by Liz Gilland, Camden Urban Forester
When my Mayor sent me an email last December asking if we could participate in something called Kids-To-Parks Day, I must admit I was less than thrilled. Just coming off of Arbor Day and coordinating city-wide Christmas decorations and the tree lighting ceremony, it was ‘just one more thing’ to add to an already full plate. HOWEVER….I discovered in the coming months that the concept, partnerships and hosting were more fun and exciting for me than (dare I say?) Arbor Day! 
Under the auspices of the National Park Trust (a non-profit), Kids-To-Parks Day is a national day of outdoor play celebrated annually on the third Saturday of May. The day is designed to connect kids and families with their local, state, and national parks and public lands. Their mission is to foster future outdoor enthusiasts and help with developing the next generation of park stewards by engaging kids in memorable outdoor experiences. The goal is that while discovering and exploring the outdoors, kids learn about nature and stewardship all while having fun during their time in the great outdoors, because kids need parks and parks need kids!
The National Park Trust (NPT) has made it very easy to participate and there’s very little paperwork. On their website (https://parktrust.org/kids-to-parks-day/), they have a registration page and all you have to do is fill in the blanks. They then post each event and geo-tag the location on a map. They encourage participants to sign up in January, but we didn’t actually register until late March/early April once most of the planning was accomplished. Part of the planning includes a proclamation, much like Arbor Day and they even offer a sample proclamation to copy.
In preparing for our event, I reached out to our county parks director, the county librarian, Clemson Extension, a local naturalist and the local bicycle club. We chose a day other than the third Saturday of May and that was ok to do. At the one county park they hosted fishing in the Wateree River, the library folks were at a city park and hosted the book mobile and a large checkers game, the Clemson agent was at another city park and hosted environmental learning activities, the bicycle club was at a third city park and hosted a bike rodeo and safety training and the naturalist was at a State Park just outside the city limits and hosted a nature walk. All of the events where on the same day and offered during the same time-frame (9am to 11am). We had water and snacks available at each location and purchased Frisbees for each of the kids to take home. About 10 to 12 kids participated at each park and while it was a humble beginning, everyone had a great time and the most important part was that they got outside to play!
I encourage you to check it out and consider planning your own Kids-To-Parks Day next year in your City!
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