Help Us Get Kids Outside

Did you know that most children aged 8-18 spend an average of 6.5 hours a day, over 45 hours per week, connected to a television, computer, video game, or smartphone? A child is six times more likely to play a video game than ride a bike. Three of the five U.S. cities with the highest obesity rates are in Texas and 37% of kids living in Texas are considered obese. For many children, a visit to Trinity River, Dogwood Canyon, or Mitchell Lake Audubon Center is their first visit to a natural setting. Each year, Audubon educators work with the tens of thousands of kids that visit our Centers to tie together how humans fit into our ecosystem and how they can contribute to conservation both locally and globally. Children who have meaningful experiences in nature see a multitude of benefits, including increased understanding of scientific concepts and conservation issues, gains in problem solving and motivation to learn, and a whole host of physical and emotional advantages. These children show a preference for spending time outdoors and are more likely to consider themselves a strong environmentalist.  All in all, kids who spend time in nature, grow into people who protect it. Best of all, through the end of the year, your gift will be matched dollar for dollar thanks to a $200,000 matching challenge from an anonymous donor. You can help us raise the next generation of Texas conservationists this holiday season. • $50 provides an outdoor field experience for a student at an underserved school. • $100 provides a child with conservation education materials. • $250 provides a week-long summer camp experience to a disadvantaged youth.  Help us get kids outside in 2015. Donate at https://give.audubon.org/Giving/Page/121/1/121   Watch six of the high school students who spent last spring break at Big Bend National Park with us talk about their experiences and how their ideas, attitudes, and lives have changed since the trip.  On how their attitudes toward nature have changed > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5jcjj2wzFI On conserving for future generations > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jfz3n9JBhU On whether they'd recommend an Audubon Expeditions trip (hint: they would) > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvRYTC9733I On being in nature and out of cellphone range > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb_CXeyKz_I On that feeling you get when you see other people's litter > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbNCiN1nX90 On teamwork > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kePjXQc-TTo

Urban Conservation

Long characterized as a land of wide open spaces, the Lone Star State is increasingly defined by its burgeoning cities and suburbs.

Brown Pelican