Children’s time playing outdoors in unstructured activities has dramatically dropped in the past generation. The average time a child spends outdoors is four hours per week compared to more than eight hours spent by their parents. This is quickly becoming a part the culture of raising children.
Research has shown that this lack of play has impeded child development not just physically, but also socially, emotionally, and academically.
To begin to “rewild our Wissahickon child”, the environmental education staff at the Wissahickon Environmental, have created two programs: The Outdoor Adventure Club and Kids Explore.
The Outdoor Adventure Club was created as a successor to the Into the Parks program that ran during the school years in 2015 and 2016. Made possible by a grant from the United States Forest Service, Into the Parks was collaboration between the environmental center staff, recreation center leaders, and Forest Service staff as a way to get Philadelphia youth exposed to nature in the city and surrounding areas.
Once the grant ended, the Outdoor Experiences unit wanted to continue the program, but without funding for buses, we needed to look at recreation centers that bordered our watershed parks. From there we could walk into the parks to begin our adventures.
Utilizing Houston Meadow and connecting with Houston Playground, the Wissahickon Environmental Center established the first Outdoor Adventure Club. This after school program meets Wednesdays for five weeks each fall and spring, presenting different outdoor experiences each meeting.
Because the same kids attend each week, the balance of unstructured and guided nature experiences are able to be built upon each week. These experiences have included geocaching, fishing, creek study, edible plants/cooking, birding, herping (reptiles), orienteering, hiking, photography, and much more!
A similar program, now in its fifth year, is Kids Explore (formerly Kids Gone Wild). About the same time that EE Program Specialist, Trish Fries was administering the Into the Parks program, a mother mentioned to her that it would be nice for her son to be able to just come to the Wissahickon to play. This sparked the idea that other families would also come to the center for unstructured play. Held seasonally on a Saturday in different habitats throughout the Andorra Natural Area, this program gives kids the opportunity to guide their own play outside while giving parents the peace-of-mind that their children are with experienced educators who happen to be certified in first aid and CPR.
Out in the meadow, woods, or creek, kids are given only two directions:
1. Come when called.
2. Do not eat anything without asking.
Then we hike to our destination, playing and exploring along the way. When we reach our destination, the kids often start by asking, “Can I…?” or “What should I do?”, but within five minutes or so, they are off playing and within 20 minutes, they have expanded their territory and are climbing, jumping, swinging, etc. They are guided as needed in the moment to assess risk, problem solve, use their bodies, push through their fears to accomplish one thing they thought that they couldn’t do.
Recognizing the popularity of Kids Explore, and the need for child care during days off from school, Kids Explore ALL DAY launched Fall 2019. Having the children for the length of a school (or camp) day allows them to dive deeper into their unstructured play, while staff introduces a new skill, such as edible plants, shelter building, fire making, Lenape Life, and more. As with our two-hour program, learning is guided by the children through their play, interests, and teachable moments.
Kids return from their outdoor experiences with confidence and a new story of adventure.
The Outdoor Adventure Club is offered in October and May, Kids Explore is once a season, and Kids Explore All Day on select Philadelphia School District holidays. Contact the Tree House for more information on either program, or to learn other fun ways to get the kids in your life outside and enjoying their neighborhood nature.
