August 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 25

HOW WE DID IT

Nuts about Nature
A regional outdoor education and appreciation
program that goes above and beyond the norm

By Jennifer Hofler

nlike previous generations of kids who would
head outdoors to neighboring forests and fields
for fun, too many children
today reach for electronics for summer indoor entertainment. But what if there was
another option? An option to be outside,
active, and learning about nature and all
the great things our natural surroundings
have to offer.
The Northern Virginia Regional Park
Authority (NVRPA) located just outside of
Washington, D.C., launched a program
this past spring called Nature Nuts to do
just that. It's a region-wide program to reconnect children with the outdoors and
builds on the groundbreaking book by
Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods,
where he outlines the cause of what he
coined as " nature deficit disorder. " In
2008, NVRPA was one of the first park
agencies to join the national No Child
Left Inside Coalition. In some ways, the
Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority has been engaged in this effort for over
50 years. On an annual basis, more than
85,000 children and adolescents currently connect with nature through the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority.
" One of the beauties of this program

is that we looked beyond the highly programmed activities that are typically
thought of as youth program, and looked
at all the facilities and programs where
kids are having a meaningful outdoor
experience throughout parks, " says Paul
Gilbert, executive director of NVRPA.
" This approach allowed us to cast a much
wider net. Nature Nuts enhances currently existing programs in parks all over the
Northern Virginia area, with the goal of
giving half a million children a meaningful outdoor experience that positively affects them through education, health
benefits and interaction and education of
the environment. "

Education
Educational programs are offered yearround at many NVRPA parks. As a part
of Nature Nuts, programs such as the Junior Naturalist camp at Potomac Overlook
in Arlington and Camp Grow at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna offer children a unique educational camp
experience where they can enjoy nature
through hands-on activities.
Nature interpretation programs with
the NVRPA roving naturalist are developed with specific educational objectives
in mind. Through guided nature walks,

hikes, canoe and kayak tours, night explorations, stream and pond studies, and
live animal programs, participants gain
the opportunity to discover native flora
and fauna in a safe and fun environment.
Scout programs run by the roving naturalist tailor specific educational and environmental goals into programs at NVRPA
parks.
Hemlock Overlook is an Outdoor Education Center operated by Adventure
Links, an ACA accredited camp, in cooperation with NVRPA. The facility offers a
variety of outdoor and environmental education, and team development programs
for public and private schools, religious
groups, community groups, sports teams,
corporations, professional organizations
as well as local, state, and federal government and military agencies.
Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL)
programs at Potomac Overlook, Temple
Hall, Meadowlark, and Hemlock Overlook are developed to specifically meet
SOL standards. The goal of these programs is to enhance and expand opportunities for cultural and environmental
interpretation and education that foster
an understanding of the relationship between people and the environment.

Health
Louv in Last Child in the Woods brought
public attention to the fact that children

www.NRPA .ORG

AUGUST 2011

Parks & Recreation 23

August 2011 - Parks & Recreation

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