Summer 2016 Recap
Our Nature Day Camp staff was excited to greet 775 campers (ages 3.5-13) during June, July & August! It was our biggest summer yet of campers AND teen volunteers. Our 13-17 yr old Teacher Apprentices logged 1,705 hours of volunteer help with our youth camps! Thanks teens! Look for camps to go back online late next winter for Summer 2017!

Gear up your preschooler for some fall learning & fun!
Lil Nature Kids (drop-off program), Lil Nature Families (Parent/Child program) and weekly Ladybug Walks (Drop-in nature walks) are three ways to connect to parks & natural areas this fall! Drop-off programs allow our naturalists to build a unique connection with each child, while parent/child options allow us to get to know the grown-ups too! All options are engaging and extremely valuable - and all help connect children to nature through play, exploration & ecology! Locations for Fall: Laurelhurst Park, Mt Tabor Park, Irving Park, Marshall Park, Forest Park, Leach Botanical Garden

Have a former preschooler? Check out Eco-Recess, an after-school program for 6-9 yr olds that connects science, math, exploration & physical activity! See the web page for class details in SE & N/NE!

Our Jr. GRUNT staff impacted seventeen youth this summer!
Teens involved in Jr. GRUNT (Greenspace Restoration & Urban Naturalist Team) spent the month of July exploring natural spaces all around the city (and beyond!) This free program partners with 9th Grade Counts - a regionwide initiative to increase graduation rates - and supports teens in their transition to high school. The teens explore natural areas to learn and have adventures like the one pictured above. Katie Holzer, a Watershed Scientist with Env. Services for the City of Gresham (and a former PP&R part-time naturalist) helped teach our young teens about the Gresham stormwater system.

Do you know an 8th grade student who might benefit from this program? Youth of all races, ethnicities, religions, genders and abilities are encouraged to apply. Applications for the upcoming fall season are DUE September 30. Teens must be willing to commit to attending all days and be willing to get a little bit dirty!  

Notes from the Naturalist...

For me, September is spider time! I get so excited when I'm out on toddler nature walks and start to notice all the flawlessly-constructed orb webs. Inevitably children refer to the spiders as 'he', and I find myself saying, "Well, actually, most of the spiders we see are girls!" I then quickly add, "They have fangs that kill the prey caught in the web - injecting chemicals that turn the inside of it into a bug-smoothie! And! Did you know they re-make their house every day? And!!! Here's something else that's crazy - they EAT the old web first!" Children LOVE hearing these facts. Even our little 2-and-a-half year olds hear all this and pause, pondering with wide eyes what it's like to live a spider's life.

I have no idea what it's like to live a spider's life, but I feel the same sense of awe and magic when I watch one eating it's silken web to methodically create a new one. And I feel enormously lucky to be out walking the dog early on a misty morning and get to see a perfect, glistening web catching the sun. My job, most days, is about coordinating programs and connecting the pieces all together. But every once in a while I get to stop and truly notice how perfectly creative nature can be. Those days are by far my favorite days....

Chrissy Larson, Coordinator for Environmental Education