Disclosure: I did receive compensation for this post
Venture into Nature was started by Beth Jones this year after receiving a Grant (Environmental Initiatives Grant) from the City of St Albert in 2017.
About The Walks
Venture into Nature organizes walks in and around St Albert seasonally. This year we have had four walks, spring, early summer, late summer, and fall. A winter walk is planned for later this year or possibly early next year. Each walk has taken place in a different location and has had a different focus such as birds, bugs or local plants used by First Nations people. We have had guests for 2 of our walks who were particularly knowledgeable on their subject. Our public walks have been well attended and are on Saturdays.
The aim of Venture into Nature is to encourage families and anyone interested to get outdoors year round and to enjoy learning about nature in our local parks and natural areas.
According to Richard Louv, author of ‘Last Child in the Woods’, ‘Vitamin N’, ‘The Nature Principle’ and other books, we all have an intrinsic need to connect with nature. This ‘biophilia’ is important for our general well being and helps maintain balance in our lives. With our present obsession with screens and so much of our time spent indoors being sedentary. Venture into Nature hopes to help address some of these issues. Families who come on our walks connect with nature and each other in a calm, relaxing and fun atmosphere.
Since we usually have quite a wide age range on our walks we ensure that the children are kept engaged with scavenger hunts, magnifying glasses, bug boxes or fishing nets. This is depending on the focus of the walk. Having fun is what it’s all about. We learn best when we’re engaged and using ALL our senses. Nature is perfect for engaging our sense of smell, hearing, sight and even taste. As our Fall walkers will attest to!
Where To Find Them
If you are interested in Venture into Nature please look us up on Facebook at Venture into Nature St Albert, user name @familyfunwalks. Use the message button to ask questions and to register for walks. To find information about past walks go to the Events page and click on each walk. Photos of our walks are posted in albums. If you would like me to organize a specific walk for your own group of people, please contact me. I would be happy to help.
The Founder
Beth Jones is from Southern Africa, was born and grew up in Zimbabwe, taught young children in Cape Town and Botswana and came to Canada over 20 years ago. She has a passion for nature and children and loves to share her knowledge and enthusiasm with others. She would like to acknowledge the City of St Albert for the Grant Venture into Nature received to help make this possible.