Leave No Child Inside Success Stories
The following Leave No Child Inside programs and events provide a window into our member organizations' work connecting youth with nature.
Summer in the City: Unstructured Play at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
August 11, 2011
It's a beautiful summer day in Chicago, and, in the midst of hundreds of people enjoying the city's lakefront parks, four high school and college students oversee about twenty-five young children who excitedly ready » Read more...
Celebrating the Past, Transforming the Future, at Indiana Dunes
June 30, 2011
Senator Paul H. Douglas (1892-1976), a critical figure in the effort to protect and preserve the Indiana Dunes region, envisioned a future in which urban communities would have access to inspiring and engaging green » Read more...
Lost (and Found) in Translation
November 30, 2010
Quick! How do you say "wilderness" in Spanish? If you cannot come up with the right Spanish word -- even if you are a bilingual speaker -- you are not alone. The Oxford Spanish Dictionary offers páramo » Read more...
Of Books and Nature
August 2, 2010
Public libraries may not be the first institutions that come to mind when thinking about organizations that contribute to the vision of the Leave No Child Inside initiative. After all, libraries are indoor spaces with » Read more...
600 Second-Graders Explore Nature at Vehe Farm
December 14, 2009
Thanks to a generous two-year grant from the District 220 Educational Foundation to the Barrington, IL, elementary school science program, all second-grade classes, over 600 students, took part in Leave No Child Inside » Read more...
Teen Service Learning Pilot Program
October 7, 2009
The majority of studies analyzing the impact of outdoor experiences on children's social and cognitive development have been conducted with children under 15 years of age. But many older teens, particularly in urban » Read more...
Toil and Thrills at 2009 Youth Conservation Conference
July 27, 2009
On Monday, June 22, twenty-four high school students gathered at Chicago State University to kick off Fishin' Buddies first annual Youth Conservation Conference (YCC). While some of the students had previously » Read more...
Nature After Hours
June 19, 2009
"People daydream better at night," said Debra Norvil, when asked about the benefits of exploring nature at dusk. Ms. Norvil coordinated the Village of Homer Glen and Homer Township's "100 Hours of Astronomy Project" » Read more...
Forest Findings: Nature-Based Play at Bowen Park
April 30, 2009
It feels a bit like being transported to the land of a classic folktale: you are surrounded by giant mushrooms and wildflowers, you sit on a shelf-fungus bench, and you traverse a 25-foot-tall orb weaver spider net. » Read more...
A Day at the Dunes for Chesterton, IN, Students
March 30, 2009
February 18, 2009, was a rainy and cloudy day at the Indiana Dunes State Park: perfect weather for an adventure for over 150 Chesterton Middle School (CMS) students! The Save the Dunes Conservation Fund's Leave No Child » Read more...
Parent and Child Together in the Wild at North Park Village Nature Center
February 26, 2009
Rachel Carson wrote that, if a child's inborn "sense of wonder" is to be nourished, he or she "needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him [or her] the joy, excitement, and » Read more...
Youth Mentoring Youth at Lincoln-Way High School
January 30, 2009
If you ask Scott McCreary, biology teacher at Lincoln-Way North High School in Frankfort, IL, what gets teenagers excited about environmental stewardship and outdoor learning, he will tell you that it's two things: a » Read more...
Nature and Culture in a Program for Immigrant Youth
December 16, 2008
Cardamom, turmeric, cinnamon: these plants may not figure prominently in many Chicago Wilderness residents' gardens, but they did occupy front-and-center seats in a program of the Indo-American Center of Chicago that » Read more...
Nature Accessible at Vehe Farm
November 10, 2008
The Betty McLaughlin Memorial Butterfly Garden at the Vehe Farm in Deer Park, IL, provides a multitude of sensory delights, especially during the warm days of summer. Purple coneflowers, Prairie Dropseed, and other » Read more...
"A Cool Summer Experience!" in Waukegan, IL
October 9, 2008
The minds, bodies, souls, and spirits of ten children enrolled in the Waukegan School District were nurtured outside in nature as they participated in "A Cool Summer Experience!" -- a pilot program sponsored by the » Read more...
