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River Ranger Adventure Book: Activities to Explore & Discover the Nashua River Watershed
The NRWA’s River Ranger Adventure Book: Activities to Explore and Discover the Nashua River Watershed, a colorful, 16-page booklet, is a fun way to introduce children ages 7 to 12 to the Nashua River, our watershed, river history, local ecosystems, and environmental stewardship concepts. In the River Ranger Adventure Book, children can learn basic outdoor exploration safety, match animals to their tracks and habitats, map how their community is connected to others by water, and much more. This is a great way for young people -- and the adults who are accompanying them -- to have fun exploring and learning while making a meaningful and significant connection to the Nashua River watershed.
NRWA’s River Ranger Adventure Book is free to the public, made possible in part by the Bruce J. Anderson Foundation and the Adelard A. Roy & Valdea Lea Roy Foundation. Pick up your copy at the NRWA’s River Resource Center at 592 Main Street in Groton. If you can’t make it to the River Resource Center, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to make other arrangements. Enjoy exploring the wonders of our watershed!!
River Ranger Adventure Book Activity Solutions
Page 2: Activity 2 Word Search for Safety
J O B F B W B P V E T U E V K
W Q S L X G Z X G I I N N X H
R E T A W K I X C N H A J X T
E H F B G D W K O G Q Z O S V
I X H D S I S T P N T R Y D J
K T P C Y I E Z A R X Q R B Q
Z J Z L C E K G E O B W V M E
P O I S O N I V Y S B Y T W J
W K X J V R H B Q N S I D G B
B A Q D R D E Y M T P P Q C F
Page 4: Bonus List of Tributaries to the Nashua River
Nissitissit
North Nashua
Quinapoxet
Squannacook
Stillwater
Page 5: Activity 4 Match the Animal to the Tracks
Page 11: Activity 10 River Scramble
BIRDING
KAYAKING
SWIMMING
HIKING
RUNNING
WALKING
Page 12: Activity 11 Habitat Matching Game
Page 13: Activity 12 Animal Adaptations
Page 14: Bonus Animals on the Front Desk Panels at NRWA River Resource Center
North American Beaver (Castor Canadensis)
Great Blue Heron (Ardea Herodias)
Moose (Alces alces)
Canada Geese (Branta Canadensis)
Page 15: Bonus What Does "Nashua" Mean? (Native American "Nashaway")
Nashua or Nashaway means "river with the pebbled bottom."
Eco-Adventures for Youth: Building Relationships with the Natural World
During school vacations and weekdays after school, groups of children can be found in the yard and woods at the NRWA or on local conservation properties building snow shelters in the winter, playing “Animal Guess Who” in the spring, and digging in the dirt to learn about soil layers and insect life in the summer. Their excited chatter tells you they’re having fun. The new knowledge you hear them share with their parents at pick-up time tells you they’re learning. But that’s just the starting point for what NRWA Eco-Adventures are all about.
Why does the NRWA, with its goals to protect water and land, offer these programs for children who have never heard of TMDLs, Forest Legacy, and Smart Growth, and who are certainly in no position to vote for or fund protection efforts? The answer is that these children will be the stewards of our environment in the not too distant future. Helping them to understand and connect with the natural world starting now will aid their progress toward being well informed and engaged adults.
Eco-Adventure programs are about getting children outdoors and having fun. They’re about engaging children’s natural curiosity, teaching them the science of how the world works and how we impact the world. And, perhaps most importantly, they’re about giving children time and opportunity to experience a special moment—catching a crayfish in the clean river, finding a favorite tree to sit by for lunch, discovering a giant ant colony on a hike—that becomes a permanent positive memory about their outdoor adventure.
The goal of Eco-Adventures is for children to feel comfortable in and knowledgeable about our natural world, and to form strong lasting connections with it that they will carry forward with them into adulthood when decisions about protecting natural resources will be theirs to make.
We offer Eco-Adventures for all ages:
Summer Vacation Programs
Summer is the perfect season for long days of outdoor adventure with new and old friends! NRWA’s professional educators and naturalists offer four weeks of summer programming, three weeks focusing on science and nature outdoor activities for children ages 5 to 12, and Adventure Challenge Week for ages 11 to 14 with outdoor hiking, canoeing, and 
wilderness exploration using local conservation properties and the river. Summer programs range from one to four days. Group size is limited to ensure a high quality experience for each child.
Summer programs have included:
How Do They Build That?
Wild World of Water Week
It’s a Bugs Life
Adventure Challenge Week
School Vacation and After-school Programs
What is your child doing during February and April school vacation weeks? How about after school? We like to get children outside engaged in active science and outdoor exploration. We lead programs at our River Resource Center, and we provide off-site programs at schools, community centers, conservation properties, and libraries. NRWA’s after-school and vacation program themes and age 
groups vary with the season. Choose a program from our list of topics, or we can design a program to fit your needs.
School vacation and after-school programs have included:
Science of Winter
Winter Survival
Winter Wonderland
Earth Day Explorations
Outer Artist
Creature Features
Nature Photography
Mad Scientists
Preschool Programs
Preschool programs are offered periodically at our River Resource Center. Also, our professional education staff will travel to any preschool or public library in the watershed and provide hands-on, age appropriate activities for children ages 3-5. Each lesson includes hands-on exposure to nature, outdoor hikes (weather permitting), a story, an art activity, and 
an imaginary game (be an insect!). Preschool lessons run 45 minutes to 2 hours. Choose from our list of topics or let us design a program to meet your needs.
Pre-school Programs
Turtle Time!
Snug in Snow: Animals in Winter
Aquatic Insect Investigations
A Bear Affair
Seeds to Weeds
It’s a Hoot! Owl Facts & Fun
Woodland Wildlife: Mammals of the Forest
Spring Peepers & Other Leapers
For information about NRWA Eco-Adventures, please contact Stacey Chilcoat, NRWA River Classroom Director, at (978) 448-0299, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Environmental Education for Individuals and Families
Whether you’d like to participate in a guided walk on a local conservation property, listen to a lecture on the natural history of turkeys, have your child sharing outdoor adventures during a school vacation, or take the whole family to a maple sugaring workshop, the NRWA has a program that will interest you. Our programs are engaging, science-based, professionally delivered, and fun!
Our Eco-Adventures for children of all ages provide opportunities for young people to get out and explore the natural world, guided by NRWA’s professional educators and naturalists.
NRWA Family Workshops allow families to participate in exciting explorations together, such as a night hike to learn about nocturnal wildlife.
Programs for adults feature guest speakers with topics ranging from general interest subjects such as “Living with Local Wildlife” to technical programs such as “Surveying for Landowners.” We also present environmental films, lead walks, and organize hands-on workshops. For information on training and workshops for professionals.
For young people who are interested in learning on the job, we offer unpaid internships to high school and college students.
We hope you’ll join us at one of our upcoming programs, and be sure to sign-up for NRWA Enews to receive our monthly enewsletter with the latest on NRWA’s work and for advance notice of programs and events.
For questions about programs for individuals and families, please contact Stacey Chilcoat, NRWA River Classroom Director, at (978) 448-0299, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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