“How big will the piranhas be?”
Submitted by Outdoor Afro Brandon Pope, CIG, Education Specialist at the Anita B. Gorman Conservation Discovery Center. His blog exemplifies the need for relevant outdoor leadership to help youth feel more comfort and at ease to explore nature for the first time. Click to enlarge the wonderful pictures below:
Our agency recently hosted a three days/two nights float trip on the Current River in Southeast Missouri for 33 boys from Kansas City. None of them had ever tried any type of outdoor recreational activities outside of sports. So camping, canoeing, …

I just drove in from my time in nature with the kids at Feather River Camp where we spend a part of every summer. On the way home, I reflected with gratitude on how adaptive the camp experience is. For a change this year, instead of high impact adventure, tie-dye shirt making, and day-long trips to nearby waterfalls, I chose instead to spend most of my time curled up under shade and enjoyed with new perspective my 20-year-old copy of the classic Their Eyes Were Watching God that links love …

No matter how people feel about the outdoors, almost everyone feels inspired to get outside for the Fourth of July to enjoy the company of family, friends, and a grilled meal leading inevitably to an evening polytechnics display.
While spending time under the sun and stars this holiday, I encourage you to also take the time to recognize the displays of nature around you: the song of a bird, summer foliage, stars in the night sky, wind rustling through trees, the texture of cool grass, and warm sand between your toes.
To …

Reposted from ActivekidsClub
Last weekend my daughter and a friend did some balcony camping. For dinner that night we made fish cooked in foil packages outside. Cooking fish in foil with seasonal vegetables is a very smart and tasty way to cook fish. Less mess and fish cooked in the juices from the vegetables always end up perfect to eat. The French call this way of cooking “en papillote” which means in parchment, the method of cooking in which the food is put in a folded pouch and baked. Using foil …

By Danielle N. Lee Outdoor Afro Contributor and author of Urban Science Adventures! ©
Denene Millner and her family set up a tent
It’s summertime and the living is easy, especially if you’re a kid.  Schools out and fun is all that is on their hyperactive minds.  We adults still have jobs to attend, bills to pay and bellies to feed, but there’s no reason why we couldn’t be on the same page, at least for a single night. So, what’s the best way to enjoy the summer with your kiddos that’s fun, affordable, and …

School is out! Summer is a great time to be outside together as a family. Listen to Nurse Rona and guests, Avery Cleary and yours truly on Childhood Matters as we discussed how to embrace, explore, and enjoy the beautiful outdoors together!
Click to Listen!

Saturday, June 11th
10 am to 2 pm
Meet at Rob Hill Campground
Did you know that the Presidio is a birding hotspot in the Bay Area? After a short “binocular bootcamp and birding basics” youth ages 8 to 15 and their families will join experienced birders in teams on different routes throughout the Presidio. After an easy 2 hour walk counting observed bird life, groups will return to Rob Hill Campground to tally their numbers during lunch. The day be topped off with presentations of the day’s numbers by…kids!
Lunch will not be provided, so we recommend …

Son of Outdoor Afro trying his hand at kite flying – Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA.
Where where you spotted on Sunday?
Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA

By Outdoor Afro contributor Kevin Gordon
Now that the grass is greening, the birds are returning, and the smells of spring are in the air, it gets more and more exciting to prepare for camp. It’s really magic contemplating what will happen this summer. What child will experience the first-time joy of doing something she didn’t think she otherwise could do…from the “I can’t” to the “I did!”. And carrying that over to her life—whether it’s 5 days, 5 months, or 5 years forward, when another “impossible” task arises, and she has …

I think a lot about the journey that led me to form a deep connection with the outdoors, and now see clearly how fortunate I was that my family had a strong connection to land and nature, and how my parents trusted institutions like the Girl Scouts, and our local recreation center to help me connect deeply with my environment. Had I not received this kind of support and encouragement from home throughout my childhood, my interactions with nature might have been less relevant to my daily life, …