Kazumi Haag is a fourth-generation Camp Fire participant and a National Youth Advisory Cabinet member. Her dad, Eric, a biologist at the University of Maryland, started Spark Seekers, a Camp Fire group for Kazumi and her friends in College Park when they were grade schoolers. Growing up in Nevada, Eric had joined his sister’s Camp Fire troop because he wanted more outdoor experiences than he was getting in the local Boy Scouts. Eric’s dad (Kazumi’s grandfather) led that Camp Fire group. He was inspired by his mother (Eric’s grandmother and Kazumi’s great-grandmother), who joined Camp Fire in Florida in 1910, the year it began.  

Kazumi grew up hiking and car camping with her family and Camp Fire buddies, but her relationship with the environment deepened when she joined the crew team her freshman year of high school.   

“One time, we went down to this site on the water, but there was no dirt next to the river, it was just packed trash,” remembered Kazumi. “There was just layers of plastic and plastic, almost like sedimentary rock” 

“We filled up 30 30-gallon trash bags, and you couldn’t tell that we did anything,” said Eric. “The trash was sort of like a geological feature. After that, I pick up any piece of plastic I see in the gutter now because I know where it’s going.” 

Kazumi’s crew team has a strict prohibition against plastic bottles and is working to reduce trash at their boathouse. They volunteer to help clean the smaller streams that flow into the Anacostia and plant trees, which help catch trash and filter stormwater runoff.  

“Camp Fire changed my perspective; it took me from loving animals to wanting to save them,” said Kazumi. “But also Camp Fire helps people just take a breather. Camp Fires helped me and the other kids in our troop see that if you take a second to be outdoors and be at peace, it definitely helps.”  

Eric echoes the importance of understanding the natural systems we live in. “It’s around you all the time if you open your ears to it,” he said, citing neighborhood organizations doing grassroots environmental work, the vast educational resources at state parks, and scientists like Jason Munshi-South, who study wildlife in urban environments. 

The post Embrace your own ecosystem appeared first on Camp Fire.

Camp Fire: How has an understanding of nature led to your work and where you are today?

José González: The most recent element that has shaped my work is how nature heals severed connections. The land can be instructive for creating the conditions, structures, and elements for people to have a livelihood and to relate with each other. If we continue via a reductive, mechanistic approach, then all we’re doing is perpetuating harm. How can we be truly revolutionary? The root of the word revolutionary means revolution — cycles. If we were to design a workforce with regenerative cycles, it doesn’t mean money disappears overnight. It doesn’t mean you can’t have an iPhone. But you now have to approach work with different responsibilities and logic. It allows us to see people as complex, not just elements in a pipeline, and imagine a career path more like a braided river.

Camp Fire: How does making the shift to a nature-based metaphor for work help young people imagine different futures?

José González: I think it’s having a sense that there’s an agency of co-creation in that vision versus just taking what you inherit and playing the role. But it’s a both/and. I understand the frustration, the urgency to say: “Burn it all down! This capitalist, colonial, extractive, consumer-based economy and structure is no good. Be gone!” I say, “Yes, and…” Just like prescribed burning, there’s an intention and an approach. Here’s that mentorship from the land again: You have to look at the conditions we’ve inherited. If any spark makes the whole forest go away, that’s not good. At the same time, you can’t ignore all the underbrush and the necessity for prescribed burning. What does it mean to be a responsible fire tender? What does it mean to burn to create a healthy landscape? For young people, I say channel it. Help others envision this solar punk future that you’re so excited about. What are the careers? What does it mean to have a livelihood with roles that give your life meaning and don’t just treat you as another bit of the productive, mechanistic infrastructure? 

Camp Fire: What are some ways you’re seeing “responsible fire tenders” create careers and livelihoods for themselves? 

José González: A lot of young people are moving back on the land, so to speak. They are working with environmental justice, renewable energy and fossil fuel consumption. They are looking at the challenges around affordable housing and creating more community-oriented types of living. I think it’s important to ask the question: How does this job give meaning and serve my community, versus only being driven by a paycheck? 

Camp Fire: What are other ways nature metaphors are playing out in the organizations you consult with? 

José González: I tell people nobody is going to a meadow and saying, “You’re not meadowing enough today.” What does this tell you about how you can move with cycles of productivity? You can’t always be in the blooming and fruiting stage. And yet think about how often that’s exactly what’s expected or demanded of you! It’s like saying to a tree, “You know, what your issue is, tree? You’re suffering from burnout.” And the tree is like, “Yeah, it’s called fall. I’ll see you next year.” We can ignore these cues from our non-human kin, but it’s perpetuating a separation from nature. I’m not going to be exactly like the squirrel or exactly like the raven — being human is its own beautiful mess. But if I ignore what some of those natural relationships are, then I’m only deepening harm. What is the healing process? What does it mean to reconnect all of these different elements?

Camp Fire: How can we reconnect with cycles and seasons of rest, especially when our macro-culture isn’t supportive of that? 

José González: Step one is struggling with (and having grace for) the question: Where’s the urgency behind this coming from? Am I treating work like an emergency room situation as a default? Second: actually getting out in nature. I have to challenge myself to go for that walk, go for that jog, spend time in the garden, talk to the tree. The last part is acknowledging privilege. I can’t callously say to someone: “You need to go out in nature and chill!” And they’re like, “Yeah, can you pay my rent?” Don’t be fooled by thinking it’s only an individual choice. I applaud and support self care, but I don’t want us to ignore community care and structural care, so that the onus is not just on individuals. So when people say, “Hey, the outdoors is for everyone,” that’s an invitation to say, “You’re right, but why does not everyone feel that’s true?” We can ask what are the social constructs that we have agency to change.

Interested in “planet, inclusion and adventure”? Take the Outdoorist oath. 

The post How can nature help us reframe ‘work’?  appeared first on Camp Fire.

Note: If you didn’t catch Part 1: What is a Green School Yard, be sure to check it out.

We know that recess is meant to provide a physical and mental break in the day. However, when outdoor spaces are physically uncomfortable, dangerously overheated, and provide little to no relief from stress, they are actively working against the well-being of youth. Conversely, youth who attend school in green spaces report greater joy throughout the day, while teachers working at schools with green yards report that they no longer spend the first twenty minutes following recess trying to get their students resettled. (Schools that Heal: Designing with Mental Health in Mind, Claire Latané, 2021).  

It is also important to discuss equity. Across the country, school yards in lower-income, predominately Black and Brown communities are far more likely to be covered in concrete than schools in the largely white suburbs. Opportunities for nature-based play have increased in the past twenty years, but mostly in affluent communities where there is already easy access to nature. Giving youth green spaces in which to play, learn, and connect with their peers sends a message that they are worthy of beautiful spaces. At the same time, these spaces can cultivate the skills needed to nurture and care for the natural environment. It is imperative that we include youth across all demographics in these outdoor experiences. Public school yards can provide natural spaces for youth, and for families, in neighborhoods where nature is often limited. This is one simple yet effective way to address and begin to correct the deliberate lack of investment in green infrastructure in disadvantaged neighborhoods.  

To the right is a photo of my daughter’s former elementary school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In the photo, you can see the standard blacktop so ubiquitous at public schools across the country. In the summer months, the black asphalt and lack of shade sends the temperature soaring (and this is Wisconsin; imagine a similar school yard in Texas, where there were over 40 consecutive days of 100+ degrees in the summer of 2023).  

And here is the new, central green space that was built in 2020. It can be used as an outdoor classroom, a peaceful respite from noise and activity, a place to climb, jump, and balance; and as a gathering spot or a place to play by members of the community on evenings and weekends.  

It is important to recognize that very few green schoolyards around the country have been developed without the support of community partnerships. Most public schools do not have the finances, let alone the time, equipment, or grounds crew needed for the design and creation of green schoolyards without help. In Milwaukee, where I live, the Milwaukee Public School District has partnered with several municipal and non-profit groups to further the development of green schoolyards. These include Green and Healthy Schools Wisconsin, Green Schools Consortium of Milwaukee; and ReFlow, a non-profit organization dedicated to equitable water resource management and green infrastructure. 

As you read in Part 1, park systems, public land trusts, community gardens, nature centers, and even metropolitan sewage districts all have a personal stake in greening asphalt-covered playgrounds. Groups like Camp Fire – particularly affiliates running Out of School Time programs – are well-positioned to become valuable partners, as we can offer programming and even upkeep that would ensure these green yards are used and cared for when schools are not in session. Partnerships across multiple networks, including Camp Fire, can provide financial support, maintenance, curriculum, and even professional development for teachers, securing the ongoing and long-term success of these outdoor spaces. Funders in turn are more likely to take notice when approached by a dedicated and collaborative team made up of diverse organizations. More partners mean more money.  

Click here to watch a short video about the Nature Discovery Area & Inspire Trail in Lafayette, Colorado, which was built on the edge of the Alicia Sanchez International Elementary School. Partners in this outdoor space include the City of Lafayette, the Boulder Valley School District, Thorne Nature Experience, and Great Outdoors Colorado. It is a wonderful example of what can be accomplished when multiple community partners come together to create a space that benefits children, families, and neighbors. 

A quick glance at the website of Green Schoolyards America shows regional organizations around the country doing this work. I encourage anyone interested in this topic to explore the Green Schoolyards website (where you can also find an upcoming online lecture series about forest school yard design), to peruse the resources listed below, and to reach out to any groups in your community that are already working to green up public-school grounds. I also urge you to keep an eye on the congressional bills that support healthy outdoor learning spaces, in particular Senator Martin Heinrich’s Living Schoolyards Act.  

The Living Schoolyards Act would establish an Outdoor Learning Spaces Grants program, administered by the U.S. Department of Education, to allow schools or districts to create outdoor classrooms and learning spaces. Schools will be able to use these funds to install canopies, tents, open-sided structures, electricity, generators, furniture, storage, Wi-Fi nodes and charging stations, outdoor food and distribution facilities, gardens, and weather-related clothing. (Press release, Senator Martin Heinrich, 2022) 

While Green School Yards cannot be seen as a one-stop panacea for systemic racism, mental illness, environmental justice, or climate change, they are one very doable and effective response that can improve communities and make a difference.  

At Camp Fire, we are working to connect young people more deeply to themselves, to others, and to nature. According to the Trust for Public Land, if every schoolyard in the country were transformed into a green space, it would place more than 80 million people within ten minutes of nature.  Who wouldn’t prefer that over concrete?  

Dive Deeper: Recommended Resources 

Videos 

• Building Green Schoolyards in Chicago – YouTube  
• NYC Green Schoolyards – YouTube 
• Green Schoolyards: Turning Nature Into Classrooms – YouTube 
• Garden-Based Learning: Engaging Students in Their Environment – YouTube 
• What is a Green Schoolyard? From Children & Nature Network – YouTube 

Articles & Research Studies 

• Out with asphalt: US schoolyards transformed into green oases 
• Living Schoolyards and Climate Resilience 
• Schools and Climate Change | Harvard Graduate School of Education 
• Community Schoolyards: Trust for Public Land (tpl.org) 
• The Impact of Schoolyard Greening on Children’s Physical Activity and Socioemotional Health: A Systematic Review of Experimental Studies (mdpi.com) 
• Green Schools | MMSD 
• The Incredible Opportunity of Community Schoolyards – THE DIRT (asla.org) 
• Making the Case for Schools That Don’t Look Like Prisons (edweek.org) 
• In search of a greener schoolyard | Children & Nature Network (childrenandnature.org) 

Audio & Recorded Webinars: 

• Why transforming concrete schoolyards into parks could make for healthier cities: NPR 
• Creating Outdoor Spaces: The Infrastructure of Living Schoolyards — Green Schoolyards America 
• Schools that Heal Design with Mental Health in Mind – YouTube 

The post Part 2: Green School Yards, Joy, Equity & Access  appeared first on Camp Fire.

Green schoolyards go by many names: Living School Yards, Forest Classrooms, Outdoor Learning Labs…But regardless of what we choose to call them, green schoolyards are part of a growing, national push to transform concrete-covered playgrounds into living, growing parks: parks designed with the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of students, teachers, and communities in mind.  

There are many proponents of green and living schoolyards.  

• Climate activists see opportunities for green schoolyards to reduce urban heat islands, improve air quality, and model environmental sustainability.  
• Municipal sewerage districts see ways for green schoolyards to reduce flooding and stormwater run-off, redirecting hundreds of thousands of gallons of water back into the ground rather than into local sewer systems.  
• Agriculturalists see opportunities to teach food and farming techniques to future generations. 
• Activists concerned with food scarcity and those working to alleviate food deserts see the potential for school sites to double as community gardens, creating opportunities for healthier, more connected neighbors. 
• Health professionals recognize that green schoolyards promote better physical health for young people, providing fresh air and fostering full body movement. 
• Mental health experts, as well as parents, teachers, and, most importantly, young people are perhaps the biggest advocates for green and healthy schools. They have long called for more welcoming, calming, and stress-reducing spaces, particularly in schools where the physical spaces are at odds with positive mental and emotional health.  

According to Claire Latané, author of Schools that Heal: Designing with Mental Health in Mind, green schoolyards have been shown to decrease bullying, nurture belonging, and even eliminate the social hierarchy that can develop when there is limited outdoor seating, little shade, and not enough for young people to do. In terms of academics, they can be intentionally designed to support project-based learning by offering amphitheaters, rain gardens, urban forests, and ethnobotany labs. In terms of school quality, they can improve student behavior, increase self-regulation, support inquiry-based learning, and contribute to greater job satisfaction and teacher retention.   

Administrators at schools with green schoolyards report that these spaces frequently save money, particularly when it comes to air conditioning, heating, and outdoor maintenance. This is money that can often be put back into the schoolyards themselves, adding to the overall quality of the outdoor space.  

Finally, and most essentially, young people have made it clear that walking through metal detectors, participating in active shooter drills, attending classes with steel grates on the windows, and having short, twenty-minute recesses that take place atop hot, off-gassing asphalt does little to make them feel safe or healthy.  

So, what do green schoolyards have to do with Camp Fire? In part, I am writing this simply to bring more attention to the green schoolyards movement. I believe its momentum is gaining, and that affiliates around the country will soon begin to see more innovations and development in green schoolyards in their own communities, if they have not yet already.   

But Camp Fire is also poised to be an active participant in discussions surrounding green schoolyards. Camp Fire affiliates represent a broad range of learning environments and many offer programming outside of traditional school hours. Not only do Camp Fire affiliates have their own stories and wisdom about the benefits and challenges of outdoor education that are worth bringing to the table, but they could also use these spaces, and help care for them, when schools are not in session.  

Green schoolyards are very much aligned to the Camp Fire mission of helping young people connect more deeply to themselves, to others, and to nature. We also see their potential for greater joy and increased equity in communities across the country. I will explore this more in Part 2, coming next week. 

Dive Deeper: Recommended Resources  

Videos 

• Building Green Schoolyards in Chicago – YouTube  
• NYC Green Schoolyards – YouTube 
• Green Schoolyards: Turning Nature Into Classrooms – YouTube 
• Garden-Based Learning: Engaging Students in Their Environment – YouTube 

Articles & Research Studies 

• Out with asphalt: US schoolyards transformed into green oases 
• Living Schoolyards and Climate Resilience 
• Schools and Climate Change | Harvard Graduate School of Education 
• Community Schoolyards: Trust for Public Land (tpl.org) 
• The Impact of Schoolyard Greening on Children’s Physical Activity and Socioemotional Health: A Systematic Review of Experimental Studies (mdpi.com) 
• Green Schools | MMSD 
• The Incredible Opportunity of Community Schoolyards – THE DIRT (asla.org) 
• Making the Case for Schools That Don’t Look Like Prisons (edweek.org) 
• In search of a greener schoolyard | Children & Nature Network (childrenandnature.org) 

Audio & Recorded Webinars: 

• Why transforming concrete schoolyards into parks could make for healthier cities: NPR 
• Creating Outdoor Spaces: The Infrastructure of Living Schoolyards — Green Schoolyards America 
• Schools that Heal Design with Mental Health in Mind – YouTube 

The post Part 1: What in the World is a “Green Schoolyard”?  appeared first on Camp Fire.

April is also Stress Awareness month. And while nature alone is not a panacea for serious mental illness, emerging research tells us that time spent in nature has a positive effect on the mental and emotional well-being of youth. Nature experiences can soothe negative emotions, ease symptoms of ADHA, and reduce the risk of psychiatric disorders later in life. Nature-based experiences have also been shown to have positive benefits for youth encountering Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES).  

In a moment, we will explore some of the ways that nature supports the mental and emotional health of young people. It is useful, however, to begin with a basic understanding of nature. For this blog’s purposes, nature is defined as any safe, outdoor space with something green and growing on it. It can include, but is not limited to: 

Making Friends with Nature (Environmental Connection): 

Environmental connection is the personal relationship each of us has with nature. Too often we mistake environmental connection with environmental literacy, which might mean learning about the life cycle of frogs or identifying the different parts of a tree. But knowing a lot about nature does not necessarily equate to feeling safe, curious, or engaged with nature. While the goal can certainly be increased eco-literacy, developing that knowledge is dependent on first experiencing joy, wonder, and affirmation in nature. (It is not particularly interesting to study the life cycle of frogs if you have never seen a frog.)  

Many educators and youth workers admit to being unsure of the names of plants and animals. They do not feel equipped to teach natural science and therefore avoid going into nature with young people. Rather than offering a fully structured nature lesson, however, consider simply making friends with nature. While some knowledge is useful to assure safety (know how to avoid poison ivy, for example), you can still go outside with young people without needing an ecology degree. Playing in nature, reading books in nature, or sitting as a group outside, quietly looking and listening, is an excellent way to get your feet wet (literally and figuratively). The nature knowledge will follow, and will be driven ideally, not by the leaders, but by the young people themselves. 

Making Friends with Nature should include: 

• A range of outdoor activities, such as opportunities to design and build, climb, move, or sit quietly; and to engage with books, art materials, lose parts, and practical tools in an outdoor setting. This ensures that multiple emotional needs, moods, and interests are met.  
• A range of spaces, including quiet areas for rest and open spaces for active movement. 
• Opportunities to care for other living things: a garden, an herb box, worm bins, or bird feeders. 
• The freedom for youth to choose activities. Leaders should provide youth opportunities to select their own activities within designated boundaries, which allows for autonomy and self-direction.  
• Time: too often, young people are given fifteen-minute breaks to be outside as a pause from “real” learning (i.e., learning that takes place indoors and is dictated by adults). This viewpoint misses the deeply personal and powerful learning that takes place when nature is the classroom.  

What are the outcomes of Environmental Connection?  

• Connecting to nature helps youth develop and deepen empathy. Many young people who struggle socially connect to plants and animals before forming relationships with their peers. 
• Connecting to nature can help youth who have language barriers find new ways to interact with others – they can build together, garden together, listen to bird calls together, without needing to converse with words.  

• Connecting to nature, especially in loosely structured ways with plenty of time for independent exploration, nurtures young people with learning delays, autism spectrum disorder, challenges around sensory processing, or who simply may need a break from a tightly structured schedule.  
• Connecting to nature can be incredibly healing for youth who have undergone trauma. Nature does not ask questions or judge us for our feelings. It simply allows us to be.  
• Connecting to nature, especially among young people who have historically been denied access to nature, or who do not feel culturally welcomed into nature, can be extremely empowering.  

Nature and SEL Skills: 

Social development is a young person’s ability to engage with other people in positive and socially acceptable ways. Social expectations for youth, beginning as young as age three, include: 

• Showing concern for the feelings of others 
• Taking turns 
• Playing and interacting cooperatively with peers 

For several reasons, not all young people can easily meet these social expectations. Nature, however, can support educators as they work with young people on developing these skills, while still honoring youth for the individuals they are.  

Nature likewise supports emotional development, particularly when the nature experiences are fun and engaging. Positive emotional development is vital to the well-being of youth, supporting the formation of lifelong, meaningful relationships with others and creating a sense of self-worth.  

Here are a few powerful ways that nature supports the social and emotional development of youth:  

• If a young person has strong emotions, being able to exert themselves physically outdoors can release some of those powerful feelings.  
• Encountering wildlife can support mood regulation: if you want to see an animal in action, you must remain still and silent.  
• Nature provides opportunities to control breathing: match your breath to the waves on the shore, breathe in sync with the wind in the trees, blow away soft handfuls of seeds. Deep breathing increases oxygen to the brain and calms the nervous system, making it easier to silence noisy thoughts.  
• Nature provides challenges: climbing trees, crossing ice, hiking uphill. Conquering these challenges leads to greater confidence and pride in personal achievement 

• Nature encourages youth to try. They need to push themselves to complete a hike or navigate unfamiliar terrain. They learn inner motivation and see that success is tied to persistence.  
• Nature provides an abundance of materials (sticks, rocks, mud, water) so that there are fewer concerns over limited resources and less anxiety about missing out 
• Nature is a wonderful venue for large-scale projects, such as creating a communal outdoor art mural, building a tree house, etc. Such projects require many people working together to be successful. 
• Orienteering and Ropes Course activities promote social interaction and problem-solving skills. 
• Eating snacks, listening to stories, and singing together around a campfire creates a sense of community and provides young people with a sense of belonging 
• Hiking as a group – especially to novel places – can be a unifying experience. 
• Difficult conversations, such as those that include emotion coaching, often feel emotionally safer when they take place in peaceful spots in nature.  
• Having positive experiences in nature can reiterate to young people – especially those who tend toward anger, anxiety, and depression – that they are capable of joyful and peaceful feelings. 

A Few Simple Ideas for Creating Social and Emotional Experiences in Nature: 

• Explore water: Water can be very soothing. Dip nets, fingers, and feet into ponds, creeks, or tidal pools. If these things are not available, fill a variety of tubs with water and create your own outdoor water areas. Add scoops, bubbles, food coloring, flower petals, strainers, and more.  
• Take watercolor paints outside. The resulting paintings dry quickly.  
• Or use mud puddle water and simply paint with water on tree bark or rocks. The water will evaporate, but this is about process, not product.  
• Conduct sink and float experiments. Which objects float, which sink? Make predictions and test your hypothesis   

• Create nature scavenger hunts: look for red buds on trees, partially eaten seeds, nests, yellow flowers, spider webs, or anything else that is common to your area 
• Build tiny “nature houses” out of loose materials (acorn caps, sticks, dried grass, mud, shells, driftwood, flowering weeds, seed pods, raffia, leaves, garden debris, etc.) 
• Take tin and plastic dishes into nature and create “recipes” using pinecones, mud, woodchips, water, and other lose nature parts.  
• Use field guides, bug boxes, binoculars, and nature ID apps to enhance your nature experiences.  
• Sit in a circle on the grass or under a tree and pass a talking stick around.  
• Fill bird feeders and monitor who visits 
• Include quiet moments in nature: take yoga breaths, lay on the ground, write, draw, be silent.  
• Begin or end your experiences in nature with a land acknowledgment, which you can co-create with the youth in your program, honoring the people on whose ancestral land you now stand.  
• Build upon this acknowledgment over time by learning the names of a few plants or animals in the traditional language(s) of your region 
• Make it a goal to introduce, in a joyful rather than didactic way, the principle of environmental reciprocity. This can include planting wildflowers and putting out bird seed to provide food for local animals; picking up trash from beaches and rivers; and only collecting things from nature that have come loose and are no longer attached to stems. Leave the nuts for the animals, taking only the inedible shells. And return everything back to nature after you have finished with them.   

This April 2023, as we reflect on more than fifty years of Earth Day, it is important to remember that the health and well-being of today’s young people depends, in part, on fair and equitable access to nature. We must also remember that the health and well-being of the planet is going to require the energy and compassion of today’s young people. We have an obligation to connect the two. By so doing, we honor both.  

The post Nature and the Well-Being of Youth  appeared first on Camp Fire.