Conservation will have several displays involving mammals, reptiles and amphibians that live on the prairie. The Shaw Reserve has a varied mix of prairie, forest land and river bottomland.

One activity will be hayrides that take in the upland prairie, forests and the Meramec River valley. That river flows through the Reserve. Once you get to the river, kids will be able to wade out to a gravel bar in the river.

Admission to Prairie Day is $3 for adults, $2 for seniors and children under 12 are free. Also, members of the Botanical Garden or Shaw Reserve get in free.

(For more information about Prairie Day or other Shaw Reserve attractions and classes, visit www.shawnature.org. For information on the Reserves' Native Plant School in September, see this month's YSL.com feature, Places to Go, Things to Do. )