When you think of the holidays, you probably think of the classic indoor setup. A warm fire, a cup of hot cocoa, a favorite holiday movie or music playing in the background. While this is the typical holiday season for many, the Los Angeles area is anything but typical, and the temperate climate cultivates a community of young explorers eager for the outdoors.
During school closures, HAWKs LA fills the learning gap for ages 5-14, changing the classroom to an outside environment with a curriculum focused on instilling a sense of wonder about nature and instilling a deep connection to the environment. HAWKs, started in November 2022, has a variety of outdoor programming set for Santa Monicans at camps running from Dec. 18-22, Dec. 27-29 and Jan. 2-5. Activities during winter break include hiking, herping, bird watching, journaling, nature crafts and foraging.
Beginning as an acronym for Hiking Adventures With Kids, HAWKs has become much more, transitioning to a full year-round enrichment and day camp program.
“It really started with us seeing the immense benefits from watching our children spend an extended period of time outdoors in nature, which all of our kids were doing during the [COVID-19] shutdowns when … we all learned that it was much safer to be outside,” HAWKs LA Co-Founder and CEO Emma Flanders said. “We could see how that was really starting to transform them, and we didn’t really find an existing program doing what we were doing for kids of all ages.”
Flanders found a “thriving community” of families who wanted the same thing she had growing up in the Bay Area, ample outdoor opportunities that can prevent anxiety and attention deficit.
“Kids are not spending nearly the amount of time outside that they should be,” she added. “The way that I grew up is very different from the way that my children have grown up. It’s the whole concept of getting off screens and getting kids out into the natural world, so [I] wanted to bring as much of my childhood into this program … just unstructured play that we had that kids these days aren’t getting.”
Set activities adjust based on the age of the group, as kids from 5-8 years of age learn about native plants they are interested in, while kids from 9-12 can get “a lot deeper into” knowledge about the history of natural spaces, the flora and fauna, the culture, the ecology and the art of the Los Angeles Basin.
To give young adventurers an experience of “native landscapes,” HAWKs takes Santa Monica youth to places like the Marina del Rey lagoons, Temescal Canyon and Will Rogers State Park. At the lagoons, students can play at the beach and bird watch in a “really unique saltwater lagoon environment” that is home to a variety of waterbirds. At Temescal, kids can walk through a waterfall and explore a creek, along with the chance to see rare creatures like the California mountain kingsnake. Will Rogers’ walkability is a boon for youth to see native plants alongside animals like deer, bobcats and coyotes.
“The fact that we have all of this so close, we want to make sure that we pick these locations (where) kids just have an amazing experience that is so different from their day-to-day, yet it’s right there in their backyard,” Flanders said.
thomas@smdp.com