Spring was busy for the Texas Children in Nature Network! Since February we have offered seven webinars in the categories of health, teacher training, professional development, and more thanks to our wonderful presenters.

Summit Session Requests for Proposals are NOW OPEN!

Submit your session proposal before the June 30 deadline!

To learn more about the Request for Proposals process you can log onto a Q&A Session on May 26 at 2:00.

Our regional collaboratives have been hard at work together to engage more children and families in nature, and some exciting updates from various parts of the state are included in this newsletter.

The webinars for the summer and fall are now posted on our website.

Join our June 7th Webinar: Green Schoolyards as a Climate Change and Health Solution.

You can also always watch all our past webinars on our YouTube Channel.

Registration OPENS August 1 for our 2023 Summit, December 6-8 at the C. Baldwin Hotel in Houston.

Texas State Parks Celebrates 100 years with 100 S'more Years events statewide!

Texas State Parks is celebrating their Centennial in 2023, and “100 S’more Years” on May 13th was just one of many celebrations! Programs in State Parks all across Texas featuring s’mores included campfires and storytelling, night skies and s’mores, solar s’mores, photo contests, s’mores trivia, s’mores building competitions and many more. Over 5,000 s’mores were eaten and countless memories were made. Several participants were first-time s’mores makers! To check out more s’mores programs and many upcoming free 100-year celebrations in Texas State Parks check out the calendar of events. 

Check out Texas State Parks 100 Years Website for information on State Parks history, photo contest, upcoming events, and lots more.

Texas Wildlife Association Offers Expedition Program for Youth and Families New to the Outdoors

Family Land, Water & Wildlife Expeditions (LWWE) is a new program from Texas Wildlife Association that engages youth ages 11-17, and a parent or guardian on a 1-3-day introductory outdoor experience on private land. Each expedition is centered around a different focus such as birding, fishing, native plants, and others.

These experiences are facilitated by a group of trained mentors, volunteers, and natural resource experts to introduce participants to the world of conservation and land stewardship and grows more opportunities for youth and families to connect with nature. The target audience for this program are those who are new or have limited experience in the outdoors.

Upcoming events: Birding Experience on May 27 & LWWE Mentor Training on June 10.

Texas State Parks Community Engagement Centennial Pass Opens Nature for All

The Community

Engagement Centennial Pass (CEC Pass) is designed to help introduce

new users to the Texas State Park System. The pass will allow organizations that benefit underserved populations to bring visitors to the park without paying entry fees.

Texas Children in Nature Network Partner, Families in Nature (FIN), is a participating organization.

"The Centennial pass has given Families in Nature another opportunity to connect even more people with nature while celebrating 100 years of Texas State Parks! From fishing at McKinney Falls to day hikes at Enchanted Rock and splashing at Inks Lake, we are so excited to spend 2023 exploring even more state parks. Thank you TPWD!" - Jordan Joly, Families in Nature Program Coordinator.

North Texas Health an Nature Liaison Update

By Jenny Larios



After the March regional meeting in March, partners from around North Texas came together and decided to pursue COBOR (Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights) as a health strategy.

Austin was Texas' first city to institute a Children's Outdoor Bill of Rights and is a great example for other Texas communities to follow. Austin COBOR was created through their Cities Connecting Children to Nature program.

Because children are the stakeholders in COBOR, data collection is being conducted during outreach events. The primary question asked while the children are participating in the activities at the booth is what their favorite things are to do outdoors. Their answers will serve as a needs assessment tool to better connect children and families to nature and lay the groundwork for COBOR in this region.

A recent event, the Monarch Festival hosted by the City of Mansfield, provided the perfect opportunity to implement this tool. Over 100 children and their parents visited the Texas Children in Nature Network booth to provide valuable input for this work!

Rio Grande Valley Health and Nature Liaison Update

By Marisa Oliva 

In April, the RGV Coalition coordinated the Youth Photovoice Project, a research project led by the University of Texas Planet Texas 2050 team. 

In coordination with Pharr Parks and Recreation and Pharr-San Juan-Alamo (PSJA) High School Administration, held several recruitment meetings with parents and students. In the end, 26 high school students were recruited, with 25 students participating in the three-day research project. Students were from PSJA Southwest Early College High School and PSJA Thomas Jefferson T-stem Early College High School. The workshop focused on ethics, environmental justice, photography, and outdoor spaces. Students took photos of their outdoor environment and wrote about the conditions they faced in daily life. The research is being complied by researchers, and the students will present their photos and essays this summer. In addition to Photovoice, several presentations about the Library Explorer Adventure Pack (LEAP) were given. Work to share the LEAP program will continue through the summer.

For more information about these projects, please reach out to Marisa

Join the Texas Children in Nature Network Founder's Circle



Join our Founder's Circle. The Founder's Circle is a group of donors to TCiNN who have pledged to give at least $1000/year for three years.

These gifts are important to allowing TCiNN to grow and continue to provide resources to our partners.

Benefits of joining the Founder's Circle include:

• A quarterly update from the TCiNN Executive Director on the work of the network
• Founder's Circle gathering and field trips throughout the year
• Two tickets to our annual Champions Awards event
• Opportunity to be listed in our Summit literature as a Founder's Circle Member

For more information about joining the Founder's Circle visit: our website, or email Sarah

City of Houston celebrated the adoption of the Houston Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights.



On April 18, 2023, the City of Houston celebrated the adoption of the Houston Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights. The historic day, which took place during the largest Earth Day celebration in the city’s history, was marked by the presence of the Houston City Council and Mayor Sylvester Turner, who signed a proclamation to formalize the adoption of the bill. Adding to the significance of the occasion, Mayor Turner welcomed and shared this inspiring moment with over 60 local middle school students, whose dedication to the cause of environmental stewardship served as an inspiration to all in attendance. 

“Houston is proud to be an inclusive and equitable city focused on protecting and enhancing the rights of our most treasured asset, our children and future leaders,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “We are proud to adopt the Houston Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights, as it illustrates what equitable access to nature looks like and will produce benefits needed for young people to thrive and learn.”

An intergenerational committee of local youth and community leaders convened to discuss the priority issue areas impacting nature accessibility in the Greater Houston area and determined the twelve rights included in the bill. Learn more about the Houston COBOR.

Galveston Park Board of Trustees won the Houston-Galveston Area Council Parks and Natural Areas Award for Program category for the Women in Coastal Science program series.

Last year, park board staff introduced a lecture series called Women in Coastal Science, highlighting area women with careers in coastal science. The series was selected as the winner in the programming category of the Houston Galveston Area Council (HGAC)Parks and Natural Areas Awards. The awards recognize outstanding practices across the Houston-Galveston region and the winning projects serve as models for the rest of the region to consider.

“When it comes to scientific pursuits, women can be marginalized or intimidated,” said Park Board Guest Experience Manager Ann Hobing. “We wanted this series to help women share their journeys to success and fulfillment and to inspire other women to consider entering the science realm, too.”