Urbia – Fun Nature Treasure Hunt Hikes that Explore San Francisco Outdoors for Kids of all Ages

[Excerpted from the Department of the Interior's America’s Great Outdoors website]

Americans’ best memories often come from time spent outdoors with family and friends on hiking trails, in neighborhood parks, at historic sites, at the beach and along the coast, or on the banks of a favorite stream.  The outdoors is where we connect with one another, explore our past, and discover our heritage.   It is part of our national identity.

Today, however, many families are losing touch with America’s great outdoors. Kids are spending less time outside running and playing, fishing and hunting, and learning about our outdoor customs.  Especially in urban areas, too few children have the opportunity to play in parks, visit farms and ranches, or camp or fish beneath the open sky.

From coast to coast, America’s public lands and waters offer fun and healthy opportunities to get outdoors. From hiking, fishing, and hunting to exploring history at our national parks, we pass on family traditions – and create new ones – as we honor America’s outdoor legacy.

Communities and private landowners across the country are working to protect and restore their outdoor spaces, and to help people connect to them. Farmers and ranchers, land trusts and conservation groups, are coming together with governments, industry, and residents to develop innovative strategies to promote the outdoors.

There are now three unique URBIA adventures to be had! In April and May there will be festive special opportunities to pick up an adventure packet at the locations of each adventure. The URBIA team will be tabling on these Saturdays in spring:

Saturday April 10th 10-noon Islands in the Sky (at the colorfully tiled Moraga Steps: 16th Avenue and Moraga Street) It’s green hairstreak butterfly season!!

Saturday April 10th 1-3 Seeking California in a World of Plants (at the San Francisco Botanical Garden/Strybing Arboretum) The garden is a kaleidoscope of spring flowers! This event is sponsored by the SF Botanical Garden Society.

Saturday April 17th 10-2 Wayfinding on Rocky Mountain (at the Randall Museum’s annual celebrated Bug Day!)

Saturday May 8th 10-noon Seeking California in a World of Plants (at the San Francisco Botanical Garden/Strybing Arboretum) More blossoms, just in time for Mother’s Day! This event is sponsored by the SF Botanical Garden Society.

We’ll have all three adventure booklets at each of these scheduled tabling events. Donations will be gratefully accepted (for materials costs). Happy trails

Please e-mail us with any questions at team@urbikids.com

On Saturday March 20th bring the whole family out to celebrate the first day of spring on a treasure hunt through the most botanically diverse place in the city: the San Francisco Botanical Garden. There are about 8,000 types of plants growing in this extraordinary garden, more than many entire states! After a long wet winter the garden is a kaleidoscope of colors… The URBIA team will be on hand to greet explorers and distribute booklets for our third seasonal adventure. We will send you off to experience plants from regions of the world while seeking a California land where oak trees spread overhead. Have fun learning about botany with an escorting bumble bee. On the way, hidden waterfalls, a banana tree, jungle-like pathways, a San Francisco rainforest, and a secret grotto will challenge your team’s way-finding skills.

Where and when?

Look for the URBIA Team and pick up an adventure booklet & sleuthing pencil at the URBIA table between 10 a.m. & 2 p.m. near the Garden Bookstore located near the Main Gate of the San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum in Golden Gate Park (close to 9th Avenue and Lincoln.)

Hope to see you there!

With much gratitude to the Friends of the Randall Museum board, families can now pick up Adventure No. 2 at the Randall Museum. To quote their newsletter: “The Randall Museum is happy to promote this new organization and their wonderful adventure in our own Corona Heights location. Using the booklet Wayfinding on Rocky Mountain visitors will learn so much about the Museum, its adjacent park, and about wayfinding.  This most excellent adventure guide can be purchased in the Museum’s lobby for $5.”

San Francisco trivia question: Who was the Randall Museum named after?

Answer: Josephine Randall, the first Supervisor of Recreation in San Francisco.

The Randall Museum’s first curator Bert Walker wrote that the Corona Heights location was selected for its natural features valuable “for outdoor nature studies” in the “very heart of the city where young people could spend a happy day in the country.”

In 1928, Josephine Randall proposed that the City buy the 16 acres of Rock Hill for recreation, and in 1941, it was purchased for  $27,333 and officially named Corona Heights. Designated as a natural area, the Park hosts a range of native and non-local life and plants– lizards, garter snakes, raccoons, opossum, grasses, wildflowers, birds and butterflies. It also hosts the Randall Museum, named for the woman who relentlessly and successfully fought to establish it.

The Museum opened in 1951 at 199 Museum Way and in succeeding years has developed into a community institution for all ages. Focusing on the culture and environment of the San Francisco Bay Area, it offers arts and sciences classes, a California native animals room, and workshops for children, teens and families. The Randall Theater’s program presents performances by the Young People’s Teen Musical Theater and Musical Theater Works, a student theater. Community groups use the facilities for meetings and lectures. At the Outdoor Learning Environment are Learning Gardens, the Native Plant Garden, and from the observation deck, a panoramic view of San Francisco, the Bay, East Bay hills, and, when the air is clear, the snowcapped Sierra.

The Child Development Institute at Sarah Lawrence University has just produced a 30 minute film and parent/teacher guide about the educational value of the outdoors. To view a clip visit http://www.slc.edu/adult-professional/cdi/learning/naturally/index.html

Download a copy of the When Learning Comes Naturally Guide for Parents and Teachers (click on bold text for PDF).

“Learning comes naturally when children are thoroughly engaged in

the process, and there is nothing more engaging for children than

outdoor places. Just as most infants and toddlers need be given only

space, exposure, and opportunity to master basic skills like walking

and talking, so too older children supply their own motivation to learn

when conditions are right. In the outdoors, children’s natural curiosity

is activated. Each sense is stimulated, and living things, processes of

change, and mysteries to be solved are all around. As a result, learning

of many kinds unfolds with ease in the moment, and with a spontaneous

excitement about creative exploration that can resonate for a lifetime.”

For Immediate Release from the National Park Service: October 02, 2009

Connecting to Nature

Formal Partnership Established Among National, State, and Local Park Organizations

Looking for a way to improve your child’s mental and physical health? Look no further than your nearest park or natural area.

“Numerous studies conclude that time spent in outdoor settings decreases stress, inspires creativity, promotes social development, and encourages physical fitness,” said National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis. “A new partnership among the National Park Service, the National Association of State Park Directors, and the National Recreation and Park Association was recently formed to develop and promote programs and policies in parks and other areas that connect children with nature.”

The partnership’s website, www.nps.gov/ChildrenInNature/BestPractices, contains a searchable database of approximately 450 outdoor activities compiled from hundreds of national, state, and local parks and program offices.

“This easy-to-use website contains an extensive list of programs about a wide variety of subjects including archeology, art, prairies, pioneers, critters, and camping,” said Joe Elton, President of the National Association of State Park Directors. “Nature is an amazing classroom, and these creative programs make it fun for children to learn about and connect with the world around them.”

“The way children understand and experience their natural world has changed radically over the past several decades,” said Lois Finkelman, chair of the National Recreation and Park Association Board of Trustees. “Our three groups will work together to expand recreational opportunities and natural resource education for children and families. In addition, we hope to engage other federal, state, local, tribal, and non-government partners in the effort.”

Leaders of the three conservation organizations signed a partnership declaration which contains an action plan to increase public awareness of local and national natural resources.

Calling all urban adventurers!

This Sunday, October 11th, from 8:30 to 1 p.m. URBIA has been invited to table at the special “community resource” space at the new Inner Sunset Farmers Market. After checking out the locally grown autumnal fruits and vegetables, please stop by on Sunday for a free copy of URBIA Adventure Booklet No. 1 “Islands in the Sky,” which explores a string of hills rising above the Inner Sunset with some surprises along the way. We’ll be joined by Nature in the City staff too!

“[Children in the city] had no way to learn about the birds and insects that country children know so well. I felt that the finest form of recreation I could provide for the city’s children was a place where they could work at all kinds of crafts; where they could handle small animals, have their own gardens, and learn about many forms of living things.
Josephine Randall, Supervisor of Recreation in San Francisco from 1926 to 1951

Dear URBIA Adventure League members and friends of URBIA:

Autumn commences with URBIA Adventure No. 2: “Wayfinding at Rocky Mountain” (a.k.a. Corona Heights!)

With this “sense of place” adventure, your family will discover wayfinding skills by navigating the natural environs and rocky heights surrounding the Randall Museum. Expect some fun surprises, amazing views of San Francisco and local stories along the way! Of course a hidden box awaits your discovery at the end of your adventure holding a unique stamp for your booklet and signing journal.

Special event on September 26th at the Randall Museum

Please join the URBIA team and your fellow explorers for a kick-off event in collaboration with the Randall Museum (with a special wildlife demonstration). Drop by anytime between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the front gates of the museum. There will also be a habitat restoration project in action up on the hill!

Adventure League member families can look in their mailboxes for adventure packets within the next few weeks. (Or if you prefer we can have your adventure packet waiting for you at the event.) If you can’t make the event you can undertake your adventure at any time.

To our friends who enjoyed the first URBIA Adventure “Islands in the Sky” at Golden Gate Heights: please consider subscribing so you can receive great adventure booklets, too! Visit www.urbikids.com

Happy trails!

Damien & Barbara

The Urbia Adventure League offers seasonal self-guided walking adventures for families seeking fun quality time on their schedule.