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Outdoor play, fun and nature connection

Creston moms Kristina Leidums and Zavallennahh Young will be offering outdoor play for families.
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Kelly Ryckman is a parent who works to ensure her kids get ample outdoor time to both play and learn.

With a mission “to provide opportunities for outdoor play, fun and nature connection”, two local moms are working to make it easier for parents to get their kids out of the house.

Kristina Leidums and Zavallennahh Young will be offering outdoor play for families each Sunday in February, and “Forest Camps” at Schikurski Park during the March school break.

The pair first crossed paths at Schikurski Park before they actually met. Leidums was organizing weekly outdoor sessions for friends and friends of friends, and Young was taking her own toddler there to play.

“I wondered what was going on, what this group of kids and parents was all about,” she said over tea at Leidums’ house on Alder Street on Friday.

“And I had heard that Zav was interested in starting an outdoor school,” Leidums laughed.

They have since become friends and get together often so their children (two each, now) can play together. Their belief in the importance of outdoor play comes, well, naturally.

“My mom (Lois Huscroft) used to lock us kids out of the house! And whenever we pulled over for a break when we were travelling she would make sure there was space for us to get out and explore. She was always sending us on scavenger hunts for something.”

As a child, Young said she ran “a nature and bug club” in her own back yard.

A well-known musician, she began teaching violin and piano at the age of 14.She has been a guest artist at residencies and workshops across Canada, the United States and United Kingdom. She is founder and artistic director of Fiddleworks Community Development Society, and started one of Canada’s most successful summer music camps on Salt Spring Island.

It was while living on Salt Spring that she became familiar with the outdoor school concept. She was approached by a woman to teach music to her son, who was in the WOLF Kids Program. Young would eventually go on to become involved in WOLF herself.

This year she and her husband, Warren are returning to Salt Spring to undertake naturalist training with Mentors from Wisdom of the Earth and the WOLF program. Their dream is to start their own outdoor school. Zav is currently a pre-k/kindergarten teacher at the Waldorf-inspired Skimmerhorn Homeschooling Group.

“I want my kids to be grounded,” she said. “I’m not prepared to put my kids into a square, fluorescent-lit classroom.”

Leidums first became known to Advance readers several years ago, when she embarked on an epic canoe voyage across Northern Canada.

She is a BC certified teacher and recently completed her Master’s of Arts degree through the SelfDesign Graduate Institute. For seven years she taught in the SelfDesign Learning Community, which was founded by the late Brent Cameron, who resided in Sirdar.

As a child, Leidums explored the hardwood forests around her Ontario home, fascinated by the plants, animals and natural history around her. Her teaching degree includes a specialization in geography and “Outdoor Experiential and Ecological Education.” She has worked as an outdoor educator and guide, and has an extensive background in canoe tripping, hiking, biking, dogsledding and wilderness exploration. (As an aside, Kristina is not an outlier in her family—her brother runs an outdoor school in Fernie.)

Last year, when she wanted to spark interest in other parents who wanted their kids to get outdoors to play, she began posting on Facebook, announcing a place and time, with instructions like, “Bring a shovel!”

“Some weeks I’d count 30 heads—parents and kids. I want kids to play on their own agenda. There is security in a group, for parents and kids. It’s important to be able to play in your own backyard, or as close to it as possible,” she said. “There is research that shows that kids benefit from time spent in natural spaces in addition to playgrounds.”

Full details about the Forest Camp and other programs can be found on the new web site, www.crestonkidsoutside.com and Leidums also posts regularly on Facebook on the Creston Kids Outside page.

Space is limited in the Forest Camp. Week 1 (March 20-24) is for kids 3-4.5 years of age. Week 2 (March 27-31) is geared for the 4.5-6 crowd. Both sessions run from 9 to noon, rain or shine. Snacks will be provided courtesy of Overwaitea's generous donation, and the Creston Fire Department will be hosting a campfire event at the end of each session. Registrations can be made on the web site.