The evidence is irrefutable — young people are increasingly disconnected with the natural world. In fact, the average American child spends as few as 30 minutes in unstructured outdoor play each day and more than six hours daily in front of an electronic screen.

In order to ensure that the next generation becomes stewards of our public lands and natural resources, it is essential that youth are presented with opportunities to connect with nature in their daily lives. It’s been established that to achieve greater frequency of such opportunities will take creativity in developing new ways to connect kids during afterschool hours, not just in traditional periods of weekend park visits or in school settings. 

At NRPA, we believe park and recreation agencies are uniquely positioned to provide such opportunities by leveraging existing out-of-school time programming to help solve the “nature deficit disorder” by connecting kids to nature in their own backyards — local parks. 

As a way to encourage more park agencies to incorporate nature programming into their current offerings, NRPA launched Wildlife Explorers in September 2016, a turn-key initiative that connects youth to nature and encourages exploration and learning in the out-of-doors. Developed with our partners at the National Wildlife Foundation and Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the program consists of a nature discovery curriculum targeted at underserved and urban areas nationwide. 

Understanding that each park and recreation agency’s outdoor spaces are uniquely different and that not all park staff have experience or a comfort level with implementing environmentally focused programming, NRPA designed Wildlife Explorers to require no previous experience facilitating environmental programming from park and recreation agency partners. Wildlife Explorers programming can be conducted in any park space — no matter how small or large. 

The curriculum is not aimed at teaching kids environmental concepts, but rather, Wildlife Explorers focuses on “environmental likeability” in order to encourage exploration and increase kids’ comfort with spending time in nature. 

NRPA piloted the program at several agencies across the country during summer and fall of 2016, including in San Jose, California, New Bedford, Massachusetts, and Baltimore, Maryland. By providing support to park staff through a printed leader guide that walks facilitators through the curriculum and online webinar trainings, pilot agencies were able to implement the nature program without a naturalist or trained environmental educators, thereby reaching new audiences of young people who would not otherwise have access to nature programming. 

We know that connecting kids to nature can provide vast benefits, including improved overall health, increased concentration, and the ability to problem solve and think creatively, among others. Creating intentional time for kids to be outside is the first step in creating a life-long affinity for nature. Local parks and recreation centers are opportune spaces to connect young people with the natural world. Wildlife Explorers is a tool designed to increase the capacity of park professionals to do just that. 

Learn more about the Wildlife Explorer program, or to download the curriculum.

 

Wildlife Explorers — The Basics

 

Target age range: 5 to 10 years old 

Program length: 6 weeks (meeting  one to three times per week)

Activity length: 45 minutes to one  hour per week

Location: Any park or recreation center, schoolyard or outdoor space 

Staffing: Little to no experience with subject matter required. NRPA recommends a 1:15 facilitator to student ratio.

 

Roxanne Sutton is NRPA’s Communication Manager.