Outdoor classroom: Blandy program teaches children about nature

By Preston Knight - pknight@nvdaily.com

BOYCE - Sort of like a mirage, the young naturalist program at Blandy Experimental Farm always escaped Katherine Viti because the age requirement to participate kept getting moved up on her.

Once she was in the program, Viti had a lima bean seed project she took home fail her.

Otherwise, the program designed to explore nature and offer hands-on activities receives rave reviews from Katherine, now 10, and her mother, Tammy, as the 2010 version is about to begin. Registration is open and both are excited about another year of educational fun.

"We were looking for an educational, short day-camp type thing for her, and we decided to try it out," Tammy Viti said of her daughter. "She just really fell in love with it. They do a lot of fun activities. It's very children oriented, very science oriented."

Viti lives in White Post with her husband, Anthony. The couple's 7-year-old son, Mark, is also in the program, which is open to children in first through fifth grades.

"It's a lot of fun," Katherine said. "We do all sorts of cool crafts. ... We take all sorts of walks, get to see all the spots in Blandy. ... It's always different."

This year's program offers such titles as "Signs of Winter," "Birds of Blandy," "Skulls and Skeletons" and "Animal Adaptations." Katherine is signed up to learn about the signs of winter and is looking forward to creating an all-season sundial. Also planned for the session is making snow, exploring why some trees lose their leaves and searching for critters finding shelter in bark.

Mark will be in "Skulls and Skeletons," which will include time dissecting owl pellets to identify bones, examining skulls of local mammals and learning about bird beaks.

Sessions cost $20 -- $17 for Blandy members such as the Vitis -- and are offered twice. Each of the sessions offered can accommodate 15 children. Children in first and second grades meet at a separate time than the older participants.

"It's very, very affordable," Viti said. "The importance of that is it opens up to a lot of different types of people."

Anyone who attends four or five programs receives a young naturalist certificate. Parents are welcome to stay during the programs, but their role is basically bringing and picking up children. Sessions last 21/2 hours.

"It's perfect for families," public relations coordinator Tim Farmer said.

Programs director Steve Carroll said what sets the young naturalist series apart is its focus on the outdoors.

"It makes it exciting," he said. "It's unusual for a winter program."

Offering young children something different each year has also boosted the program's popularity, Carroll said. The target demographic, though, makes it successful, he added.

"They're excited. They have a lot of energy," Carroll said. "They're happy to get out and do things."

Tammy Viti's children are prime examples. She said Katherine and Mark have brought home rain gauges, wind-speed gauges and lots of learning experiences -- failed or not -- that she is somewhat jealous of because she did not have them available to her growing up.

"It's really a treasure, Blandy is, to have in this area," Viti said. "I can't say enough good things about the program."

To register, call 837-1758, ext. 0, or visit the Web site www.virginia.edu/blandy.