{"id":182948,"date":"2026-02-27T13:28:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T13:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/182948\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T13:28:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T13:28:07","slug":"texas-children-in-nature-network-hill-country-chapter-encourages-children-and-families-to-get-outside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/182948\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Children in Nature Network Hill Country chapter encourages children and families to get outside"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAfter being a part of Texas Children in Nature Network\u2019s<\/a> San Antonio chapter and then moving to Kerrville, Helen Holdsworth said she wanted to launch a Hill Country chapter.<\/p>\n

TCiNN is a grassroots statewide network of over 900 partner organizations and individuals dedicated to connecting children and families with nature, according to previous reporting<\/a> by Community Impact.<\/p>\n

Holdsworth, who serves as the director of stewardship education at the Witte Museum, said the Hill Country Texas Children in Nature Network Collaborative\u2019s purpose is to not only get kids outside but also serve as a resource for organizations to network and support one another.<\/p>\n

The local impact<\/p>\n

Some of the organizations involved in the Hill Country collaborative include:<\/p>\n

Ryan Spencer, executive director of Comal Conservation, said the collaborative is working hard to get kids outside.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of these organizations are doing their own activities, but understanding how we align how we benefit each other, what we can do to really reconnect kids to the outdoors, is critical,\u201d Spencer said.<\/p>\n

One of the goals identified in Comal Conservation\u2019s Strategic Plan for 2025-2027<\/a> is to pass a Children\u2019s for TCiNN Outdoor Bill of Rights as part of an initiative to engage young people in environmental stewardship.<\/p>\n

Nancy Pappas, managing director of Headwaters at the Comal, said they work to connect children and families to the outdoors by creating hands-on experiences in a place where nature, history and conservation come together.<\/p>\n

“Kids experience a sense of wonder when they explore the site, observe wildlife and connect what they are learning at home or in school to the real world. Each visit brings something new for them to see, hear or feel that reminds us that nature is a powerful teacher,” Pappas said. “Our hope is that these experiences build curiosity, confidence and a lifelong appreciation for the environment.”<\/p>\n

Notable quote<\/p>\n

\u201cKids need nature, and nature needs kids,\u201d Spencer said.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After being a part of Texas Children in Nature Network\u2019s San Antonio chapter and then moving to Kerrville,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[698,2143,670,73267,11849,2327,2038,73269,2507,73268,73265,73266,82,84,83,73264,7473],"class_list":["post-182948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-bexar-county","tag-central-texas","tag-children","tag-comal-conservation","tag-comal-county","tag-environment","tag-families","tag-gbra","tag-guadalupe-county","tag-headwaters-at-the-comal","tag-hill-country-chapter","tag-outside","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news","tag-texas-children-in-nature-network","tag-texas-wildlife-association"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}