I am so excited to say that the Our Big Earth NeighbourWood Walks program is officially one year old. We’ve completed four seasons of walking in the woods, on the trails and at the shoreline, exploring nature kid-style. (By the way, this is double-post Tuesday. I’ll have some crafts for you this afternoon)

And, with that milestone comes a great new addition this Spring of – in addition to our weekday program – a weekend walk series to get even more families in the region out enjoying nature together.

Today we are registering for two Spring NeighbourWood Walks.

Here are the details for each.

We’ll have six (6) Wednesday afternoon walks this Spring, from May 6 through June 17, skipping the Victoria Day week walk of May 20. They kick off at 12:15 p.m. (to accommodate the kindergarten crowd, afternoon nappers and school pickups), with the schedule posted below. The walks generally last about an hour with generous amounts of time given to exploring, play and making friends. They will be focused on the Spring tides and be held at great beach locations around the region.

Wednesday Walk Schedule:

May 6: The Goose Spit
May 13: Kye Bay
May 20: No Walk
May 28: Pt. Holmes Reef (with a microtide!)
June 3: Mack Laing Nature Park
June 10:  Seal Bay Main Beach Trail (this is a longer walk. But, there is a great low tide that day)
June 17: Wrap up picnic and short walk at Simms Park in Courtenay

Our weekend series, hosted by Dionne Lapointe-Bakota of Into The Wild Family Nature Club, will be a six-week series (again, skipping the Victoria Day holiday weekend) from May 2 to June 13 focused on longer family walks a little bit farther North. The walks begin at 1 p.m. on Saturdays. They will be focused on inland waterways.

Saturday Family Walks Schedule:

May 2:  Willow Creek Conservation Area
May 9:  Oyster River Nature Park
May 23:  Quinsam River Trail
May 30:  Beaver Lodge Lands
June 6: Canyon View Trail
June 13: Miracle Beach

We can take 45 kids and their families for the Wednesday walks and 30 kids and their families for the Saturday walks this session and I only ask that you follow a few guidelines when deciding to jump in:

1. Please don’t sign up unless you are confident you can make most (70%) of the walks. There is often a waiting list and we provide a bit of personalized gear for each child.
2. If you can’t make it on a given week, drop me a note so that folks on the drop-in list can jump in.
3. Don’t plan to bring your pets on the walks. There are a fair number of tiny people for whom dogs are very frightening.
4. Walking in Spring conditions means making sure your tiny people are warm. It’s your responsibility to make sure that they are appropriately dressed for the weather. If you have concerns about what works best on the walks, drop me a line and we can lend a hand.

That’s it.

With that, let the registration begin.

To get signed up for either walk E-mail your full name and the walk you want to attend as well as the names and ages of your children to info@ourbigearth.com and we will get you hooked up with all of the details.

Spots generally fill up very fast. So, I recommend taking the plunge by the end of the week (I hate saying no to people. Don’t make me do it:))