Critter Dipping at Tourond Creek has kids enthralled by nature

By: Svjetlana Mlinarevic Posted: 8:05 AM EST Monday, Nov. 2, 2026

Seven-year-old Arthur Thiessen and his little brother Franklin excitedly scooped out insects from the bucket of pond water at the Tourond Creek Discovery Centre on Friday.

“Look at what I found!” said an excited Arthur as he held out a predacious diving beetle in his white plastic spoon.

The beetle was just one of many creatures children at the discovery centre found during the RM of Hanover and the Seine Rat Roseau Watershed District’s Critter Dipping event.

SVJETLANA MLINAREVIC THE CARILLON
Brothers Arthur (left) and Franklin Thiessen try to scoop bugs and snails from a bucket of water taken from a pond at the Tourond Creek Discovery Centre during the RM of Hanover and the Siene Rat Roseau Watershed District's first Critter Dipping event on Oct. 23, 2026. While the watershed district has held this event before it’s the first time it has held it in conjunction with the RM and its recreation department. — SVJETLANA MLINAREVIC THE CARILLON Brothers Arthur (left) and Franklin Thiessen try to scoop bugs and snails from a bucket of water taken from a pond at the Tourond Creek Discovery Centre during the RM of Hanover and the Siene Rat Roseau Watershed District's first Critter Dipping event on Oct. 23, 2026. While the watershed district has held this event before it’s the first time it has held it in conjunction with the RM and its recreation department.

“So, (the kids) have caught lots of different critters, I don’t know the names to any of them, but some dragonfly nymphs, and they’ve just been searching around in the water, stirring it up a little to see if they can stir some critters up, and it’s just been really cool to watch them, and learning from what you see,” said Tayleigh Giesbrecht, recreation program lead for the RM of Hanover.

This is the first time the recreation department has held this event for families. The idea came after Giesbrecht had a conversation with SRRWD’s watershed technician Alex Wolf, who said SRRWD holds Critter Dipping events every year at Tourond with school groups. The two thought the idea was “a cool way” for families to get together and experience something with one another.

“(Recreation) is just a great way to relax, and bring yourself back to center after maybe a stressful week and be able to just come back to center and find a balance in their life,” said Giesbrecht.

Some of the creatures that live at Tourond Creek include muskrats, northern leopard frogs, fishing spiders, and dragonfly nymphs.

“The kids are the future, so to get kids interested in nature and the outdoors and learning about biodiversity and all the critters from small to large, it’s incredibly important to get them invested now to have the next generation caring for our land,” said Wolf.

Tourond Creek Discovery Centre used to be the garbage dump for the LUD of Kleefeld. It was opened as an educational nature park in 2012 after 10 years of planning and reconstruction. Although there are a few ponds at the discovery centre, it is largely considered a grassland, according to Wolf.

Wolf said soil health in the area is very high as the rain that falls there stays there, providing nutrients to the soil and the creatures that live at the centre. At the same time, the grassland reduces pollution to the watershed through filtration.

“(I want them to learn to have) an appreciation of the outdoors, and being brave enough to explore and try new things, and to see things that we normally don’t spend a lot of time looking at – bugs – but this is an opportunity to learn a little bit more about them,” said Cheri Thiessen.

She hoped her oldest son, Arthur, would learn not to be afraid of insects through gentle exposure to them through the experience. Thiessen’s four-year-old son, Franklin, said he liked catching bugs and his favourite was “a big bug because it had a tail.”

Melissa Anderson brought her daughter and son, Mya and Lucas, for Critter Dipping as there was no school and she thought it would be a fun way to spend a day with her children.

SVJETLANA MLINAREVIC THE CARILLON
Franklin Thiessen (front) and his sister Georgia and mom Cheri try to scoop creatures from deep within a pond at the Tourond Creek Discovery Centre during the RM of Hanover and the Siene Rat Roseau Watershed District's first Critter Dipping event on Oct. 23, 2026. While the watershed district has held this event before it’s the first time it has held it in conjunction with the RM and its recreation department. — SVJETLANA MLINAREVIC THE CARILLON Franklin Thiessen (front) and his sister Georgia and mom Cheri try to scoop creatures from deep within a pond at the Tourond Creek Discovery Centre during the RM of Hanover and the Siene Rat Roseau Watershed District's first Critter Dipping event on Oct. 23, 2026. While the watershed district has held this event before it’s the first time it has held it in conjunction with the RM and its recreation department.

“I heard about this on Facebook, and I thought, ‘Hey, this will be something really fun and cool,’ and we love being out in nature and so I thought it would be a lot of fun, and it is,” she said.

Lucas, 8, found a predacious diving beetle, a snail, and a nymph.

“I just like that we’re out in nature, and I really like spending time in nature. And I also got a few bugs back there by the shed, and they were very big, and I found it was very creepy getting them out by the spoon and putting them into the cups…I learned that being with bugs are creepy,” he said with a smile.

Mya, 10, said she would like to come back with her friends, “It’s fun, and you get to learn a lot more about bugs. (My favourite thing was) probably catching them and releasing them.”

As the parents expressed interest in returning to the event if it is held again, Giesbrecht said she will speak with Wolf about perhaps holding it next fall.