Posts filed under ‘Working with Low Income Children’
Let’s Go Biking: New folding bikes arriving soon
Really cool Schwinn folding bike. Gotta love the back rack. Makes you want to ride doesn't it?
“Let’s go biking!”
We will receive five Schwinn folding bikes next week. These bikes form the foundation of a new bike program at the Goodman Community Center. I am very excited about this program and will start taking kids on trips as soon as the bikes arrive.
Why folding bikes? Well, they are much easier to store and they look really cool. The kids will love them. Plus Willy Street Bikes gave us a really good deal.
Stay tuned for more information on this exciting program.
Tell me what you think? Do you like to bike? Have you ridden a folding bike? What are your favorite places to ride with kids?
It’s beautiful day in Wisconsin. Unfortunately, Diane is stuck inside writing grants in order to take more kids outside. If you’d like to contribute to Get Kids Outside, please “like” this article. If you’d like to donate to Get Kids Outside, just email me with your donation amount and I’ll forward a Paypal link. Thank you.
Wheels for Winners: Kids earn a bike for service
Every kid should have a bike. Period. Biking promotes independence and fitness but most of all it’s fun.
Wheels for Winners is one of the coolest organizations on the planet because they put bikes in the hands of kids – and adults – that can’t afford them.
The program is easy.
Kids do 15 hours of community service and earn a bike, helmet, lock and license.
I just started working with five 3rd and 4th graders on this program. We’re doing jobs around the Goodman Community Center and they love it. Kids love being of service. It boosts their self-worth and teaches them about the world. Remarkably, one of my kids is doing the program just to do the service. She already has a bike!
If you know of a kid who doesn’t have a bike and can’t afford one, let them know about this program. Many organizations would be happy to work with you. And, if you can’t do service, kids can write 5 book reports instead. The reports don’t have to be scholarly, just enough to let them know that you read the book.
It’s a great program. Let me know what you think.
You can find Diane working with kids at the Goodman Community Center or at Schumacher Farm Park looking for pasque flowers. Register for this blog now and receive a free 11-page Bubble Activity Guide. Oh, and don’t forget to “like” what you see.
Boys build things and play in the water
I let five boys play in “the pond” during after school on Friday. They got a little wet and dirty and they loved it. Imagine that.
“The pond” is a rain garden sandwiched between our parking lot and a cell phone tower. It’s a little bit of wild in an urban setting. It’s a place where chorus frogs sing, a pair of mallards nest and native plants grow.
It was fun to watch the boys create their own fun in this little spot of nature.
Arden, the thinker of the group, talked to the ducks and wondered what they were saying. Joe and John immediately started building a bridge across the pond with boards that were lying around. The other boys chipped in and added to the structure. They all enjoyed walking on the tipsy structure they built, trying hard not to fall in.
Joe was the ring leader and sloshed through the water – about one foot deep – to complete the bridge. A free spirit, he begged me to let him take his pants off. I smiled and said No! That didn’t keep him from asking again. It was fun to watch Joe plop the boards into place with a splash…with his pants on.
Kids don’t get many opportunities for this kind of play anymore. When I was a kid, we tramped around in the woods all the time. There was more freedom and open space available then and parents weren’t as concerned about their kids. Today, you can’t just go out and build a fort in the local woods anymore without getting into trouble.
That’s why it’s important to let kids play in unstructured environments as much as possible. They need permission to do this whenever and wherever possible. As summer approaches, I’ll be thinking of ways to build in time for unstructured play.
What are you doing to offer kids time to create in the outdoors.
You can find Diane Schwartz sloshing around with kids at the Goodman Community Center. Her next trip is April 16th to the UW-Arboretum where the kids will be picking garlic mustard and having a picnic. Thanks for reading. Be sure to “like it” and share it with your friends.
Cave of the Mounds: A great escape from protesting or anything else
O
nce again, a major protest at the State Capitol coincided with one of my outings. I have to say that I was happy to be heading away from town. Protesting is noble, but it distracts me from what I love. For me, the best thing to do is to continue my work with kids and parents despite the chaos swirling around me.
It’s times like this when we need nature more than ever. We need to get away from the media and remember what’s really important. We need to be reminded of how beautiful our state is and it’s many natural wonders. We need to go to places right in our own backyards, like Cave of the Mounds, and experience one of those wonders.
Just 30 minutes from Madison, Cave of the Mounds remains a classic day trip. If you haven’t been there, it’s time to pack up the kids and go.
Cave "bacon" forms when calcite-rich water follows the contour of the cave ceiling forming drapery-like curtains. Note also the tiny stalactites.
The cave tour lasts about 1 hour and took us past beautiful cave formations: stalactites – or stalagnotites as Joan called them - hang from the ceiling; stalagmites – or stalagnomites – grow from the ground up. There’s cave “bacon” that looks… well… like bacon and classic formations like Polly the Parrot.
There’s no better place to get a sense of geologic time and the power of water. Water drips from the ceiling adding ever so slowly to the ‘mites and ‘tites.
Polly the Parrot formed when two stalactites dropped on top of a stalagmite, fusing them together into a parrotlike shape.
The cave promotes wonder and we all need that, especially when the world gets turned upside down.
I had just one small complaint. Just before leaving to eat our lunch, a staff member asked me to let her know if while eating we spilled anything on the chairs. I thought this was odd. Did she think we going to leave a mess? I don’t know. Other than that, our tour guides were informative and courteous, and of course, the cave never disappoints.
What are your favorite natural escapes within 30 minutes from home?
Diane Schwartz is busy getting ready for summer at the Goodman Community Center. Five new folding bikes will arrive soon and she can’t wait to start teaching kids how to safely ride around town. As always, subscribe to this blog now to receive a free 11-page bubble activity guide. Thank you for reading.
Why kids don’t walk and what we can do about it
I hated walking as a kid and would beg my mom to drive me places.
“You can walk,” she’d say and then explain how when SHE was a girl she had to WALK 100 miles just to get to the bus stop…”
Okay, I exaggerate a little, but I truly hated walking. Other kids got rides. Why do I have to walk?
Now, I’m grateful.
Truth is, kids don’t walk unless they have to and it seems like kids walk less and less with each generation. There are several reasons for this:
1) Kids live further away from school.
2) Residential neighborhoods are isolated from grocery stores and services.
3) Madison streets are busier than the streets I grew up on.
4) We love our cars.
5) Parents are afraid their kids will get abducted, lost, or hurt. This is the most troubling trend and probably the most restricting.
For the most part, Madison remains a safe place for kids. However, while many of our families live close enough to the center to walk, very few do. For many it’s a necessity to drive, but for some it isn’t. What’s especially troubling is when parents cancel their kids participation in outdoor activities because they cannot pick their kids up.
To address this I ask? Why not let older kids walk or take the bus home?
What a gift it would be for these kids to get home on their own.
Therefore, I’m going to start making this outrageous suggestion. This will likely raise other issues. For example, will kids need to be taught how to walk on their own? Probably. At the very least it will get parents and kids thinking about alternatives.
Will kids protest? Absolutely. But I can’t wait to respond with my own “When I was a kid I walked 100 miles story.”
Do you have any stories about walking with kids? How do you motivate kids to walk? Do you let them walk to the store, to school or elsewhere?
You can find Diane working on a grant proposal to start a biking program at the Goodman Community Center. You can also find her slopping through the mud at Schumacher Farm County Park looking for signs of spring. As always, register for this blog now and receive an 11-page Bubble Activity Guide.
Bad Van Behavior Kills Ski Fun
What is fun? Cross Country Skiing
What kills fun? Driving a 15-passenger-van full of kids, three of which are fighting in the back.
Last week Thursday was the first day of ski lessons and everything was going great: the trip to Blackhawk Ski Club went well; the kids loved skiing; and the weather was perfect.
And then we got in the van to go home.
Joan started talking trash and couldn’t keep her mouth shut. To make things worse, her brother and another girl egged her on.
Things got so loud I had to pull over and sort things out. I split up Joan and her brother which meant displacing two other kids who were acting fine. I hate this.
Being a teacher is tough sometimes. I want to have fun with the kids, but I also have to be safe and take action when necessary. I’ll talk to the kids and parents and make sure they understand behavior expectations and the consequences. Right now, I’m thinking that if behavior results in pulling over the van, then the children involved will be removed from lessons. This may sounds harsh, but when it comes to safety, I’m not going to mess around. Besides, most of the kids are fine. It’s not fair to the others to allow this kind of behavior.
One thing is clear, if I don’t take action, it will be a very long 8 weeks.
I’ll let you know what happens after this week’s lesson.
What are you doing to help kids with behavior issues? What works? What doesn’t? How do you decide when to remove children from an activity?
Diane Schwartz is an Outdoor Education Teacher at Goodman Community Center in Madison, Wisconsin. She is also the Site Coordinator at Schumacher Farm County Park in Waunakee. Register for this blog now and receive your free 11-page Bubble Activity Guide. Thank you for visiting.
Bubble bubble toil and trouble: Dealing with fear
To see this spring in action go to: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ySNSemVYs8. Visit www.pheasantbranch.org to learn more about this amazing place.
With Halloween right around the corner, it’s important to remember that nature can be scary for kids.
The heart of the Pheasant Branch Creek Nature Preserve in Middleton is a huge spring. Water boils up from the ground and looks like a cauldron of boiling water and sand. The spring intrigued the K-5th grade kids we took there on September 25th and even scared some.
“It looks like quick sand.”
“What would happen if I fell in?”
“How is it doing that?”
To Sue, it was all too much.
“I’m scared,” she quietly said to me.
This was her first trip with us. I explained that we were safe on the overlook platform and that the water wasn’t going to hurt us. In fact, the water helps us by feeding the creek and providing water to animals and plants. Still, she wasn’t so sure. We stayed on the platform for a bit longer, ate some snack, and then moved on.
This scene reminded of a trip two years ago where two different girls covered their heads when I pointed out a red-tailed hawk.
“It’s going to eat me,” they cried.
I realized then that kids need teachers to help them understand both the beauty and power of nature. Nature can be scary, but it’s also amazing and awe-inspiring. Yes, hawk talons can kill, but not people. And yes, a person could drown in the spring, but not if you stay on the platform. Teaching kids to respect nature while at the same time enjoying nature is simply part of life. There are risks with everything and too often kids are sheltered from life’s real risks.
That’s why these trips are so important for kids. They may get scared, but then they learn. Fear can be transf0rmed into awe.
Kids who experience fear and overcome it are better equipped to handle what life has to throw at them. And that’s a good thing. Everybody gets scared, but that doesn’t keep us from doing the things we want to do.
What are you doing today to help kids overcome their fears?
Diane Schwartz is the Outdoor Education Specialist at the Goodman Community Center in Madison, Wisconsin. You can contact her at getkidsoutside@gmail.com. To get a free 11 page bubble activity guide, just register for this blog on the home page. The guide is full of indoor and outdoor activities that you can do with kids.
Winter Tracks on a Cold Day
It’s important to get outside even on cold days. Teaching kids how to dress for cold weather is a great skill to have. Too many people stay inside all winter. Meanwhile, there’s a world of ice and snow ready to explore. Today, Four hearty kids and three adults went on a walk in the frozen Arboretum today. It was about 10 degrees with a stiff wind.
Turkey Tracks
Our Arboretum guide was very knowledgeable and helped us see many things that are hard, if not impossible to see, in the warmer months. We saw deer tracks, coyote tracks, turkey tracks, woodpecker holes in trees, deer rubbings, and, yes, even signs of spring. She pointed out places on trees and shrubs that indicate where they will bloom as soon as the weather warms.
Coyote Tracks
What these kids are getting is an appreciation for winter, the outdoors, and for the wonderful place called the Arboretum. They are getting exercise and fresh air, which will make them sleep better and feel better. They are also gaining confidence in their ability to be outside in cold weather. On a day when many people complained about the cold, they got to see a lot of people out skiing and hiking. This can not be underestimated. Complaining about the weather is a waste of time.
After our hike, I was inspired to go ice skating at Tenny Park. There were a lot of people out there too, despite the cold. I felt so happy to be out there and to have enjoyed the day. Skating lifted my spirits. I look forward to my next trip.
Sledding, Nose Bleeds and knowing when it’s time to go
Sledding is a blast in part because it’s just a little bit dangerous.
Today, the hill at Olbrich Park was well worn, pock marked and icy. Half of our 11 kids stayed on the steep part of the hill, while the other half stayed on the gentler side. After one run down the steep side, I too stayed on the gentler side. I felt pretty shook up. So did Rachelle. ”That was freaky”, she said. I had to coax her back on her sled on the gentler side after that first bumpy run. Once she did, she shouted, “Let’s do it again!” That was music to my ears.
Sledding is a creative sport. We made trains with two and three sleds. Kids went down backwards. They doubled up on sleds. They tried going face first, feet first and while standing on their feet like a snow boarder. They were having a great time. It really was a perfect day for sledding with temps in the 20s and a light breeze. Everything was going great until after about 40 minutes.
Suddenly, Margerie shouted, “Jean’s hurt.” Sure enough, Jean, a very hardy first grader, was crying. I ran over and brought her back up to the top of the hill. She had hit a bump hard and bit her lip. Snot and blood was pouring out of her nose and her lip was bloody too. We quickly got her cleaned up and soon she was back on the slopes.
I should have taken this cue and left then. Soon after, Sarah was crying and soon after that, Jean was crying again.
There is a skill to knowing when it’s time to leave. Sometimes I hit it perfect and other times not. It’s always better to leave them wanting for more, then to overstay a visit.
On the bright side, we went back to the Center and had hot cocoa and cookies. That certainly perked Jean up and helped Sarah feel better. Sarah got a pretty good bonk on the forehead.
I always feel bad when kids get hurt on events like this because I think that they wont go sledding again. However, I have to remember how many times I’ve been hurt while sledding and other sports and how that after awhile, you forget the hurts and only remember the fun. Plus, it’s good for kids to learn that a bump or bruise will not kill them. Bumps and bruises happen. It’s part of life. Sledding, like life, isn’t danger free.
Overall, we had a blast sledding. The sledding was fast and great and the kids were great. No one really got hurt… it was just the normal bumps and bruises that sometimes comes with having fun.
Frogs in the Spring House & other Tales from Blue Mound State Park
The view from the picnic area at Blue Mound State Park.
The spring house at Blue Mound State Park is a pre-park relic. All that remains is the 8 x 10 x 4 foot concrete foundation, built by John Minix, the former landowner at the park. The spring once provided water for native people, farmers, and for the swimming pool, located just downstream.
This was a highlight of our adventure to Blue Mound State Park on November 21, 2009. The temperatures were in the 50s, the sun was shining, and the kids were great. We had ten kids in grades Kindergarten to third grade, one parent, and Doug, our Inner City Outings Leader from the Sierra Club. I love those kind of ratios.
When we got near the Spring House, the kids rushed to it and climbed on top. (I’m not sure why, but most kids want to run on the trails. I haven’t figured out how to slow them down. It’s as if they are programmed to run.) Others peered into an opening in the concrete. Of course, they all wanted to look in at the same time which called for a little group management.
I’m happy that these kids now have a pretty good knowledge about springs and ground water. Last month, we pumped water at Parfrey’s Glen and now we’re seeing the water come right out of the ground on its own. A sign nearby, which I wrote when I worked for Wisconsin State Parks, says that the spring is a perched water table. The kids weren’t too interested in that, but they were interested in knowing that the spring once fed the pool that many of them have swam in.
The mood shifted when Dave shouted, ”I see a frog!” ”I do too,” said Joe. Sure enough, there were three or four small frogs swimming around in the spring water at the bottom of the house. I didn’t know the species, but emailed Karl Heil, the park manager, to see if he knew.
After this discovery, all the kids rushed in to see the frogs and again through the opening and we had to do some kid management to ensure that everyone got a change to see them. This was very cool. We always see wildlife on these trips, but we never know what that wildlife will be. Frogs was an expected delight.
This trip also included a climb up the east observation tower and a hike on part of Indian Marker Tree trail. We also got to play under some enormous oak trees in the picnic area. The trees left huge piles of leaves that the kids buried themselves in. This was as much fun for them as it was for me. I love leaf piles, especially huge leave piles.
In close, there is very little I would do differently on the hike. This time, we allowed them to have walking sticks if they just used them for walking. I think this worked pretty well and they listened. Sticks are an ongoing challenge on these hikes. Kids want them so instead of saying no, I said yes to walking sticks.
The hardest part for me is getting back on time. I am notorious for not leaving the park with enough time to get back. This will stop for the next trip to Olbrich Park, hopefully for sledding!
