This course presents participants with the elements of designing outdoor programs for youth (e.g. after school, day and residential camps, and weekend programs) in a non-formal setting, such as wildlife refuges, parks, etc. This course offers opportunities to create or modify exciting, safe, natural resource focused youth programs that help to address site missions and/or management objectives. Participants will use a program design model to work on their own youth program during the course, then complete and implement it as a required post-course assignment.

OBJECTIVES:

• Explain how your youth program meets your site’s mission and goals;
• Describe steps in planning and designing an outdoor education youth program by using the youth program planning and evaluation model;
• Develop techniques for building staff leadership for working with youth;
• Demonstrate activities that will rapidly build youth and staff cohesiveness;
• Present a sample component from your program plan to other course participants.

TARGET AUDIENCE:

Resource/hatchery managers, educators, outdoor recreation planners, park rangers or other land management employees who offer or wish to offer non-formal youth education programs in an outdoor, natural setting.