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A two-year old hiking up to three hours -snacks included - uphill and downhill in the city? A five-year-old eagerly looking for a weeping willow? Anything is possible with Urbia Urban Adventure League, a San Francisco creative team that produces beautiful color booklets guiding young explorers from clue to clue in San Francisco's neighborhoods. On Saturday March 20th, 2010, Urbia launches their third adventure through the San Francisco Botanical Garden.
Urbia is the brainchild of Barbara Corff and Damien Raffa, two educators who led hikes through the Presidio during 10 years. After they followed a KQED workshop on questing - a modern form of treasure hunt starting by an enveloppe with guidelines in your mailbox and clues to discover neighborhoods. - their minds reeled. "We became very excited about the possibilities of self-guided educational treasure hunt-style hikes for kids and families," says Damien Raffa.
Hence came their idea to bring similar experiences to San Francisco families. Since getting children outside is the challenge of the 21st century, making it fun sounded like the best way to engage them. Exploring wild or urban places, this kind of hike leads children to pay attention to seemingly mundane plants, to notice rock outcroppings and layers in hill formation, to guess what lies underneath big city structures, to imagine what the landscape looked like a hundred years ago - all with a "Wow, look at this!" factor. Plus, remember the excitement of receiving an enveloppe with your name on it in the mailbox as a child?
In fact, parents find that Urbia's adventures are the perfect antidote to adult-oriented hiking guidebooks. How many hiking guidebooks have anything exciting to grab children's attention? Truth is, almost none. Infused with the excitement of discovery and serendipity, these hikes bring adults and children together to share some fun and meaningful time as they navigate the world together with an adventurous team spirit.
The first URBIA Adventure debuted on June 22, 2009 in celebration of National Get Outdoors Day and explored the unique city habitats of the locally rare Green Hairstreak butterfly in "Islands in the Sky" above San Francisco's Sunset District. The hiking adventure process entailed three months of development: walking these special areas with knowledgeable local experts, researching content, graphic design and wordsmithing, and finally enlisting piloting families to fine tune the adventure booklet.
The second adventure led participants around and above the Randall Museum and the booklet is now available at the museum's front desk. This third adventure, debuting this Saturday, takes you on an unusual journey through the San Francisco Botanical Gardens' East Asia, Meso-American Cloud Forest and California gardens. It's action-packed and you will find your children running down trails or jumping wooden steps and counting them looking for clues. If you'e looking for a great family adventure, this is it!
For more info: Look for the Urbia team on March 20, 2010 and pick up an adventure booklet and sleuthing pencil at the Urbia table between 10am and 2pm near the Garden Bookstore located near the Main Gate of the San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum in Golden Gate Park (close to 9th Avenue and Lincoln).
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