By Amelia Hayward & Maya Lee
When we were younger, we used to spend full days in Golden Gate Park in SF. We used to sit in the sand or dirt and play with sticks and rocks for hours. We have very fond memories of making leaf boats and floating them down a stream or leaving the path to make our own way in the forest. We used to imagine that trees were our houses and piles of leaves were our beds, which gave us independence in our own “homes” or imaginary worlds. We also loved going on mini hikes where we could discover new plants and animals.
We are extremely grateful to our parents for introducing us to the outdoors and letting us explore. It allowed us to be independent and fostered our creativity. It also sparked in us a love for the natural world and a desire to preserve it and the memories that we have with it. With the current state of climate change and global warming, it is now more important than ever that this generation and the next generation spend time with and learn to protect our environment.
Not only is it important to introduce young kids to the outdoors, but in a mostly virtual world during the pandemic, a direct connection with the earth is very important and helpful to their learning. With parents and kids working and schooling together at home, it can sometimes seem difficult to find the time and motivation to get your kids outdoors.
Going for a walk around the block for a quick screen break will help your focus and your child's focus. It can also be as simple as allowing your child to get dirty and explore in a park, or climb a tree, even if it's only for a short amount of time. Studies have shown that getting kids outdoors can allow them to exercise their problem-solving, creativity, and exploration, which are very important aspects of young children’s development.
As teenagers, we can now recognize how the outdoors played a crucial role in our development. Some of our favorite memories are of the hours we would spend in the park as young kids. Now that we see the crisis our environment is facing, we are extremely grateful for the time we spent and still spend in nature. We also recognize how our introduction at a young age to the outdoors has made us passionate about protecting it today.
Below, we have attached a scavenger hunt we made for common Bay Area plants and animals, as well as toddler-friendly Bay Area hikes and parks. We encourage you and your kids to explore the natural beauty of the Bay Area!
Hikes/Locations
Albany Hill
Middle Harbor Shoreline Park
Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve
Bay Farm Island
Point Pinole Regional Shoreline
Mount Diablo State Park
Redwood Regional Park
Other Resources
