Improving Outdoor Experiences through Accessible Materials

Since its founding 15 years ago, Kids in Parks has strived to engage kids and families in outdoor activities that foster meaningful connections to nature and improve overall health and well-being. However, the KIP Team knows there are many obstacles when it comes to recreating in outdoor spaces. Beyond physical limitations, like cost and transportation, social barriers, including language, safety, knowledge, and culture, play a huge role in one’s enjoyment in nature. Through the Kids in Parks ‘Adventures,’ children are able to experience new places while sparking an interest in the natural world. Without access to outdoor experiences, individuals cannot receive the wide range of health benefits and build a positive connection to nature. By enhancing park amenities through Kids in Parks materials and prizes, we can provide fun, educational outdoor activities for even more kids wanting to get outside, which is why we are excited to share some of our newest projects this year.

To provide more outdoor experiences for ALL kids and families, Kids in Parks has implemented several strategies to create more inclusive content. These projects include: the development of our new mobile web-app, the creation of bilingual brochures and Spanish prize cards, and the alteration of material designs to be more accessible for those with disabilities. Through these improvements, Kids in Parks hopes to enrich outdoor experiences for anyone using the program, especially our Spanish-speaking participants.

Website Updates for Everyone

In February 2024, Kids in Parks launched its new website-application (web-app). A web-app functions like an app on one’s phone, but doesn’t need to be downloaded and can be accessed on any device. This update brings all of the program’s resources to one's fingertips. No longer are participants bound to specific TRACK Trails or brochures - they can track an Adventure at any green space and launch one of the many e-Adventures on their smartphone. An updated ‘Resources’ section provides helpful tools and tips and over 40 TRACKtivities for families to use whenever and wherever they please. These new features help reduce the limitations given transportation, distance, fees, and the time it may take to get to a TRACK Trail, while encouraging use of local parks and outdoor spaces that might be more accessible for families. 

The entire website became more user-friendly with this update, including the location pages and user dashboard. A TRACK Trail’s location page now provides much more information about the site, including amenities, ADA accessibility, fees, and other useful details. Families can better plan ahead for their next Adventure and find sites that meet their needs, skills, and comfort level outdoors. The user dashboard was also reconstructed to better spotlight a participant’s tracked Adventures. In addition to seeing locations visited and miles logged, users can now ‘favorite’ TRACK Trails and activities, add sites to a Wishlist, and keep track of Kids in Parks milestones. Brand new digital badges are also rewarded to users based on criteria they meet, like TRACKing an Adventure in a specific state or hiking a certain number of miles. These website upgrades further incentivize physical activity and time outdoors for children and their families.

Brochures & Prizes in Your Preferred Language

For more than a decade, Kids in Parks has offered bilingual versions of its two most-popular brochures (Animal Athletes and Nature's Hide & Seek). Parks within our network have also requested Spanish and bilingual versions of site-specific brochures, like Birds of Oregon’s High Desert, Pond Life, and Tracks and Traces, but this production was not on a large scale. However, recently Kids in Parks received a ParkVentures grant provided by the National Park Foundation, providing the funds needed to develop even more resources for our Spanish-speaking families. Through a partnership with the Hispanic Access Foundation and Latinos Aventureros en las Carolinas, Kids in Parks translated five popular brochures into Spanish: Hide and Seek, Animal Athletes, Bug Out, Flower Power, and Decomposers of the Dead. The program was able to ensure the translations were applicable to a wide range of Latinx nationalities thanks to the diverse input and guidance provided by members of Latinos Aventureros en las Carolinas. Reflecting on this partnership, Vivianette Ortiz, the Executive Director of Latinos Aventureros, shared “imagine being able to pick up a brochure or activity booklet in your native language, allowing you to feel truly welcomed and acknowledged. It's a powerful experience that opens doors for us to learn, explore, and connect with the great outdoors.”

Beyond improving brochure content available at TRACK Trails, Kids in Parks has also worked with Latinos Aventureros en las Carolinas to translate the materials given to participants. When a child TRACKs their Adventure on the website, they receive a Nature Journal Passport booklet and collectible prize cards in the mail. The more adventures they register, the more prize cards they can earn. Now, when Spanish-speaking families create an account on the Kids in Park’s website, they can simply check off that they would like to receive Spanish materials.  These materials ensure that families have the ability to equitably participate in the program. While working on this project, Vivianette Ortiz affirmed that “it fills us with hope and excitement to witness organizations that are dedicated to bridging these language barriers and ensuring information is accessible to all.” Ortiz added, “this commitment is a call to action, inviting our community to step outside, embrace nature, and experience the beauty that surrounds us.”

Breaking Down Barriers through Design

Time outdoors is beneficial to everyone. For those with disabilities, outdoor recreation can especially strengthen social skills, self concept and confidence, and overall well-being; yet, parks, trails, and educational materials are not always accessible. Kids in Parks is dedicated to creating and redesigning materials to be more accessible for those with disabilities so that every participant can experience the joys of nature.

One of the program’s newer brochures, Sense of Adventure, stems from a request by the Town of Flat Rock to design a brochure for autistic children and those with sensory-processing disorders. The program worked with the St. Gerard House in Flat Rock, North Carolina to create this brochure based on the “communication card” format that many families with non-verbal communicators are accustomed to using. The design team intentionally selected colors and graphics that were familiar and would appeal to the various sensory needs of children. Kids in Parks also worked with rangers at San Dieguito County Park in San Diego, California, to design a site-specific Sensory Challenge brochure. Through guided prompts and symbols, participants can use their senses as they explore the park’s native plant and sensory garden, located next to the parks’ ADA-accessible Inclusive Play Space.

In addition to improving the diversity of brochures available, Kids in Parks continues to assess and evaluate program materials through accessible design choices. Within the past few years, staff redesigned the kiosk sign layout to be more legible by altering the font styles and sizes and improving graphics. Currently, the creative team is using Adobe tools to revise several brochure styles to increase color contrast, ensuring that the content is more legible for color blind readers. Given input from program participants and partners, Kids in Parks can better serve the population so that all children can experience and enjoy the same activities offered through the program.

As we conclude National Hispanic Heritage Month, we express our utmost gratitude for those who have improved our program through translations, conversations, and resources to make our materials more accessible for Spanish-speaking participants. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services deemed this months theme: “Be the Source for Better Health: Improving Health Outcomes Through Our Cultures, Communities, and Connections,” and we hope our program provides a safe, enjoyable outlet for the Latinx population. We strive to improve the overall health of all our participants. When children are provided with applicable linguistic and accessible materials, they are better able to foster healthy experiences and relationships with themselves, their families, and their community. Kids in Parks is proud to announce these program implementations and the continued work toward accessibility and inclusion.