Related Events:

CREEC Network Workshops
 
Growing up WILD:
Early childhood education (ages 3-7) that builds on chidren's sense of wonder about nature and invites them to explore wildlife and the world around them.  For more infomation call (209) 736-6009 or 736-6013.

Saturday, February 27 ($7, snacks included)
Tuolumne County Schools Office, Sonora
9:30am-12:30pm
 
  or
 
Tuesday, March 16 or Wednesday, March 17  (free)
Mountain Oaks School, San Andreas
12:30-3:30pm

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The mission of Amador Children in Nature is to
promote children's well-being through outdoor play.
 
The Amador Children in Nature Movement is a new group for members of our local community that advocates the importance of outdoor play for children’s health and well-being.  The group was catalyzed by a recent showing of the PBS documentary “Where Do the Children Play?” in Martell. More than 50 parents, educators and community leaders gathered for the April 30 event to learn about the importance of outdoor play for youth and share ideas about how to address this issue in Amador County.
 
The two main purposes of the group are: to accomplish the action steps identified by “Where Do the Children Play?” participants in the fields of health, education, policy and the environment (listed below); and to act as a hub for sharing information relevant to getting children outdoors to experience nature through unstructured play or other similar activities. 
 
A Yahoo! Group, “Amador Children in Nature”, has also been created to help facilitate conversations between both confirmed and prospective group members. This is a good way to become involved for those who are interested in participating but can’t make the next meeting.  Simply go to http://groups.yahoo.com ,  type in Amador Children in Nature, and ask to be added to the group!
 
The action-steps that the group is currently working on are as follows:

Education:
  1. Educate and empower parents to understand and value nature play and outdoor activities via informational meetings, packets and opportunities.
  2. Create lesson plans that restate the standards and provide an integrated approach to learning.
  3. Get the films to the leadership meeting with the idea of developing a resolution to redefine "seat time" as "instructional time".
Environment:
  1. Local bulletin boards specifically for listing opportunities for children and nature.
  2. Published directory listing outdoor opportunities/ideas (not necessarily events).
  3. Published calendar listing daily, simple, unstructured ideas for children and nature (similar to First 5 Amador's School Readiness Calendar).
Health:
  1. Parental education about the health benefits of unstructured, outdoor play.
  2. Promote physical and mental health and well-being by assuring that kids have adequate time for outdoor play while in school. 
  3. Develop a handout that health care providers can give to their clients with information about outdoor play.
Policy:
  1. Work with local law enforcement to establish a Safe Walk to School Program.
  2. Establish policies that support diverse recreation for ages 0 and up in a safe environment.
  3. Draft voluntary policies that could be customized by parents and children to commit to outdoor play.