Becky Nielsen
Welcome back! Each week, The Mountaineers youth team is sharing ideas and activities for kids of all ages to stay engaged while also staying home and safe. Last week’s Stuck Inside focused on learning new skills with all this extra time on our hands. This week, we are suggesting ideas on ways to celebrate Earth Day!
Ways to Celebrate Earth Day:
Protect Parks
Print and complete this coloring page on protecting parks. What is your favorite park to visit? Can you think of some other ways we could all protect your favorite park?
Become a Junior Ranger!
Complete the self-guided program to become a junior ranger for Washington State Parks through a series of games and activities.
Plant spring flowers
Fill your yard or flower pot with color to celebrate how beautiful the earth is!
Beautify your neighborhood
Show your love for your neighborhood by taking a walk and picking up litter. Your community will appreciate your efforts and be left more beautiful. Remember to wear gloves and wash your hands.
Slow Down
Take a moment outside to close your eyes. What do you hear? What do you smell? Can you feel the sun? Open your eyes and what do you see? Are there any animals? What lives in your backyard? Move into a different space to try again, and compare how it's different.
Make a Family Challenge
See who can create the least amount of trash in a week is one of many ideas for a green competition with your family. Pick a prize and go green!
Even More Ideas
- Watch The Lorax
- Read a nature book outside
- Make the Jr. Ranger Pledge
- Feed the birds
- Find your footprint
- Get outside and thank the Earth!
Youth Team Highlight: Becky Nielsen
Teaching and inspiring youth to learn in the beautiful outdoors has been in my front focus for over 10 years now. And though I miss our youth outdoor adventures more and more each day, it has been exciting to discover new ways to create outdoor learning in a virtual setting with our families and youth.
Like all of us, I spend less time in the mountainous outdoors and miss it immensely, but I am making the best of time at home and it has been rewarding. We have built a green house, and I have rediscovered a new outdoor hobby: gardening! I have never had a green thumb, in fact, my family used to joke that a gardening thumb didn't exist on my hand, as all plants I grew ended up wilted and dead, but I have recently discovered that, like any new skill we learn, gardening takes practice, time, and patience. And so far, I have found that this new hobby has been rejuvenating and a great way to recharge my energies. What new hobbies have you discovered?
STAY SAFE, HAVE FUN, BE JOYFUL. SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!
About Youth Programs:
The Mountaineers is committed to bringing outdoor experiences to today’s youth through our outdoor youth and family programs. We introduce young people to the benefits of outdoor experiences: a healthy lifestyle, outdoor recreation skills, perseverance, self-confidence, self-reliance, an appreciation for the natural world, and a commitment to protecting the outdoor experience. We offer year-round clubs, break and summer camps, outreach programs through Mountain Workshops, a youth gear lending library and even programs for our smallest members: Mini Mountaineers. Learn more about the programs we offer.
Learn more about Becky Nielsen and opportunities to get involved on our youth programs page.
Check out all Stuck Inside blogs for more ideas!
