The Wild Zone at Ulistac is the site for the Play Ranger Trainings and Escuela Popular's 'Art in Nature' program. Beginning in 2009 we will have school field trips that include Wild Zones and environmental education, monthly Family Play Days, community volunteer days and a program of teambuilding events with corporations.

 

**** GREAT NEWS -- The first FAMILY PLAY DAY AT ULISTAC is here!!

 

Family Play Day at Ulistac Natural Area

Next Family Play Day: November 21, 1-4 pm

**Please note the poster has not been updated yet

4901 Lick Mill Blvd (just South of Tasman Drive)
Santa Clara, CA 95054

DIRECTIONS TO FAMILY PLAY DAY

(In the link above, the Wild Zone is marked in red and the nearest entrance is in blue. There is a green footpath showing the shortest route to get there.)

There are no drinking fountains at Ulistac, so bring drinks - and snacks if you want them. Also, bring extra clothes and towels if you plan to play in the mud!

Print or view this month's Poster full size: here

 

 

 

 

 

 

SEE PHOTOS OF PREVIOUS WILD ZONE EVENTS:

Family Play Day at Ulistac Natural Area, Santa Clara February 28, 2009 - Slideshow 1
Photos by Lilia Schwartz - Babymoon Photography

Family Play Day at Ulistac, Santa Clara February 28, 2009 - Slideshow 2
Photos by Roy Gordon - Children, Nature and You

Weekend Camp for children from inner-city Richmond, October, 2008
Photos by Ed Worrell

Teenagers – Art in Nature, Escuela Popular, San Jose, 2007-2009
Environmental artist Zach Pine facilitated two of these events.
Photos by Roy Gordon, Zach Pine, Sheryl Sensenig

 

 

 

 

Play Rangers Training

We have developed a curriculum for training adults and teenagers who will facilitate free play in the Wild Zone. They are called "Play Rangers". We have piloted the training with two classes of environmental education students from Santa Clara University. In Spring 2009 this training will be offered to Latino high school students from Escuela Popular and to members of the Children in Nature Collaborative of the San Francisco Bay Area.

 

YES Family Camps

We offered two pilot Wild Zones for the children (aged 2-16) at a family camp for Latino and African American families from high crime areas of Richmond, California. We established a portion of the YMCA camp as a Wild Zone in which the children and camp counselors were free to play in the woods and creek. This was a significant contrast with most of their time at the camp, which is strictly scheduled between prescribed activities. In this unstructured environment, children and youth were deeply absorbed in their play and projects for almost four hours. This pilot was in partnership with Youth Enrichment Strategies (YES), a non-profit that takes children from Richmond to youth Summer camps and their families to Fall and Spring family camps.

 

Brochure

We have a new color brochure that describes and illustrates activities in Wild Zones. It will be used as a tool for outreach to schools, families, parks, environmental groups, community organizations, police and pediatricians.

 

Create-with-Nature Zone at Blake Gardens

In partnership with environmental artist Zach Pine, we have created an area where people are invited to express their creativity with natural materials at this beautiful garden surrounding the UC Berkeley Chancellor's home. The garden is open to the public on weekdays and people can create in this zone at any time.

http://homepage.mac.com/zpine/installations/blakezone/blakezone.html

 

Thanks to the Funders of Wild Zones

Community Foundation of Boulder, Colorado

Foundation for Global Community

Kaiser Permanente

Trio Foundation

University of Phoenix Foundation

+ anonymous individual donors

 

Thanks for donations and assistance

Lyngso Garden Materials, Inc. of Redwood City for donation of rocks for the Wild Zone at Ulistac

Brende & Lamb for tree branches and the use of a truck

Blake Gardens for donations of plant material and a place to create with nature

Brianne Teevan, graphic design

Rob Bradshaw, website maintenance and computer consulting

Photography: Ed Worrell, Lilia Schwartz (www.babymoonphotography.com), Maarten Laupman and Roy Gordon

 

"Let the wild rumpus begin!"  

 

Did you ever feel your heart leap at that clarion call in Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are ?

"Let the wild rumpus begin! "

Yes, please!

 

What is a Wild Zone?  /  Why are Wild Zones needed?  /  New form of Social Space  /  The Concept Paper    Toolkit  /  What's New?  /  About the Co-founders  /  Contact us   /  Links

 

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