This past Saturday, Kaili and Claire (some of our newer staff members) set up a booth at the Farmer’s Market to teach visitors about the ELC. The theme was Science Saturday, and our booth was inspired by our partnership with Great Outdoors Colorado. GOCO runs a campaign called Generation Wild to encourage young kids to play outside, they also have a list of 100 things to do before you turn 12.  This list is pretty chalk full with all the fun things you can do possibly do outside. Some of our staff members have even realized they haven’t even done all 100 things, so they are now on a mission to complete them before the end of the school year.

We decided to educate people about the ELC and get them started on their list of 100 things to do before your turn 12, (we want to inspire a generation of outdoor enthusiasts). Kaili and Claire decided to have visitors complete number 42 on the list without even realizing it. Number 42 on the list is “Make a crayon leaf rubbing”, Kaili and Claire spent a day gathering up different kinds of leaves, like Maple, Oak, and Aspen leaves. Kaili took charge of teaching visitors how to make a leaf rubbing as well as helping them to identify the different leaves, while Claire took charge of educating visitors about the different animal skins, bones, and Gerty (the Great Blue Heron, of course), helping kids learn about their defining characteristics.

The event was a HUGE success! Numerous visitors learned about their local environment and got started on their list of 100 things to do before you turn 12. We couldn’t be more excited to keep partnering with GOCO, to show parents that kids really do grow better outside.