Walking Buddies

A Volunteer Opportunity

Combine your love of the outdoors, concern for the environment, and desire to enrich an inner city child’s life! Many Wilmington children have little experience with the natural world and their language development and writing skills reflect this gap.

The format of this program includes spending an hour outdoors, once per week, exploring nearby parks and green spaces through a series of fun, hands-on activities that encourage self-directed exploration and curiosity. To be successful, the program needs low adult/child ratios and relies on Walking Buddies to mentor children.

Walking buddies:

• Encouraging a respect for natural spaces
• Helping them to stay on task
• Sharing the ‘ah ha!’ moments
• Supporting the children as they write in their journals

Specifically, Delaware Greenways is looking for caring persons, age 18 – adult, to mentor children from Red Clay School District’s Project CHANCE After-school and Summer programs as they participate in The Green Hour . The program takes place in Warner, Shortlidge or Lewis Elementary Schools during the school year and at Warner Elementary School in the summer. The time commitment is approximately 16 hours over an eight week period; during the school-year, 3:45-5:15p.m, or 9:15-11:15a.m. during summer. Volunteers may offer additional time by attending a fieldtrip or special program with their buddy.

Why become a Walking Buddy volunteer?

• It’s a great way to get exercise! Our goal is to be active at least 45 minutes of each hour that we spend with the children.  
• It’s a great way to make a difference in a kid’s life. Encouraging a healthy lifestyle will contribute to the life-long habit of being physically active.  
• Make a long-term commitment to protection of our environment. Most children know more about technology than they do of Nature. By encouraging a love of nature in the next generation we encourage feelings of stewardship and an understanding of environmental issues that affect us all. How can we expect kids to value what they don’t know? For additional Information, please contact Michele Jennings, Program Specialist by phone at (302) 655-7275 or by E-mail.

The Delaware Greenway Patch

To promote use of the greenway system in Delaware, Delaware Greenways and Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay Council, have developed a patch to help girls and their leaders take full advantage of the recreational opportunities on the Northern Delaware Greenway and Junction and Breakwater trails.

Both organizations are committed to providing outdoor activities which help girls understand the importance of conserving and caring for the environment. The patch also promotes the benefits of an active lifestyle. Fourteen questions, designed to familiarize the girls with the trail and provide fun activities to do while on the trail, form the body of the program. In addition to earning their patch, girls may take up to six hikes to earn colored arches representing the portions of the trail that they have traveled. These hikes may also be used as a framework for guided walks and other activities that the troops may want to build into their environmental programs.

The Greenway Patch Program is easily adapted to the needs of other organizations serving youth and their families. Join Delaware Greenways in their commitment to encouraging healthy lifestyles by providing outdoor activities that help children understand the importance of conserving and caring for the environment. Please contact Michele Jennings by E-mail for additional information and assistance.

The Green Hour Program

While organized sports and other adult directed activities are beneficial to a child’s development, a connection with nature through unstructured time to play and explore is equally important. In addition to the natural curative powers of nature which include stress reduction and increased perspective, a nature connection has been identified by current educational research as essential for children to develop to their full social/emotional, cognitive, and physical potential. Direct experience of natural spaces nurtures “Nature Smart”, now labeled as the eighth intelligence. It promotes the development of a child’s creativity and critical thinking skills; their powers of observation, discernment and perspective.

Today, children have more experience with electronic entertainment than the outdoors and it can be hard for them to “unplug”. Delaware Greenways has developed The Green Hour program to make the experience fun and rewarding. The program can be designed for children in preschool as well as in grades K-6. It can be a part of a child’s informal education at home, used in playgroups, or with children enrolled in out-of-school time programs.

Get started today:

• Make a commitment to spending time outdoors daily in undirected play and exploration.
• Adopt an attitude that “getting dirty is OK”.
• Find a natural space that can be acted upon by children who are curious.
• Be an active participant when you can. Children love to share their “discoveries” with an adult.

At-Home Parents: Contact Delaware Greenways for support in starting a neighborhood Green Hour playgroup.

Out-of-school time organizations and camps: Delaware Greenways’ The Green Hour is a weekly walking program designed to introduce natural science concepts and skills, encourage independent inquiry, enhance language skills through broadening the experience base and vocabulary of its participants, build physical endurance, and promote a love of being active outdoors. Generally an 8-10 week program, it can be adapted to different age groups and settings. A detailed program description with specific goals is available upon request.