START YOUR OWN FAMILY NATURE CLUB
Updated March 15, 2010
Update: The Children & Nature Network reports that some Family Nature Clubs around the country are reporting memberships of several hundred families each; one has 500 member families. The reach of Family Nature Clubs has grown quickly. As of March, 2010, C&NN estimates between 172,000 to 320,000 participants in Nature Clubs for Families, including between 20,750 to 110,750 underserved youth. A total of 43 percent of the reporting 72 city, state and regional campaigns to connect children to nature report using the Nature Clubs for Families Took Kit, created with the support of the outdoor equipment company, REI. In total, children and nature initiatives throughout the country are reporting that they have engaged in the range of 900,000 to 1.5 million participants in the past year. To download your free Family Nature Club Tool Kit, or find out more, please see below.
Along with hundreds of families across North America, Chip and Ashley Donahue, and their three children, are making a reality of an idea that could help transform our culture, in much the same way that Neighborhood Watch programs and book clubs changed our communities in prior decades.
After reading ‘Last Child in the Woods,’ my wife and I felt challenged to give back to our community and to encourage more families to get outside into our local parks,” Donahue wrote in a recent e-mail.
The Donahues launched a free outdoor adventure club for families in the Roanoke Valley. What began with one family spread quickly. After word of mouth and two local newspaper articles, membership has grown to over 400 families. And KIVA (Kids In the Valley, Adventuring!) was featured on the Today Show.
“As a father of three (7, 5, 20 months) I have changed many things in my life,” says Chip, a second-grade teacher in Roanoke, Va. “We have converted our yard into quite an adventure land. We raise chickens, ducks, herbs and tomatoes.” The family members have increased the amount of time they hike or work on nature-reclamation projects together. They didn’t stop there. Over Christmas break, he and his wife decided to get more organized. They sat down and mapped out places and a monthly adventure schedule for the coming year, and they decided to invite their neighbors to join the first adventure.
His five-year-old son had an even better idea: “Dad, why don’t we invite everyone.” So Donahue sent an activities listing to his local paper. To his surprise, five families that he had never met showed up for the first event.
The weather was so cold that day that the gathered parents decided to do an indoor craft project and read nature stories to the kids. Once again, a youngster — a 4-year-old girl — had a better idea. She came up to Donahue and said, “Hey mister, when are we going outside?”
The families bundled up and went on a hike. Now they go outside, rain or shine.
KIVA schedules meetings of families who accompany each other on family outdoors adventures or nature reclamation projects. In addition, KIVA sends out a monthly e-mail newsletter that lists recommendations for places for families to play, recommendations for books, and other resources.
Some adventures are devoted to just having fun outside; others are devoted to volunteer nature restoration projects. KIVA’s mailing list continues to grow.
The nature outings and newsletter are free. ” The only thing we ask is that they consider joining us on volunteer days or finding another volunteer opportunity,” says Donahue. ” There are so many beautiful free things to do outside.”
That’s good news in a recession.
For safety and family bonding, he emphasizes one absolute requirement: Parents or guardians must stay with their children at all times. ” We say, ‘Stay and make a memory with your child.’”
The Roanoke venture isn’t unique. In the United Kingdom, families and individuals are banding together to create ” green gyms” for regular outdoor exercise. The California-based organization Hooked on Nature helps families and individuals form ” nature circles” to meet and explore their relationship to nature. And a few years ago, two parent volunteers from the Orange County, N.Y. Audubon Society, concerned about how empty local trails had become, initiated a free family nature study club called Nature Strollers.
With support from REI, the Children & Nature Network (C&NN) has launched Nature Clubs for Families, a new initiative to support such efforts, report on the trend, and to encourage parents, grandparents, and caregivers to get inspired, get organized, and get out.
Also, our sister site Nature Rocks offers its excellent Family Flocks toolkit, which is particularly good for families with toddlers.
One important advantage of the family nature club approach is that it helps break down key barriers, including fear. In the past, parents often told their children, ” Go outside and don’t come home ‘till the street lights come on.” But today, parents feel so much fear – some of it warranted, much of it created by media – that the free-range childhood is unlikely to return in most neighborhoods.
Risk is a reality, and that includes outdoor activities. But multiple-family outings can help reduce that risk. Responsible family nature clubs, along with nature centers and other organized programs, can help parents and kids reduce their anxiety about venturing into the outdoors.
Here are some additional ways that family nature clubs reduce the barriers between children and nature:
• By joining with others, parents, grandparents and other guardians find it easier to provide structured and unstructured nature experiences for their children.
• Family nature clubs can be created in any neighborhood — whether inner city, suburban, or rural.
• Increased motivation. Think of how much easier it is to maintain regular gym visits if you’ve got an exercise buddy waiting for you every Wednesday. The same impetus can work for families that want to experience nature or get some green exercise.
• Many parents want to give their kids the gifts of nature, but they don’t feel they know enough about nature. Don’t worry – you’ll find other families that know plenty, and love to share their knowledge.
• Dealing with the logistics of outdoor experiences can be particularly difficult for single parents. This is a way to share time, resources and knowledge.
• No need to wait for funding.
What if more and more parents, grandparents and kids around the country band together to create nature clubs for families? What if this approach becomes the norm in every community?
We’ll be well on our way to true cultural change.
Below are some additional resources to help you get started. Let us know about your progress!
C&NN’s Nature Clubs for Families Tool Kit
C&NN Nature Clubs for Families Tool Kit: Do It Yourself! Do It Now! provides inspiration, information, tips and resources for those who are—or who might be—interested in creating a Nature Club for Families.
Tips, Inspiration, and Resources for Starting Your Own Family Nature Club.
There are a variety of terrific resources available to help inspire, inform and support Nature Clubs for Families with ideas, activities, tips and tools. Link here for access to a sample of such resources —including links to existing Nature Clubs for Families, programs, and products. This list is useful but is not intended to be comprehensive. Send us your suggestions for additions!
Five of the many family nature clubs that can serve as great models:
SUBSCRIBE TO THIS BLOG’S RSS FEED
Just want to thank you for making this movement more visable. I’ve been gardening at the public school I work with my students with emotional and behavioral disabilities for five years and they love it.
Outside my room today I heard two small children talking. Obviously one had picked up a paper off the sidewalk.
“Did you drop that?” said one boy.
“No.” said the other.
“Then why did you pick it up?” said the first.
“Because I don’t want the Earth to die.” replied our hope for the future.
After despairing that the trails they walked with their kids were empty, two parent volunteers from the Orange County NY Audubon Society, naturalist, Laurel Dodge and Teacher of the Deaf, Kathleen Diamond began a free family nature study club called Nature Strollers in 2005. The Nature Strollers mission is to empower parents and grandparents to be the primary interpreters of nature for their families;to provide opportunities for families to enjoy unstructured time outdoors; to familiarize families with local trails; and to develop networks among families with a common interest in nature. Families flocked to our group, relieved to be able to take their kids on the trail without worry, finding that “safety in numbers” eliminated the need to be on constant guard. Unlike structured nature center programs, on a Nature Strollers walk there is lots of play, parent-child bonding, and conversation mixed in with the discovery and wonder. Because we walk so frequently and in a number of locations, families experence the seasonal round in several different types of habitat. We model the behaviors of a naturalist for the families and find that they soon mimic us, turning over leaves and logs, scanning the treetops, and cupping their ears to hear calls and songs. We demonstrate the use of field guides and identification skills, and have distributed field guides to all our active members. As a result the nature literacy of our members has grown by leaps and bounds, all while having a great time! Our goal is to make nature study a first-choice activity for families. So far we’ve led over 100 walks, and 80 families have become members. We communicate with them via our Yahoo group, emailing information about 2-4 nature walks per week (dates, times and locations). Please visit our website, http://www.naturestrollers.org and click on our blog for our fieldnotes and scroll through to see what our walks are like (please excuse us, as it needs to be updated, we are too busy walking to upload photos and text these days). If you would like to start your own family nature study club please contact us through the email address on the website, we have produced materials to assist and support you in this effort. Also, refer your local Audubon Society group to our website and suggest they contact us as well. The education director at Audubon NY is already encouraging Audubon chapters and centers in our state to adopt the Nature Strollers model, and we’d like to spread it across the country.
I teach at a Montessori Middle School in Phoenix, AZ, and I am working very hard on establishing community partnerships and environmental opportunities for my students to explore their natural surroundings. Living in a large urban city does create certain logistical challenges, but we’ve worked with the Phoenix Zoo, the Dessert Botanical Gardens and the Parks and Recreation Department. We also go on several trips throughout the year to escape the city and the influence of technology and the media. It’s amazing how “plugged” in our students are to their personal electronics. They often go through withdrawal and can’twait to get back to “modernization”.
I’ve been doing to observations over the past year and I’m currently writting my thesis on this subject. I would greatly appreciate any comments or suggestions. Nature is my passion and whatever I can do to help my students share in this experience will enhance my teaching goals. I’m very excited about this movement as it quickly gains momentum. Thank you Richard Louv for your books and your positive influence. You have begun a powerful butterfly effect. Great things will come.
When kids in my neighborhood find weird bugs and cool snakes, they always come to me. Even if I’m deep in conversation with a grown-up, I drop whatever I’m doing and go take a look. What could be more important (or for me, fun) than looking at bugs with a neighborhood kid?
As a scientific illustrator, a biologist and a parent, I have been inspired by this children and nature movement to bring people in my community together and create change. We are developing a children-and-nature campaign here in Georgia. At a recent meeting, Kathryn Kolb, who is a great nature photographer and environmental activist, suggested establishing a network of neighborhood naturalists. The basic premise of the neighborhood naturalist network is that nature is not just “out there”- that even in the city it is close at hand, if you know where to look. Of course we advocate for more green space as well, especially in underserved areas, but we also want to help people find and use the green spaces that we do have. What if every neighborhood had its own go-to person for trails and snails, trees and bees?
Neighborhood naturalists can lead local hikes and outdoor events, and also serve as the go-to person for weird bugs and cool snakes when kids find them. Because a naturalist is likely to know a lot more about the green spaces that are out there, as well as the critters and trees that live in them, it provides a stepping stone to nature for those who might be a bit intimidated at first. Our organization, naturehoods.org is even offering to train naturalists in the local flora and fauna. Be sure and visit our website!
http://www.naturehoods.org
Our family has always been well-connected to nature, something we pride ourselves on (I am a field biologist, after all). But we owe Rich a deep gratitude for catalyzing this movement and giving us the idea and inspiration to start our own family nature club. Thanks for continuing the effort, Rich, and not moving on to “greener” pastures (are there any greener than this movement, by any definition of the word?).
My wife, Janice, and I launched our own club just 4 short months ago here in San Diego. We have been overwhelmed by the response, numerically and qualitatively. We were worried about how to find, persuade and cajole new recruits to the club—and the cause—but it has been like opening the floodgates. Our local Civic Association posted it in the newsletter and sent out an e-blast, we emailed everyone in our address book with progeny, and ever since then it has been word of mouth. Each week we gain several new recruits and we are well over 100 families now.
Why is this such an easy sell? I believe it ‘s what people are looking for…even if they don’t know it. It’s about connecting to nature, but it’s also about connecting to each other. Nature is the best social glue yet invented and it is good for family bonding and friend-making.
Let me just share a short quote from one of our newest recruits. She and her kids joined us this past Saturday for a wonderful outing along the riparian woodland at Mission Trails Park. Here’s what she posted on our website (https://www.bigtent.com/groups/fanclub; you have join to view, but you can answer a few simple questions and join as an “observer” or if you live in the San Diego area, become a full-fledged member!):
“We had a blast today on the Mission Trails Regional Park hike & not only did my kids have a great time, it helped me reconnect with what the purpose of being in nature is all about – for my children & for me. What is so special about this group is that it takes exploring the outdoors to a richer level. Usually when my family goes on a hike, we stay on the trail & point out a few things. We never would have encouraged our kids – or maybe even have thought – to have them jump into the water as they all did today. It was the best part of the hike – watching all the kids giggle & laugh at the pure fun of actually being in nature – not just observing it. There was beauty in watching them let go of staying clean & getting a little muddy & wet – & a group of parents allowing & encouraging it vs. staying dry for the hike back. It’s the simple things in life that are so often overlooked but provide the most joy. It is in moments such as these that true learning & a love for nature instills itself & reminds me – & hopefully you too – that magic moments are easy to create. I almost didn’t come today due to my usual excuses – my spouse couldn’t come with me, I didn’t want to pack up the kids, I hadn’t been there before, would we know anyone, etc. Today’s experience has cemented for us a commitment to getting out more & we look forward to becoming more seasoned nature adventurers with the help of our expert leaders in Janice & Ron who turn a simple hike into a true adventure! Thank you for letting me share! “—Kim Millen
Reading this makes us swell with pride. This is why we’re doing this, to get this kind of response. The appreciation is nice, for sure, but here we see that we have started to create a culture shift in at least this one family. It spurs us on. Now, wouldn’t anyone want to experience this, either from our perspective or Kim’s? Get out there and join a club or, better yet, start your own!
Ron is both kind and modest. He brings special credentials to his leadership within the children and nature movement. He’s the Brown Chair/Director of Applied Animal Ecology and Co-Head, Giant Panda Conservation Unit at the San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research.
Mr. Richard,
I applaud you for writing the book “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from
Nature-Deficit Disorder”. It has helped my family to get new ideas on how to spend more time
outdoors. I grew up in Mexico in a small town always playing outside with my cousins and friends.
I thank my mother for always sending me outside to entertain myself
because of her I have grown to be a nature person.Therefore, I believe it’s important for parents
to be active with their children because it will make the family to have a stronger bond. Parents will help children either to love or dislike nature. Now days some families rely on technology to bring them together, by playing video games or watching a movie.
I will try my best to start a family nature club in my city just like The Donahues. Although, I think it will be hard to bring some parents outdoors because of the fear their kids getting
hurt. However, I believe it’s essential for the families to be exploring nature even tough they might be scared for their kids breaking a leg or something. But like you mention, “Risk is a reality, and that includes outdoor activities”. When I start the club and have pictures I will make sure to send them to you. I hope one day the whole world realizes how important nature is for all of us.
Thank you for helping us by giving us ideas on how to be more involved
with our kids!