A Parent’s Review: REI Passport Program Rewards Kids for Time Spent Outdoors
By Taryn Zier
It doesn't take a passport stamp from Paris or Rome to get my family excited; a simple snail or bird sticker will do. And we need not travel abroad, just journey down the road to enjoy the flora and fauna in our own magnificent environs.
On a recent Thursday afternoon in July, I made plans for a hike through the REI Passport to Adventure program. After perusing their Web site for family-friendly trail suggestions and picking up our complimentary kids' field journals at the Alderwood REI store, we were on our way to Squires Lake Park for a wonderful day.
Passport to Adventure encourages families to get outdoors and explore nature together through local hikes and bike rides recommended by REI employees. The spiffy passport-shaped journals are a keystone of the program, where children can document their observations and work on puzzles. Parents will appreciate the handy checklist of gear to bring along and ideas for leaving no trace behind, a good way to talk environmental stewardship with kids.
REI rewards young people for their participation in one of the designated outdoor adventures with a certificate of completion and free gift (while supplies last); parents just have to send in the tear-off postcard in the journal by the end of the year. Then a goody such as binoculars or a multifunction whistle that turns into a compass or magnifying glass will be mailed to your child.
Squires Lake Park
The Squires Lake trailhead is less than one mile from Interstate 5, just south of Bellingham. No sooner had we started up the mossy path than all normal-life preoccupations were left behind. With my 5-year-old son, Nathan, holding his adventure journal in hand and his younger sister in tow, we hiked the approximately two-mile loop up to and around Squires Lake and Beaver Pond.
I wondered if Nathan would toss his journal in the backpack and need gentle coercion to engage, but he took right to the task at hand. Nathan started by circling a picture of clouds, our weather for the day. I filled in the sections on the interesting things we saw and noises we heard. Aside from the usual suspects – birds, bees, flowers and butterflies – the kids delighted in the slugs, jumping fish, water skippers, lily pads and even the snake we discovered.
Footloose and fancy-free, we spent time tossing rocks into the lake and playing hide-and-seek. We took in the Earth's scents and tried to locate the birds with the lilting tunes. On a short trek from the main trail to Beaver Pond, we admired the trees felled by the busy animals and Nathan stopped to draw pictures in his journal, one of a lily pad and the other of a mosquito.
Passport to Adventure is on the right track, and the adventure journal was a fun way to support Nathan's discoveries. The journals can be found at any REI store or downloaded at www.rei.com/passport. The Web site also has bonus activities, outdoor resources, and hiking and biking recommendations for five regions: the greater Seattle area, Bellingham, Tukwila/Tacoma, Kennewick and Spokane. Each features trail descriptions, distances, driving directions and tips.
The Passport to Adventure program is geared toward children ages 5 to 12 and served nearly 24,000 kids last year. The program was developed by an REI employee in the Tacoma store and launched nationally in 2006.
I expect that our adventure journal will come with us on all of our outdoor adventures. At the very least, it will remind us to open our eyes and ears and to embrace the beauty and wonder of nature that we experience together.
Taryn Zier is a freelance writer, mother of two based in Lake Forest Park and lover of the great outdoors.
IF YOU GO
Where: Hiking and biking trails throughout Washington.
