GARNA and Boys & Girls Club of Chaffee County are working together to offer Natural Kids, a series of nature-based experiential learning sessions designed to foster environmental stewardship in our Upper Arkansas River Valley community.

Natural Kids Series

To encourage stewardship through a feeling of connection to the natural world, the program will use the Children & Nature Network Natural Families and Family Nature Clubs Models as a framework for programs at local Boys & Girls Clubs. For more on the theme of this initiative, please see childrenandnature.org/initiatives/families/

The sessions build from an introduction to sensory awareness activities in nature with the purpose of building a platform for more deeply experiencing and connecting personally to nature, then expand to teaching skills needed to be comfortable, confident and safe stewards and outdoor recreators. Later sessions will offer hands-on stewardship learning activities, culminating in the invitation for families to join their Natural Kids to forge relationships to one another through a Natural Families Nature Club, a community-driven group that gets out in nature together.

The Children & Nature Network describes the reasons for this initiative: “Families are direct decision makers in the lives of children and must be at the forefront of the movement to get kids and families out into the natural world. The Natural Families Network engages thousands of parents and families from across the country and around the world in frequent, active time together in the natural world. Groups of families organized into Family Nature Clubs help to break down barriers to getting out in nature, bringing together families from diverse cultures and backgrounds, and across generations. Family Nature Clubs also foster quality time together with family and friends.”