There are thousands of underprivileged and special needs children living throughout the San Fernando Valley.  Many of them have never experienced nature.  Some have never seen the ocean, and some have never even been to a park.  The Children’s Nature Institute (CNI) is here to help and address these concerns.

 CNI provides environmental education programs for young children, from newborn to age eight.  CNI’s mission is to educate young children through interactive experiences with nature, and to inspire a sense of respect and responsibility for the natural environment.  The institute offers several programs to reach out to the community.  For instance, the Outreach Discovery Program promotes academic achievement by giving children opportunities to develop and practice skills important for reading, science, and math.  This program gets children excited about learning by offering direct hands-on learning experiences with nature, and by fostering their natural curiosity.  Also, it teaches children how to conduct respectful behavior towards the environment and nature.

 The Outreach Discovery Program, which was founded in 1992, is also helpful for teachers, parents, and the community at large.  The program increases teacher and parent involvement in their children’s education by modeling low-cost, age-appropriate science and nature activities.  It helps keep parents informed about free local parks which they can access to continue to improve their child’s education on nature.

  “Children learn that nature is everywhere; teachers learn about the easy and free activities they can perform using their own schoolyard to get kids excited about learning language, math and science,” said Matt Kamin, the Executive Director of CNI on the benefits of their program for children.  “Physically and mentally disabled children, whose parents might otherwise be afraid to explore with their children in nature, suddenly experience the joys of being outside and the wonders of the Los Angeles mountains and beaches.”

In addition to the Outreach Discovery program, CNI has worked hand in hand with the Help Group,  the largest, most innovative and comprehensive nonprofit organization of its kind in the United States serving children with special needs.  Pam Clark, Director of The Help Group’s Autism Schools stated, “The Children’s Nature Institute has provided wonderful hands-on science experiences to The Help Group’s Village Glen Elementary School students.  Village Glen School serves children with Aspergers disorder, high-functioning autism and other social and communication challenges, and we’ve seen that practical, hands-on activities can provide optimal learning opportunities for these students. The Children’s Nature Institute allows children to engage in lessons about plants and animal species in very direct and tangible ways, and they have been a valuable resource for our students and teachers.  A few of our elementary students expressed that searching for roly-poly’s, learning about seed pods, and taking nature walks were amongst their favorite activities, and they are looking forward to the next visit from the WonderMobile which houses a wide-variety of birds, mammals and insects.”
On May 17, CNI will present “Kid’s ROCK: Music and Nature Festival” featuring critically acclaimed artist Tom Freund.  The event will combine the perennial favorite CNI Nature Festival with an afternoon of music, picnics and hands-on crafts at the historic Old Zoo picnic area at Griffith Park.  Ticket prices start at just $15 per person.

    For Tickets or more information visit: www.kidsrockla.com or call (310) 860-9484