Kids Find Beauty in Nature While Learning to Survive

The typical 11-year-old girl would not be thrilled at the sight of a rabbit carcass.

“You can see the ear here and the skull,” said Julianne Summers, who grabbed the attention of the other kids participating in the Youth Naturalist Program presented by the on Saturday.

The $20 course teaches 8- to 12-years-old children how to become stewards of the environment through hands-on experiences. The class is held on the second Saturday of each month from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the hills of Headwaters Corner off Old Topanga Canyon Road and Mullholland Highway.

The program's teacher and developer is Susan Haugland, who holds an associate's degree in resource conservation management from Pierce College.

She teaches children how to use a compass, what she calls a life-saving tool, while completing a scavenger hunt around the park. Youngsters also learn to build lean-to shelters out of branches and debris, a popular survival technique that Haugland cautions the children not to attempt to make in their parent's backyards.

The group was on a scavenger hunt when they came across the dead rabbit, which Haugland said would most likely be eaten by large birds as part of the food chain.

“I explain to the kids that it’s an exchange of energy,” said Haugland.

Julianne, nicknamed “Scout" by Haugland, is a two-year veteran of the course and knows where to find interesting ecological phenomenon around Headwaters Corner. 

Reading about nature in a book or learning about it in the shelter of a classroom does not do it for Julianne, the daughter of a local veterinarian.

“I love being out here,” she said. “I don’t like to read about it because it’s just so wonderful to see.”

Girl Scouts of the USA troop leader Mary Ann Carraher brought along a few girl scouts to encourage them to be more outdoorsy.

“I was a girl scout for 12 years,” Carraher said. “We did a lot more outdoor activities, I want them to love it too.”

For Haugland, who developed the naturist program in 2003, teaching children to appreciate nature is her calling.

“Kids are becoming aware of the problems in the environment and they are anxious to fix it once they fall in love with it,” she said. “The reason I was was put on this earth was to create stewards."

There is a Youth Naturalist Program for 5- to 7-year-old children that meets six successive Saturdays from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. that costs $100, according to the trust’s website: