Let the Kids Play Outside!

by Shamik Chandrachood

My most distinct memory of nature around my childhood home in Kentucky is a

small preserve that was outlined by a short 1–2-mile walking trail. Throughout my

childhood, I, along with my neighborhood friends, explored the preserve--carving out

new trails, making mud pies, climbing trees--always finding new adventures in what

seemed like an endless forest. It wasn’t until much later on that I would learn about the

different kinds of flowering plants, insects, trees, and grasses that comprised my home. Nevertheless, that preserve and the freedom to explore it would mark

the beginning of my profound fondness for the outdoors. This would later be my career

path in an effort to elicit the same feelings I experienced in the next generation.

Fast forward to my fellowship with the Resource Conservation District of Tehama

County (RCDTC) where I have aided in fuel reduction projects, helped bolster broad

community engagement, assisted with the development of the RCDTC’s novel

Prescribed Burn Association (PBA) and Drone Program, and am working to restructure

The technological systems that our projects rely on. While all of these projects are

extremely important and valuable, no project comes close to giving me that unmatched

experience of working with youth and educating them about the environment that

surrounds them.

One of our Public Hikes at Dye Creek Preserve ft. Members of the Public

Through a partnership between the RCDTC and The Nature Conservancy (TNC),

we have been able to bring two 3rd/4th-grade classes from local elementary schools to

TNC’s Dye Creek Preserve, which is near the northern end of California’s Central Valley

in Los Molinos. Each class had 3 “School Field Days” with different educational focus

areas: geology, botany, and habitat. Before these field days, we also visited their

classrooms to host a quick orientation explaining where their classroom is in relation to

Dye Creek Preserve, expectations, and rules we needed to follow while at the preserve,

a sneak peek of our topics for each day and a short walk-through video of the trail. From

the minute our RCDTC team started talking with the students, their excitement to leave

the classroom and going to Dye Creek was tangible. Both classes asked about what

Animals/insects they can expect to see (one student was an expert on jumping

spiders with a website and everything), how far into the canyon we were going to

Hike—the amount of enthusiasm to explore nature was very special to see.

Luh Calm In-Class Orientation

Just a few weeks later, our first day on the preserve can be described as an

excited scramble; we knew what our agenda looked like, and we knew what the students

and chaperones were expecting, but there was still so much to set up! In a mad dash, we

set up our staging areas, microscope lab, gathered all of our safety gear, and briefed the

rest of our docents, and before we knew it, a bus full of eager students pulled up. Just

like our in-class orientation, we reviewed the basic expectations we abide by while on

the preserve, went over a couple of warnings for rattlesnakes and poison oak, and

following that, we are ready to start our lesson plan!

At the Dye Creek Preserve Headquarters, it was time to start our first lesson:

Geology. The first activity was splitting the class into two groups, one to check out

different types of rocks under a microscope with a geology expert, and the others got to

play a dice game where the students pretended they were different forms of rock

transforming into others; for example, if you start as metamorphic rock and the dice roll

indicated weathering and erosion, you became sediments, if the next dice roll indicated

compaction you turned into sedimentary rock, and on goes the rock cycle. The students

really enjoyed getting to move around, experimenting with the microscopes, and just

being outside rather than in a classroom was a huge bonus.

Rock Cycle Activity!

Following these activities, we took a short (~1 mile) hike down the canyon trail,

making sure to stop at an interesting geologic formation called a Lahar, where our

geology expert was able to explain how these form when volcanic ash mixes with water

to create a slurry that settles on top of the surface. One of my personal favorite activities

we did was a brief mindfulness exercise. Once we found a spot along the trail with

plenty of sitting spots, we asked the students to sit quietly with their eyes closed, and

use their other senses to silently experience the preserve—you can imagine the

difficulty of getting 10-year-olds to sit quietly for a couple of minutes. Eventually, everyone

was quiet, and all you could hear was the birds chirping, wind whooshing through the

canyon, the creek meandering below us, and the odd whisper from an impatient

student.

Mindfulness Exercise!

But hey, they’re kids! I’m surprised we held their attention for that long at all,

especially being outside. I’ll freely admit my own attention starts to draw away when I hear an animal rustling through the brush or notice a bird I haven’t seen before (I

usually come back quickly). Can’t expect a 10-year-old student to stay at attention for 3

straight hours if I myself wouldn’t be able to.

As we walked back to HQ, I listened to some of the boys asking their friends if

they wanted to come over after school to play video games. I immediately thought back

to my childhood, asking my friends to hang out after school. Honestly, I can understand

how these field days may not be as impactful in the long term as I dreamed they would

be. A part of me still hopes these students had an environmental awakening or

something and will go on to be land stewards at other preserves. One thing I am sure of

is that they had fun. It was a fun day outside where they got to explore a preserve right

in their backyards (so to speak).

When our time was coming to a close, we asked the students if anyone had any

more questions about what they saw, what they learned, really just an open space for

discussion. One student raised his hand and said, “This isn’t a question, but I had fun.

Thank you.” Dang. Talk about something fulfilling to hear.

Turns out, they were paying attention the whole time. I learned this in early June

during our summer enrichment series at Dye Creek, when we welcomed a group of

2nd–7th graders. The 3rd and 4th graders not only remembered us, but they also

recalled what we’d taught them months earlier. I was touched that they remembered

visiting the preserve — and even me as one of their instructors. Many of these students

have younger siblings who will join future field days, continuing the connection.

Even if these outings simply feel like a fun break from the classroom, that’s

meaningful in itself. But I believe they do more. Letting kids play outside sparks

curiosity, builds respect for the environment, and maybe—just maybe — plants the

seed for future stewards of the land. And that’s how change begins: with one adventure,

one question, one joyful day spent exploring the natural world right in their own

backyard.