All the kids I’ve hung out with have taken to the outdoors
like they were born to it. (Weird, I know.) They look at things, as questions,
and think.
But even though they love the outdoors, they do get
something more out of it by knowing stuff they hadn’t thought to ask. Enter
professional and volunteer natural world educators: rangers, naturalists, and
docents. (There may be more names that I don’t know, but you know what I’m
talking about.)
These people know stuff about an area that we, as visitors,
don’t. They often have a table, booth, or class to attract interest. They
generally enjoy interacting with the public. And even if your little angels are
acting more like little devils, kids are less likely to be horrible to
strangers.
Getting face time with a snake. Boo loves the snakes.
A chance encounter on the trail during the Earth Day festival resulted in smelling wild ginger and tasting invasive garlic mustard.
A kids tree ID hike.
Discussing rattle snakes and other natural hazards in San Diego.
I enjoy the outdoors more when I am more informed about the
interesting things where I am. Turns out kids do, too. I highly recommend finding one.
Do you take advantage of naturalists and docents?
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