Urban Wild Adventures

06/08/2024

A great reminder! Their love of nature is inherent, instinctive, intuitive.

It's our job to just get them outside and enjoy it!

05/13/2024

Cicada INVASION is happening under large trees in St Louis county and maybe even in the city! MO Dept of Conservation is hosting an informational webcast on the “cicada -pacolypse” on Thursday May 23rd over the lunch hour (12-1pm.)

https://mdc.mo.gov/newsroom/join-mdc-wild-webcast-cicadapocalypse-may-23-noon

03/29/2024

02/26/2024

The joy of wide open spaces! There’s a special feeling of freedom and joy found in fields, hills, lawns and large, open, natural spaces. Be free, let loose, and take city kids to where they can run wild while caregivers get a mental break from watching for cars, and ensuring kids don’t bump into anything or anyone! 😆

09/25/2023

Giving kids a basket or bucket on a walk can be an easy and empowering way to get into the spirit of collecting, foraging or simply SEEING nature more closely when just starting out. You never know what you might find. You can figure out later what to do with the “stuff” you find, or go with a specific purpose in mind.

Plus, baskets are handy to throw at branches to get cones off (or something harmless to whack your friends with?!) 😆

09/11/2023

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/nature-schools-in-the-st-louis-area-make-the-outdoors-their-classroom/article_d533370c-4501-11ee-8ecd-27302bf9ebaf.html -source=home-top-story

Goodbye, worksheets. Hello, creek walks. Outdoor learning gains a foothold in St. Louis.

06/10/2023

Slugs and snails are often found munching on the undersides of fungi! Keep an eye out next time you find a mushroom! Slugs are basically snails without shells!

05/06/2023

Word on the street (and at the local 7/11) is that the new Red Bull summer flavor
is JUNEBERRY! Do you know that Juneberry is a Missouri native berry?(Aka Serviceberry!)

Study up so you will be able to identify it when it’s ripe at the end of this month! (And see what drinks and treats you and your kids can concoct without all the additives!)

04/25/2023

Congrats!
Green Ribbon Schools show progress in each of the following areas:
1) reducing environmental impacts, such as waste, water, energy, greenhouse gases, and transportation in the areas of facilities, grounds, and operations; 2) improving health and wellness through coordinated school health, with consideration to air quality, contaminant control, acoustics, daylighting, thermal comfort, school nutrition, and outdoors physical activity; and 3) offering effective environmental and sustainability education that emphasizes hands-on, real-world learning, civic engagement, STEM connections, and green career preparation.
Learn more about what Patrick Henry School did here:

https://dese.mo.gov/us-department-education-announces-missouris-2023-green-ribbon-schools-honoree

Flance is thrilled to congratulate Patrick Henry Downtown Academy for being recognized as a 2023 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School! This is a tremendous achievement that reflects the school's hard work and commitment to environmental education and sustainability.♻️

It is particularly exciting to see more Green Ribbon Schools in St. Louis City, as sustainability is such an important issue for our community and our planet.
We look forward to seeing the positive impact they will continue to have on our community. 👏

04/25/2023

Help Re-Leaf our city this Saturday! And maybe even visit a cool state park along the way! (The Scott Joplin House!)

Thank you to our friends at Terrain Magazine - St. Louis for covering our upcoming community event! We'd love to see *you* this Saturday (April 29) from 9:30a to 11:30a at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site. We will be giving away free trees, unveiling plans for a new City Tree Farm, and celebrating our 30th birthday (with cake, of course)!

Read all about it: https://bit.ly/3N9nrWI

04/08/2023

This year why not do better and try using REAL grass in your Easter basket??!! No waste at all!

With Easter right around the corner, remember that plastic Easter basket grass (left) lasts forever in the environment, often ending up in bird's nests and our waterways. Opt for the crinkled paper version (right). It eventually biodegrades and is much safer. Or even better, make your own re-purposed paper Easter grass so you can skip the plastic packaging all together! 🐰🐣🌱

03/31/2023

False Morels … learning to really observe and describe ODD things in nature .. like this mushroom in a STL suburban lawn (brain- like, crinkled, ball-shaped, rubbery?) helps kids (and all of us) to be able to identify other things well too - to see patterns, colors, details, differences.. beautiful and not beautiful things - to truly experience life to the fullest!

(AND this skill might come in handy for a job or even, for survival.)

03/16/2023

City nature adventures next week! (3/21-3/23)

01/15/2023

As the year comes to an end, we reflect on the past year and make our resolutions for the new year.

There’s no doubt spending time in nature provides a plethora of benefits – mentally and physically – are you incorporating nature in your new year’s resolutions?

"Put nature on the calendar." - Richard Louv