November 29, 2012

Help 4th and 5th graders learn about our water

Please inform your neighborhood school and contact your children’s teachers directly. TWDB is now taking orders for their award winning Major Rivers Educational Program. Here’s a great opportunity to engage the next generation about how to care for water resources wisely. Learn More

October 7, 2012

Forward to Nature

A powerful vision for the future of the Hill Country – that’ what we’re talking about! Check out another great read from Richard Louv who brought us the Children in Nature movement, “The new nature movement isn’t about going back to nature, but forward to a nature-rich civilization.”

June 14, 2012

Nature programs for educators set in July at Cibolo Nature Center

Teachers, informal educators, youth group leaders and others interested in teaching children about nature will have opportunities to learn proven techniques during two workshops at the Cibolo Nature Center during July. Learn More

May 26, 2012

Mom Was Right: Go Outside

Humans are quickly becoming an indoor species. In part, this is a byproduct of urbanization, as most people now live in big cities. Our increasing reliance on technology is also driving the trend, with a recent study concluding that American children between the ages of 8 and 18 currently spend more than four hours a day interacting with technology. Read more from Wall Street Journal.

May 8, 2012

2nd Annual National Kids to Parks Day, May 19

NPT created National Kids to Parks Day to empower kids to discover and enjoy parks in their community. Our goal is to inspire healthy outdoor recreation and to cultivate our future park stewards. In our first year on May 21, 2011, nearly 200 mayors coast to coast signed official proclamations and many hosted events in their community parks to celebrate the day. In addition, more than 15,300 families participated. This year promises to be an even bigger event! Read More

How to get kids to help with gardening

If you think it’s hard getting kids to eat their vegetables, wait until you try recruiting them for garden work. But the challenge is worth it: Children just might add more healthy foods to their diet if they’ve grown them themselves. “If a child grows herbs or vegetables, they will try them at least once,” said Mike Ferraro, whose Preferred Commerce Co. produces Growums, an animated garden program that uses online gaming technology to teach children how to raise fresh edibles and have fun doing it. Read more from NY Daily News.

March 29, 2012

Nature Deficit Disorder

For most of human history, people chased things or were chased themselves. They turned dirt over and planted seeds and saplings. They took in Vitamin D from the sun, and learned to tell a crow from a raven (ravens are larger; crows have a more nasal call; so say the birders). And then, in less than a generation’s time, millions of people completely decoupled themselves from nature. There’s a term for the consequences of this divorce between human and habitat — nature deficit disorder, coined by the writer Richard Louv in a 2005 book, “Last Child in the Woods.” Kids who do play outside are less likely to get sick, to be stressed or become aggressive, and are more adaptable to life’s unpredictable turns, Louv said. Since his book came out, things have gotten worse. Read more from the NY Times.

April 18, 2012

EcoRise Youth Innovations – empowering a new generation of green leaders

EcoRise Youth Innovations is a local non-profit organization who partners with high school teachers to infuse sustainability education into the daily curriculum supporting science and technology. This coming fall, EcoRise is looking to expand the program to additional schools in an the Hill Country. Learn More