[moosefish]

I'm getting involved in a group looking at improving the health of kids on the Eastside. One of the possible projects we're looking at is getting kids excited about hiking and the outdoors in order to trick them into exercising more. We're targeting segments of the population that have little access or interest in outdoor recreation. Is anyone aware of any existing groups or projects working in this space? Anything close?

[Pipsissewa]

Moosefish, North Cascades Institute- http://www.ncascades.org/ -does a lot of working with school kids, hikes, naturalist activities, in the schools and out in the woods. Bellevue Parks run programs in the summer at Kelsey Creek Farm. The Cedar River Watershed- http://www.cedarriver.org/education/index.shtml - east of North Bend runs classes both for children and docents. Maybe someone will meet with you and give you pointers on how to get started, how to get to your target group (it may be as simple as meeting with grammar school principals). Sounds interesting, good luck!

[moosefish]

Great info. Thanks.

[Slugman]

[Hiker Mama]

I just came across this post, and found it very interesting. Have you read the book Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv? (hope I got his name right). It's about how kids these days are separated from nature more than ever before, and the effects of this, as well as how to get them back. It's a fascinating book, I plan to buy it to have for personal and professional reference. I have worked in the past doing environmental education for kids for the City of Edmonds and a bit at Carkeek Park. Kids have a natural fascination about nature, and for most of them it didn't take much to get them excited about an hour at the woods or the beach. Having a few gross/fascinating/incredible things to show them usually gets them hooked so they want to see more. The writings of Joseph Cornell (an innovative environmental educator) may be helpful for you as you try to get kids interested in the outdoors. Oh, I just remembered there is a group called the Wilderness Awareness School http://www.wildernessawareness.org/ out in Duvall that teaches tracking, bird language, wild edibles, wandering and many other unique topics. I have taken some of their classes at a seminar before, and they have an interesting way of getting people hooked and getting that great experience in nature. In another direction, there is a group called Passages NW http://www.passagesnw.org/ that takes girls into the woods, rock climbing, and kayaking to help them with self-confidence and outdoor and leadership skills. They've been around for 10 years, so they could probably give you some good pointers on getting adolescents interested. They are located in Seattle. Have you made any progress on your project? It sounds intriguing, and I would love to hear more about it if you begin to get anything off the ground. I hope my suggestions will be helpful for you. I'd be happy to talk to you more in person if you need someone to bounce ideas off of. Good luck!

[moosefish]

The project has morphed. We're still targeting youth and the environment, but it will be more of an environmental quality kind of thing rather than specifically hiking as I was hoping. It's a little more direct and probably targeting a slightly older kid, but hopefully it will still be effective.

[GeoHiker]

You might want to look at Geocaching The geek factor is there with the GPS and computer that kids enjoy plus most geocaches have kids stuff in them. It's a great way to get kids outdoors.