Harris County Precinct Four

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Field Trips and Guided Group Tour Information

Group reservations can be made by calling the nature center, (281) 446-8588, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Minimum group size: 10 (teachers, chaperones, and siblings are not included in this count)
Maximum group size: four classes of school-aged children or 80 adults per reservation
Food and drink are NOT sold at the park
A ratio of one teacher to 10 children is required
Field trips and guided tours are offered come rain or shine. Due to other bookings/reservations and the busy schedule at Jesse H. Jones Park & Nature Center, cancellations may not be able to be rebooked.
Dress for outdoor activities. Comfortable clothing appropriate for cold, hot, or inclement weather is suggested; closed-toe shoes (sandals and flip-flops are NOT recommended) and insect repellent is recommended year-round.
Groups may print and duplicate the Critter Checklist to use as an activity before or after a scheduled talk or tour.
A printable Redbud Hill Homestead Guide is helpful for pioneer tour preparations as a follow-up guide.
Groups that are unable to visit the park or nature center can schedule any one of the many programs offered through the Outreach Program, which allows for programs to be held at off-site facilities. Please call the nature center, (281) 446-8588, for more information. (Groups do not have to book a field trip or guided tour to visit the park on their own.)

Preferential reservations are given to Harris County residents. Persons not residing in Harris County may attend Precinct 4 programs; however, some of programs are space-limited and are available to non-residents only when space permits.

Nature Program

Ages: First graders through adults

Overview: The Nature Program includes a slideshow or video on a nature-related topic, visits exhibits in the nature center, and takes a one-half- to one-mile guided nature walk along the nature trails, with emphasis on plant and animal habitats, beginning and ending at the picnic and playground area.

Pioneer History Program

Ages: First graders through adults

Overview: The Pioneer History Program includes a slideshow or video about Texas pioneer and American Indian history, visits exhibits in the nature center, and takes an approximate one-mile (round-trip) guided tour of the 1830s Redbud Hill Homestead and Akokisa Indian Village, beginning and ending at the nature center.

Pioneer TOTS

Ages: Pre-K and kindergarten (4 to 6 years old)

When: Last Monday morning of each month

Overview: With the help of a printed homestead guide, teachers walk their students through the homestead and stop at up to four stations (which may include a settler life introduction, blacksmithing, children’s games, hunting skills, settler gardening, woodworking, women’s handiwork, etc.) where staff members dressed in authentic clothing interpret settler life. Children can pump a primitive iron well pump, play settler kids’ games, feel a pelt of a forest dwelling animal, or watch a woodworker or blacksmith fashion everyday items out of raw materials.

Pioneer TOTS tours take approximately 45 minutes, start and end in the homestead, and there is an additional one-third-mile walk to and from the parking area.

Maximum: Four classes plus chaperones per session

Pioneer TYKES

Ages: First through seventh graders

When: Wednesday mornings during the school year

Overview: Staff members and Quest High School volunteers, dressed in authentic clothing, guide individual classes through set-up stations and interpret the homestead structures. Stations may include a settler life introduction, blacksmithing, settler kids’ games, dulcimer music, muzzle loader hunting skills, samples of frontier foods, settler gardening, women’s handiwork, wash laundry with metal washboards and homemade lye soap, woodworking, plus more.

Pioneer TYKES tours take approximately 45 minutes and start at 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. There is an additional one-third-mile walk to and from the parking area. Pioneer TYKES tours start and end in the homestead.

Maximum: Four classes plus chaperones per session