Via hike co-sponsor The Children's Nature Institute:

Urban Nature Week is a series of events whose goal is to re-vitalize nature's presence in urban, often under-served, neighborhoods.

Did you know LA has the world’s largest wildland within the boundaries of a major city and the largest municipal park and urban wilderness area? During Urban Nature Week, discover these wonderful places and tune-in to the natural world wherever you are in the city!

Walk in the Urban Nature Walk-a-thon and raise funds to help underprivileged children visit and learn about the wonders of nature. All proceeds from Urban Nature Week benefit:

The Children's Nature Institute
Connecting Children (and Adults) to Nature

WHAT we do
Through our hands-on, nature-based environmental education programs tailored specifically to young children, CNI has been connecting children (and adults) to nature in the greater Los Angeles area for over 20 years.

• We bring nature to children (and adults) with the CNI Wonder Mobile, a traveling science classroom stocked with feathers, bones, taxidermy specimens, sea shells, live animals, and more.
• We bring children (and adults) to nature with CNI’s Family Nature Walks and Outreach Field Trips, guided excursions at our beaches and mountains, led by CNI-trained Volunteer Walk Leaders.
• Our award-winning nature activity book, Trails, Tails and Tidepools in Pails, serves as a reference guide for parents and teachers.
• We close the loop with activities such as the Urban Nature Hunt, which shows families how to find nature in their own neighborhoods and schoolyards.

WHY it's important
“But MY child is going to be a computer programmer/lawyer/pro basketball player. S/he doesn’t need to know the difference between an oak and a sycamore!”

Perhaps not.

But nature-based education isn’t just learning about nature. It’s also learning through nature.

In other words, experiences with nature are used to practice more general academic skills (e.g., reading, math, logical thinking).

• Click here to see what educational authorities have to say about nature-based, or environment-based, education.
• Click here for examples of how nature-based activities develop academic skills.

Time spent in nature also has more general benefits, such as better physical and psychological health, and improved behavior.

What’s more, in addition to being a computer programmer/lawyer/professional basketball player, your child is also going to be a consumer, voter, and (hopefully) responsible member of the community. His/her childhood experiences with nature will help shape his/her attitudes toward the environment and the kinds of decisions s/he makes later in life.

THE EVIDENCE