It’s been a busy spring at LOOP NOLA, so we’ve taken a small break from our usual blogs. Now that we’re gearing up for summer, it’s time to fill you in on what we’ve been doing and what we’ve got coming up!

Spring Adventures:

Learning outdoor skills builds resilience and self-reliance for kids of all ages. Along with basic outdoor skills, students got the chance to learn about stewardship in the outdoors. Repeated at every single event, one of LOOP NOLA’s slogans is, “Respect yourself. Respect each other. Respect the outdoors.”

During our outdoor adventures, kids learn how to protect the environment so that they can enjoy it for years to come.

We spent a lot of time this spring focusing on outdoor skills. Participants of all ages learned to navigate with a compass, build a fire, and set up a campsite. Our Camping 101 programs and Girl Scout programs have been especially popular this season, but we’ve worked with plenty of individual groups as well.  

The kids from Be Loud Studios even came out to City Park one morning and turned their experience into a radio program!

During her segment, DJ Pride filled her listeners in on some fire-building techniques:

This weekend I went to LOOP NOLA, and we learned how to start a fire. 

There are 4 things you need to know to start a fire.

#1: You need fuel -- which would be sticks

#2: You need heat. So typically, that would be lighters. 

#3: Kindling. Those would be leaves and sticks.

#4: Oxygen. Luckily, we don’t have to search for that!

First, you need to put in the kindling. 

Then you need to put in the tiny sticks. 

Then, get bigger sticks and pile it up in a teepee formation. 

Light it up, and you’ll have a blazing fire!

Thanks, LOOP NOLA, for helping us! And have a great day!

Upcoming activities:

We’re looking forward to an action-packed summer! In the meantime though, we’ve still got a little more fun planned for this spring.

We are partnering with Joe Brown Park to offer a paddling class on Sunday, May 16th. This class will be free to anyone who would like to attend and will cover all of the basic skills you need to go canoeing as a family. You just have to sign up in advance.  Check out the event details for more info!

If you have a group that would enjoy some outdoor activities this summer, contact us to schedule an event. We’ve got activities in City Park for kids, adults, and everyone in between. Everybody belongs outdoors!

Are there any topics that you would like us to write about in upcoming blogs? If so, post a comment or email us at hwest@loopnola.org We would love to hear from you!