BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Kids can be tethered to their phones and video games nowadays, and much of it takes place inside at home.
But a Brevard County program aims to get them out the door and to “be outside.”
What You Need To Know
- A new program, called “Be Outside with Brevard Zoo,” allows kids and their families to explore wildlife
- People get to see animals such as deer, tortoise and bobcats
- Brevard Zoo Education Coordinator Dee Maynard said being outdoors in nature can be therapeutic and can teach kids they are all part of the world we live in
Students from Orange County Academy went on an adventure — one of the outdoor variety — at the Enchanted Forest Sanctuary in Titusville.
A 470-acre forest, teeming with plant life along with wildlife like the eastern indigo snake, Florida scrub lizard, gopher tortoise, white-tailed deer and bobcat.
This adventure includes a scavenger hunt, plus a list of what the kids need to find on their own during the two-hour trail walk.
Guiding them is Dee Maynard, the education coordinator at the Brevard Zoo.
Maynard grew up just half a mile from this sanctuary and visited it all the time. She knew early on she wanted to be a teacher and later developed a passion for helping children learn.
“Working for Brevard Zoo and getting tapped for this program combines the things I love the most, which are nature and outdoors and kids,” Maynard said.
The new program is called Be Outside with Brevard Zoo, a chance for children ages 10 to 17 and their families to explore and investigate the outdoors.
The zoo has created several weeks of summer adventures like this one at this nature paradise.
“Teen and tween years, out into nature, doing outdoor activities otherwise they might never do,” said Maynard.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says kids using their phones or playing video games can lead to obesity, irregular sleep patterns, behavioral problems, poor school work and less time playing outdoors.
Terrah Young is a senior at Orange County Academy. She wants to become a cosmetologist, but enjoys being outside exploring nature.
“It’s pretty cool to see these interesting things and learn new stuff,” Young says.
Maynard says being outdoors in nature can be therapeutic and can teach kids they are all part of the world we live in.
“When everything around us is going crazy, nature takes its time. Nature is not something that’s rushing — helps us to slow down, and feel, pardon the pun, ‘grounded,’” she said.