Placing Stepping Stones Through Nature Kids

Nature Kids aims to place stepping stones for kids toward resilience, growth, and respect and care for the natural world. 

                                          Child participants and youth volunteers pose for a photo beside a mini shelter they’ve built.
            

Thinking back to my childhood, one of the things I am most grateful for was the time I spent in nature. Camping trips, hikes, canoe paddles, and visits to the park each placed a stepping stone forward for me to feel connected to nature, confident in my abilities, and resilient to change and challenges. Time to play with sticks, be bitten by insects, jump over tree roots, brush off scrapes, and inspect bark and beetles all helped shape me into someone unafraid, yet respectful of the wild. 

Being comfortable with nature, and knowing our place in it, is something we should want for all children. But there are barriers. 

Not every child can hike, because not every family knows how to feel safe outdoors. Not every child can play in puddles and creeks, because not every family can afford rain boots or extra shoes. And not every student can be introduced to trees at a young age, because not every school has a yard beyond flat pavement. The list goes on for miles, and the reality is that access to outdoor nature-based education is not universal. Barriers stemming from class, ability, race, creed, and gender have existed for a long time, and continue to exist in our society. Nature Kids aims to change that in Hamilton. 

                        Figure 2 (left): Children explore Davis Creek. Two of three are wearing rainboots borrowed from Green Venture.     Figure 3 (right): Children learn about saving seeds and regrowing vegetables from scraps.

  

Nature Kids is Green Venture’s free, entirely outdoor kids program for ages 4 to 11 (with space for helpers ages 12-13). Nature Kids was built to reduce barriers, whether it be through providing bus fare/tickets for low-income families to get to programming, serving nutritious and all-vegan/halal snacks, offering all-terrain wheelchairs to disabled child participants and volunteers, or meeting with families of neurodivergent children before programming to get to know and trust each other. At Nature Kids, our one rule is respect, and that means for everyone and everything.

                                          Figure 4 (left): A child exclaims in excitement while holding a small cricket after learning about touching insects gently.     Figure 5 (right): A tiny house made of sticks and leaves a child built on a day when kids learned about animal habitat protection.   

In our program, children learn about plants, animals, and natural processes, gardening, how to interact with friends and nature respectfully, how to build shelters and make crafts, how to identify different kinds of water creatures and trees and much more. They learn about melting and boiling snow as a water resource in winter, and how to tap maple trees during the early spring thaw. They play group games, jump off of rocks, and swing on tree branches. 

                                               Figure 6 (left): Children learn about tapping maple trees.    Figure 7 (right): A child goes into the creek while one sits on a tree root overhang and two others use nets in the water.
   
  

This program benefits the Hamilton community and has been generously funded in recent years by the Conserver Society Ed Smee Fund, TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, the Hamilton City Enrichment Fund, and the Hamilton Community Foundation Edith H. Turner Foundation Fund. 

In 2024 we exceeded targets, engaging 132 children and 48 student volunteers, and providing a total of 741 volunteer hours. Nature Kids is popular and sought-after by families and consistently has a waitlist. But testimonials give a deeper glimpse into the true impact of our program.

“…My 5 year old who has anxiety and is very slow to warm up to new people had an amazing time and loved attending the program every week… One of the leads made time to meet with us and made sure that our child would feel safe and have fun during the program… My child learned a lot about plants and seeds and using natural materials for crafting. He learned how to make a seed ball, plant a radish, and carve a pumpkin… I felt confident my child was safe during the programming... This is a very well-run program and I am very impressed.” 

– Lisa, parent



                                             Figure 8 (left): Young children sit eating snacks at a picnic bench beside a tiny window they made to the “bench shelter”.      Figure 9 (right): Young children paint with homemade creek clay paint. 

 

Verbal or written testimonials like these are frequent, yet every one encourages us just as much as the last. Nature Kids is making a difference for Hamilton children. We thank our community members, grant funders, volunteers, and participants for contributing to the impact and success of the program. 

Through it all, Nature Kids aims to place stepping stones for kids toward resilience, growth, and respect and care for the natural world. 

                                                                Figure 10: Child participants and youth volunteers play the Animal Name Game to learn their group mates' names on the first day.
 

You can support Nature Kids here.

Want to register your child? Find out how to register your child here

 

 

 

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