Get Outdoors this Saturday!

In his book The Last Child in the Woods:Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, Richard Louv eloquently describes what he calls “nature-deficit disorder.” When children’s lives are filled with structured and technology-driven activities at the expense of exploring nature and open-ended creative play, cognitive and emotional development can suffer. Creek stomping' is one of my kids' favorite outdoor activities and the season for it is coming to an end. So get outside this weekend, especially "unstructured" (i.e. "wild") nature. Here are a couple of outdoor options for Saturday.

Winston-Salem Family Nature Club-Volunteers Needed to Plant Trees for Community Roots Day

Saturday, October 22, 2011 - 9:00am - 12:00pm

Keep Winston-Salem Beautiful needs volunteers to help plant more than 400 trees in the West Salem neighborhood during the 19th annual Community Roots Day. Roots Day volunteers are needed from 9 a.m. to noon. The first 250 volunteers will receive free t-shirts and hats and all volunteers get a free lunch. Volunteers should arrive between 8:30 and 8:45 a.m. at Piedmont Baptist College, 420 South Broad Street. Roots Day is an excellent opportunity for students, scouts and members of service clubs to complete community service hours. Volunteer signup is available online. For more information call City Link at 727-8000 or e-mail georges@cityofws.org.

Winston-Salem Family Nature Club- Celebrate Fall and the Color of Leaves

Saturday, October 22, 2011 - 10:00am - 11:00am

Join the Winston-Salem Family Nature Club for a walk where you’ll hear stories about the changing seasons and talk about the different kinds of things that are beginning to cover the ground.  You’ll explore along the greenway, collecting fallen items. Then transform your treasures into art collages.

Meet at Greenway at Washington Park, 1200 S. Broad St (park and meet at Family Services), Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Winston-Salem Family Nature Club is affiliated with The Children and Nature Network and Nature Rocks and are locally affiliated with The Gateway Environmental Initiative (Future Gateway Nature Center).