The Bulkley Valley Nature Kids have returned

A program has been brought back in Houston called the Bulkley Valley Nature Kids, courtesy of NatureKids B.C., in partnership with A Rocha.

This new group for families kicked off on Jan. 22 with its first event called Tracks in the Snow that took place outside Twain Sullivan Elementary School. Houston Today spoke to A Rocha Northern B.C. Project Coordinator Cindy Verbeek about how the group got restarted.

“I was a guest leader at one of the previous Bulkley Valley Nature Kids Explorer days and when they shut down the organization they approached me to start it up again. It took a while, but I was able to find two other co-leaders and get things up and running for our first event this past Saturday (Jan. 22),” she said.

NatureKids B.C. is an organization working to connect families with kids age 5-11 to nature. They have clubs all over the province.

“In our area we are hoping to do exactly what NatureKids B.C. does with families in Smithers, Telkwa and Houston and as far as Hazelton if there is interest to make this a true Bulkley Valley Club,” Verbeek told Houston Today.

For the first event, families were lead through the trails near Twain Sullivan by experienced educators in search of animal tracks in the snow. There were also games and activities available.

According to Verbeek, they’ll be trying to do an event at least every one or two months.

“Our next explorer days will be Feb. 26 and Apr. 23 for sure. We are looking into doing a bluebird box building day with the Bulkley Valley Naturalists in memory of our dear friend John Franken who was a keen naturalists in Smithers and founder of the Bluebox Trail in Smithers that Janine Pitman has taken over. Stay tuned for more details there,” said Verbeek.

To be a part of the club and attend explorer days families need to sign up to NatureKids BC for a yearly fee of $35 per family. This also gets them a magazine with lots of nature facts and activities. This first event was free for families to check it out.

READ MORE: A Rocha BBQ event for opening of new Nature Centre