April 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 54

E N G A G I N G C H I L D R E N W I T H N AT U R E

difficult. One way to successfully initiate a program is to look at others that
are successful in this space. These can be
models or guides to launching programs
in your area.
The Wildlife Explorers
Program (Ages 5-10)
In November 2016, NRPA launched its
Wildlife Explorers (www.nrpa.org/wild
lifeexplorers) curriculum for children
5-10 years old. The six-week program
contains activities for children, including a guide for facilitators, and can be
conducted in any outdoor space with no
previous experience required for staff. To
date, more than 1,000 partners are either
currently using, or plan to use, the curriculum soon. The goal is to reach 200,000
children over the next few years.
" The intended participants of the Wildlife Explorers program are children who
are already at their park and recreation
centers as part of an afterschool or summer-care program. Research has shown
that positive and frequent early experiences in nature influence the development of lifelong environmental concern
among adults and even environmental
career choices. Getting
ng kids outside and
comfortable with spending
nding time in nature
early on is critical, " says
ays Serda Ozbenian,
NRPA's conservation
n program manager. " The activities in the workbook were
developed by our partners,
rtners, the National
Wildlife Federation and Cornell Lab of
Ornithology, for 5-10-year-olds,
0-year-olds, but the
Wildlife Explorers curriculum can be
modified for older or younger groups. "
NRPA has provided
d
several resources at thee
bottom of its Wildlife
fe
Explorers webpage (www.
www.
nrpa.org/wildlifeexplor
ers) to furorers)
ther familiarize stafff with the program. " We recognizee that agencies are
often lacking the necessary
ssary staff, resources
and experience needed
d to implement outdoor programming, " Ozbenian explains.
52

Parks & Recreation

" Many out-of-school time program leaders are young adults who may also have
had insufficient time outside and are lacking the prior experience needed to implement outdoor programming. [They] may
be facing the same discomfort outdoors
as the kids in the community. For these
reasons, the Wildlife Explorers program
provides resources and training for young
program leaders to increase their capacity
and comfort to successfully implement nature-based programming outdoors. In this
way, the program not only connects kids to
nature, but also connects young adult program leaders to nature and increases their
environmental leadership opportunities
within park and recreation agencies. "
" The program was very well-received in
our community, as it enabled us to use a
park that was designed to educate the public about the unique history, geology, plants
and fauna within our region, " says Stephanie Gardner from the Parks & Recreation
Department of Tukwila, Washington. " The
program provided the opportunity to bring
kids into the park and teach them how to
explore and connect with its uniqueness. "
" I love that the program is so accessible, "
says Mary S. Rapoza, director of the
New Bedford [Massachusetts]
Parks Recreation & Beaches.
" Our staff delivered a great
program to the children
without any prior environmental education
experience. "
Alexandrea
Matthews,
program and events

| A P R I L 2 0 1 8 | W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G

manager at New Bedford Parks Recreation & Beaches, added that the program
fits well into their afterschool program.
" Wildlife Explorers was highly customizable, so we could easily adapt it
to our urban program, " Rapoza shares.
" Most of the students we work with had
never been in the woods before, so we
enhanced our Wildlife Explorers program with a trail walk field trip. They
got to examine our local plants and try
to build their own animal habitats. Being immersed in nature helped the kids
take ownership of their local natural resources. Over the course of the program,
we saw an increase in the children's critical thinking skills, and they were asking
more questions about their surroundings. We saw an increase in the students'
comfort with being in nature, and by the
end of the program, they were much
more interested in their environment. "
In Omaha, park and recreation professionals worked with other city divisions,
such as forestry, to implement the program.
As an NRPA Wildlife Explorers grant recipient, the Omaha Parks & Recreation
was able to offer the program to a wide variety of
o children in multiple settings, such
as community
centers and parks.
com
The N
Nature Tykes Program (Ages 3-6)
It's late morning at the Clark County Wetlands Park;
the Las Vegas strip is visible
P
in the distance. A group of preschoolers
are lying
on their backs intently studying
ly
the underside
of a desert lizard called a
u
chuckwalla.
They are part of the Nachuc
ture Tykes program that is providing
urban
preschoolers with nature exu
periences.
Established in 2013, the program's goal is to engage preschoolers with nature in a 100
percent outdoor classroom. They
practice
" recognizable preschool acp
tivities
tivit and concepts: color and shape
matching,
counting, adding/subtracting,
match
graphing,
language, poetry, stories, pupgraphi
pets, singing,
games, puzzles and art, "
s



April 2018 - Parks & Recreation

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https://www.nxtbook.com/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2021
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