Tell Me Tuesday: How are you involving kids in nature?

While it’s hard to believe that this is happening in Toronto in March (when Vancouver is dealing with blizzards, no less!), it was a great reminder of some of the green initiatives that schools are taking to help students engage with and learn about environmental issues.  With the majority of our population living in urban centres, it’s really important to give kids lots of opportunities to connect with the natural world.

School kids observing the flora & fauna in a nature reserve Rondevlei Education Centre, Cape Town, South Africa © Sandra Mbanefo Obiago / WWF-Canon

I have fond memories of some of the programs I participated in as a student, like planting trees in the Don River valley as part of the “Bring Back the Don” campaign, and counting Monarch butterflies in various ravines.  As a native Torontonian, these activities helped spark my interest in nature, and are undoubtedly part of the reason I’m lucky enough to work at WWF today.
And part of my awesome job is helping to select the winner of the WWF Green CommUnity School Grants Program (applications for the spring round close on April 2!), which gives me a chance to learn about tons of amazing initiatives that schools across Canada are undertaking.  We’ve heard of everything from vegetable and butterfly gardens to converting a school bus to run on biofuel.  It reminds me of why it’s so important to get kids involved, and makes me want to do more for the kids I know.
Which makes me wonder: how are you engaging the children in your life in environmental issues and nature?