By LeRae Haynes
Special to The Tribune/Advisor
Scout Island Nature Centre has adapted its Nature Fun summer program for kids to accommodate families during the wildfire season.
“Once the evacuation happened, and people came back, instead of two separate ages, we combined the groups into one,” explained teacher naturalist William Newberry, who added that the price was reduced, and the program was adapted for inside days when needed, because of the smoke.
Nature fun is usually geared for children four to 13, with the age groups separated out for activities.
Newberry said the oldest child to date has been eight years old, with the average age four or five.
“I had three of the older kids upstairs for a while today, teaching them about what different birds like to eat, and how their bodies help them do so – beaks, claws, eyes and wings,” he continued.
The younger children were downstairs learning about the same thing, only a simplified version, according to teacher naturalist Gabriele Lachapelle.
“The kids go on nature walks, do crafts and enjoy various activities and stories,” she said. “It’s all themerelated – reptiles and amphibians were first, now birds and next week will be mammals.”
One of the three teacher naturalists is normally on as a host, but with Scout Island closed, those duties have shifted somewhat, especially when they have a large group of children.
There are options for outside and inside, according to the smoke levels, with large indoor space that easily accommodates groups of different sizes.
There has been good feedback from both parents and kids.
“I’m having so much fun – I love this job,” Newberry stated.
“It was so nice to come back to work and have the kids start to trickle in,” Lachapelle said.
“We only had two empty days, and then we had kids. As soon as we started up, they came.”
“I love the kids,” explained teacher naturalist Sarah Dickens.
“When we’re outside, we do things like go for nature walks, pointing out trees, plants and birds.
“We also play a lot of games, like tag and hide and seek, adapting the games to the animals we’re learning about – teaching lessons as we go.”
One of the things she enjoys is how naturally curious the kids are.
“One little boy said, ‘Can you teach me about this book?’ It was a bug book, and we sat there for a half hour going through it page by page.
“This is so rare and wonderful for kids.
“We have so much to learn about what’s in our back yard – it’s something we don’t realize. This opens your eyes to what’s right here. It’s organic. We don’t use anything ‘techie’ – it’s raw.”
She added that when children this young start to get an understanding and appreciation of nature, it helps them care about the environment.
“We try to incorporate little lessons about how humans are leaving an ecological footprint impacting nature. And they start to care – they ask, ‘Why we would do that?’ It’s gets them thinking how we can make a difference.”
It can start with something like bringing ‘garbage-free’ lunches, with no plastics – things to throw away.
“Kids are suddenly aware of how much we make a difference, as humans. They start wanting to make a change, things like, ‘I don’t want to bring garbage in my lunch,’ or ‘This is garbage, and I’m not going to bring it tomorrow.’”
“It makes them more aware,” she said. “Little habits is how it starts.”
Scout Island Nature Centre is closed to the general public while the city remains on evacuation alert, but programs for children continue as they are supervised.