By Janet Carter
LVICO celebrated Earth Day 2023 with the Boys and Girls club at Lied Memorial. Volunteers Cynthia and Barbara met with 3 groups of children, ages 6 through 11, approximately 50-60 youth, in total. Our lively discussions began with what the kids thought made up the earth. A "Life is Good" soccer ball was tossed from child to child as they shared their thoughts with excitement once they received the "talking" ball. Their answers ranged from lakes and rivers to trees and flowers, naming their favorite animals and even the fast food places they enjoyed. This unique answer became the perfect segue to discuss their important role in protecting all animals, whether they consumed them or not. Cynthia had the opportunity to characterize herself as a Red Wolf, explaining that some animals on earth are endangered, which certainly was a new concept to them and gave them pause.
The children then enthusiastically named their favorite places to play outdoors and why. Of course, the consensus was their local parks, expressing their love on the swings to playing ball or simply sitting in the grass and looking up at the sky, as one thoughtful six year old described. Another ideal segue led into the question of how they would protect their beloved parks.
The mutual response among all the age groups was to not leave trash around, which led into another engaged discussion on recycling. A child from the 10-11 age group shouted, "reduce, reuse, recycle"! A variety of recyclable items were presented to the children and we discussed the concept of decomposition. The children took turns guessing how long each recyclable item took to break down. This truly captured their attention, particularly when they discovered a diaper took 500 years to decompose. "500 years, that's crazy!", gasped a couple of children. Another child recalled the animals they would encounter in their parks and said, "I didn't know trash can hurt animals. We need to be careful to pick it up".
Our earth day event was not complete until the children piled into the large tent. A highlight to be sure, as none of them expressed they've been in one before. Squeals of joy & laughter could be heard through the nylon walls. As the children fell into line for their next activity in the clubhouse, one child said, "I want the earth to stay clean for a long time, so we can go outside and play". Another exclaimed, "This was fun, I want to protect my planet now!" Earth Day 2023 with the Boys and Girls club of Lied Memorial was a true inspiration.
If you want to learn more about LVICO and how we help the kids of Las Vegas get outdoors, contact Chair Janet Carter at jkumar167@aol.com or go to our website www.lasvegasinspiringconnectionsoutdoors.com.