New blog offers expert tips on getting kids outside in the Northeast
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 8, 2009
The
Appalachian Mountain Club recently launched its “
Great Kids, Great Outdoors” blog as part of its long-standing commitment to getting youth and families outdoors. The blog offers a new way for parents and youth leaders to get “how-to” and “where-to” advice for taking kids outdoors, with a focus on the Northeastern U.S.
AMC blogger Kristen Laine draws on her own experience as an outdoors-person, writer, and mother of a ten-year-old daughter and six-year-old son—plus recommendations from AMC experts—to provide practical advice on easing kids into outdoor experiences. The blog is also a forum for readers to comment on Kristen’s posts and ask questions.
Read “Great Kids, Great Outdoors,” along with AMC’s other blogs, at
www.outdoors.org/blogs. The blog is also posted to
AMC’s Facebook page.
Twice weekly “Great Kids, Great Outdoors” updates will offer a mix of tips, stories, and resources for learning about the natural world and outdoor activities such as hiking, backpacking, camping, paddling, bicycling, and snowshoeing. Monthly articles will cover topics as diverse as mothers and daughters outdoors, observing the natural world in winter, and getting teens involved in volunteering for trails.
Kristen’s recent posts have passed along trail-tested tricks for hiking with a reluctant first-grader, tips for keeping black flies and mosquitoes at bay, and National Trails Day activities. She also has blogged about her family’s urban hike on Boston’s Freedom Trail and shared personal reflections from several AMC hike leaders, along with a Father’s Day tribute to one Dad from his three kids.
“Great Kids, Great Outdoors” is one way that AMC is encouraging a connection with nature among today’s youth. Each year, the AMC serves nearly 40,000 young people through lodge- and hut-based family programs, school programs, guided teen adventures, and programs for at-risk youth. These AMC programs include A Mountain Classroom school program, Moosehead Area Schools Project, Youth Opportunities Program for urban and at-risk youth, destination-based opportunities such as AMC Jr. Naturalist and Family Adventure Camps, guided Teen Wilderness Adventures, and teen volunteer trail crews.
Kristen Laine is an avid climber and backcountry skier and was formerly Outside Online’s first editor. She currently lives in rural New Hampshire with her family and is married to former AMC trail crew leader and wilderness paddler Jim Collins. Sign up for a blog RSS feed and stay up-to-date at:
http://amcoutdoorskids.blogspot.com.
For more information about AMC’s programs for youth and youth workers, visit
www.outdoors.org/education.
Founded in 1876, the Appalachian Mountain Club is America’s oldest conservation and recreation organization. With more than 100,000 members, advocates, and supporters in the Northeast and beyond, the nonprofit AMC promotes the protection, enjoyment, and stewardship of the mountains, forests, waters, and trails of the Appalachian region. The AMC supports natural resource conservation while encouraging responsible recreation, based on the philosophy that successful, long-term conservation depends upon first-hand enjoyment of the natural environment.
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