SF Children & Nature

San Francisco Children & Nature

Outdoor Learning in SF

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In this year’s unprecedented summer, outdoor learning prevailed.

In June, the city’s summer programs re-opened with limited capacity and with modifications intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19

To learn how programs adjusted to operating in our new reality, we caught up with eight from across the city, who maintained or increased their nature and outdoor programming to reduce the risk of transmission.

Apart from being safer, it doesn’t hurt that being outside offers other great benefits too, such as increased immunity and an emotional boost that can help kids feel less tense, stressed, angry, or depressed.

Here’s what summer outdoor learning looked like in SF:

WETLANDS EXPLORER CAMP @ ECO CENTER at HERON’S HEAD PARK

Since we benefit from lots of open space, it wasn’t hard to adjust curriculum and lesson plans to meet social distancing and safety standards. The most difficult aspect was monitoring/regulating kids’ behavior—spontaneous games of tag, wanting to sit together at lunch, maintaining 6’ distance, and requiring masks for youth 10 and up at all times. —Lydia Nichols-Russell, San Francisco Recreation & Parks

Wetlands Explorer supports habitat restoration efforts in the native grassland by removing invasive fennel.
This summer 130 lbs of invasive plants were removed by young campers, making space for native species that support more wildlife at Heron’s Head Park.
Exploring the rocky beach for crabs was a favorite near-daily activity. Kids built their own bucket habitats using seaweed and Bay water for temporary observation. We spent a morning each session capturing life on the shoreline using the iNaturalist phone app. 
Campers use teamwork to scrape honeycomb off a harvested frame. Each session was able to harvest about 12 pints of honey, some of which we used to celebrate on the last day of camp with a native-plant tea party.  (photos: Maria Durana) 

GUIDRY’S EARLY CARE & EDUCATION PROGRAM

Adjusting our outdoor program was fairly easy as prior to the pandemic we already spent most of our time outdoors!  We have always valued outdoor play as an extended classroom and are outside all day with the exception of nap time. With extra tables, chairs, and shade, we now have lunch outside too. —Monique Guidry, Guidry’s Early Care & Education Program

Lots of Digging! Allowing children to continue to practice their fine and gross motor skills outdoors is essential, especially during this challenging time.  Digging supports children’s eye/hand coordination, sensory perception (especially touch), and also helps them to develop their socio-emotional skills of cooperative play. 
E. loves to have her own space. Cardboard boxes are perfect for that! We currently practice physical distancing with activities that allow for children to connect with one another while being safe. 
G. loves to have his body traced! Activities such as body tracing allow children to experiment with the concepts of space and size while exploring self-awareness and autonomy.
I LOVE reading stories to children outside. I gain such a strong emotional connection with each child when I read to them. Reading to children improves many skills, especially receptive (listening) and expressive language, cognitive development and, attention maintenance skills. photos: Monique Guidry)

CAMP MISSION POSSIBLE @ MISSION REC CENTER

It wasn’t hard to adjust camp to social distance standards, we just had to be willing to spend A LOT of time outdoors where it’s much safer. We traveled with easy to carry sports equipment and craft supplies, played music, and paused for meditation time when needed. —Mike Bross, San Francisco Recreation & Parks

Mission Impossible campers explored nearby parks all summer, working their way up to a 3-mile round trip hike to the top of Bernal Hill where the games continued. Sharing space with a coyote and watching red-tailed hawks catch lunch amidst the soaring views of the city were highlights. (photo: Maria Durana)

Y RANGERS CAMP @ PRESIDIO & POINT BONITA YMCA

Connecting youth to nature is a priority for the YMCA of San Francisco and we are proud to oversee the only two YMCA’s in the country to be located on national park service lands. Y Rangers Camp is an opportunity for kids to spend their summer outside in the fresh air, enjoy stories, games, and enriching activities. —Sean Dries, YMCA of San Francisco.

Y Rangers immersed in nature play and discovery in the Marin Headlands. (photo: Ryan Wolf)
Stump circles make the best outdoor classrooms. . (photo: Sean Dries)
Making dinosaur-sized art — even hardscaped outdoor spaces offer plenty of opportunities for creativity and fun. (photo: Sean Dries)

FARM CAMP @ ALEMANY FARM

While you can control an indoor environment, there are many challenges and variables to running programming outdoors. Preparation was key, but so was being flexible, staying positive and keeping it fun. I think the campers really benefited from the time spent socially together. A lot of kids had not interacted with other kids before camp and won’t after camp due to Covid-19. —Kathi Baxter and field staff, San Francisco Recreation & Parks

Campers grew plants from seeds, transplanted them to larger pots, and then took them home to plant at the end of camp.  They learned about the stages of plant reproduction, how to amend the soil to provide food for the growing plant, and how to effectively water to prevent some common plant diseases. 
“I could stay here forever,” says Alemany Farm camper while holding Pepper in a snug embrace. Pepper visited the farm to inspire learning about urban livestock and chicken fun facts such as how often hens lay eggs and the toys and treats that keep laying hens happy.
Planting a lemon balm clipping to learn how plants can reproduce from cuttings. Campers helped with fruit tree pruning, removed suckers from the olive trees, and cut green waste into compostable pieces to hone their skills with pruning shears.  (photos: Maria Durana)

GIRLS SPORTS CAMP @ ROSSI PLAYGROUND

Girls in Sports Summer Camp is a GIRLS ONLY all outdoors camp that keeps campers in motion and in the air. While honing their skills in sports like soccer, baseball, and track, they’re also learning about teamwork, respect, and perseverance while building an emotional foundation for success. Our track meets were just amazing!! Each child was successful in achieving personal bests as they participated in races and relays, long jump, and shot put. —Rachelle Henley, San Francisco Recreation & Parks

BEAN SPROUTS FAMILY DAY @ SF BOTANICAL GARDEN

Bean Sprout Family Day participants make their own discoveries in the Children’s Garden. At the Creation Station, children explore the qualities of plant material as they assemble their creations. We were flexible, lettting kids be kids rather than focusing on specific educational outcomes. For safety, we shifted from using shared materials to instead providing participants with a bucket of pre-cleaned materials with activity guides for caregivers to use. —Annette Huddle, San Francisco Botanical Garden

Discovering that bark peeled from one type of branch can be used as rope to tie other plant parts together.
Discovering the transformation of canna seed pods as they mature.
Using a clean watering can, participants helped water plants. Signage helps them and their caregivers focus on watering the roots of the plants rather than the leaves…mostly! (photos: Annette Huddle)

MISSION ART & EXPLORATION CAMP @ MISSION ARTS CENTER

Mission Art & Explorations campers used the city as their classroom. At Balmy Alley, they learned that art can be a powerful tool to record history, raise awareness, build community, and promote social change. —Jeanne Sharei, San Francisco Recreation & Parks, photos: Jeanne Hallacy

(photos: Jeanne Hallacy)

SAN FRANCISCO CHILDREN & NATURE

SF Children & Nature is part of the national Cities Connecting Children to Nature (CCCN) initiative and is working to address the disparities in nature access along socioeconomic and racial lines to ensure all children have the opportunity to play, learn and grow in the outdoors.

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