By Joseph Sapia
As the weather warms, people think of the outdoors.
And as people think of the outdoors, parents may need some motivation to get their children out of the house. In the area, there are a number of activities to do that, ranging from summer environmental camps to one-day activities.
For the kids, it is fun and something to do. For the sponsors, they may get the kids hooked.
“Come out here, it’s a fun day and you’re also going to learn,” said Stevie Thorsen, education director for the American Littoral Society. “It may shape your way as an adult. We’re always trying to find environmental stewards.”
The area has a great resource right here at the Jersey Shore, said Claire Antonucci, executive director and director of education for the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium, which, as is the American Littoral Society, is based at Sandy Hook.
A goal is “to develop the next generation of stewards,” Antonucci said.
“The best way to do that is to make connections to their own environment,” Antonucci said. “When you know something, you’re going to love it. When you love it, you’re going to care for it.”
“Kids may go to the beach, they may think it’s a resort,” Thorsen said. “But it’s also a habitat. Come to the beach and discover what a diverse habitat it is.”
American Littoral Society, Sea Grant Consortium and Monmouth County Park System, for example, have summer camp programs. Other groups have school-year children’s environmental programs.
The American Littoral Society runs the “Summertime Coast Camp” for 5th– to 8th-graders. It includes activities as surf fishing, seining, birding, identifying marine life, nature journaling, and studying shells. Locally, the Sandy Hook version of Summertime Coast Camp runs Aug. 8 to 12.
“It’s a much-expanded version of our one-day program,” Thorsen said.
American Littoral Society also runs “Close Encounters with the Coast,” which are field trips for outside camps and recreation programs during June, July and August or even other times of the year, Thorsen said.
“It’s all based here (on Sandy Hook), so it’s based on the environment around us, the coastal environment,” Thorsen said. “Nothing compares to pulling in a net full of fish. This net is a window to the underwater world.”
Sea Grant has an assortment of summer camps at Sandy Hook – two general coastal environment camps for 3rd– and 4th graders, 5th– and 6th graders and 7th– and 8th-graders, along with an “Oceanography Week” for 4th-, 5th– and 6th-graders, along with a “Using Robotics in Ocean Exploration” camp for 7th-, 8th– and 9th-graders.
In the robotics camp, for example, the campers build a “remotely operated underwater vehicle,” which they run on the last day of camp Antonucci said.
The summer camp allows kids to spend more time at the subject than they could in a one-day effort.
“We’re to the point many come back as counselors,” Antonucci said.
Another goal is “to get kids excited about studying science, give them the confidence they can excel in science,” said Antonucci, adding staff guides the kids, but “they’re doing things for themselves.”
The Monmouth County Park System will be releasing its children’s summer camp and swim directory, along with its summer programs directory for all ages.
“We’re trying to get people to enjoy nature, the outdoors,” said Joe Reynolds, a park system naturalist. “Have them have a fun experience as maybe their parents did as kids.”
Reynolds will be leading three summer camp programs: “Eco-Survival Camp for Teens” for those entering high school; “Coastal Adventures for Girls” in grades 6 to 9; and “Water Explorers” for grades 5 to 7.
The Monmouth Conservation Foundation, based in Middletown, is in the third year of running its “Kids for Conservation” program. At least 600 pre-schoolers and kindergarteners will take part in this spring’s program, its theme being “Project Pollinator.”
The loss of pollinators – such as bees, birds, bats, butterflies and moths – is tied to the loss of land, something MCF fights against, with the protection of more than 22,500 acres since forming in 1977.
Monmouth University is partnered with MCF, providing “pollinator curriculum” and volunteer student-teachers.
On April 22, Earth Day, MCF will be at Sickles Market in Little Silver with a pollination display for children and adults – the kickoff for Project Pollinator. It will conclude with Kids for Conservation’s Family Day, June 5, at Huber Woods Park in Middletown.
Sea Grant also has year-round field trips for kindergarteners to 12th-graders and it runs programs for scouts to attain various badges. Sea Grant will have its “Ocean Fun Day” for all ages May 22 at Sandy Hook.
American Littoral Society also runs “Beachgrasses in the Classes,” a beachgrass-planting programming for schools that runs February to April.
The Littoral Society’s “SeaQuest” program brings a coastal program to urban schools – “A lot of these kids live on the coast,” Thorsen said. “They don’t think there’s a natural area, there.”
SeaQuest runs from September to December and March to June.
American Littoral Society also is accepting applications, due March 14, for college internships. The internships fall into two areas: fish-tagging and coastal education.“I started here as a summer intern,” Thorsen said. “We have a lot of interns who become full-time staff. It’s an intensive (summer) program.”
American Littoral Society also runs individual programs for all ages. Upcoming programs include the “Winter Seal and Waterfowl Walk, March 5 and March 30; “Holly Forest Walk,” April 15; “Surf Fishing Clinic,” April 16; and “Arbor Day Trees of Sandy Hook Walk,” April 29.
Clean Ocean Action has a variety of programs for all ages, including its annual “Beach Sweeps” garbage cleanup at various locations April 30. On May 18 and 19, Clean Ocean Action hosts its “Student Summit Program,” which is a day to get schoolchildren out of the classroom and practice science at the beach, said Catie Tobin, Clean Ocean Action’s marine science education coordinator.
“Not only are the volunteers picking up debris, but they’re also recording each piece they’re collecting,” Tobin said.
“The Jersey Shore is an awesome environment,” Antonucci said. “We take it for granted.”
