Friday, Mar 31, 2017 5:17 AMUpdated Friday, Mar. 31, 2017 9:18 AM
Amelia Scott, 9, drops recycling material into the right bin as he and others in the Durango Nature Studies spring break program play a game at the Smiley Building meant to teach proper recycling. The group was studying a sustainable Earth, learning ways to reduce, reuse and recycle.
Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Willa Rider, 6, left, and Iris Gamble, 6, try out the locomotive that they made out of recycled material during Durango Nature Studies spring break program at the Smiley Building. The group was learning ways to reduce, reuse and recycle.
Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Reid Ruecker, 9, plays with paper tubes from recycling material during Durango Nature Studies spring break program.
Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Mason McLaughlin, 7, drops recycling material into the right bin as he and others in the Durango Nature Studies spring break program play a game on Thursday at the Smiley Building learning how to recycle. The group were studying sustainable earth learning ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Willa Rider, 6, left, and Iris Gamble, 6, try out their locomotive that they made out of recycling material on Thursday during Durango Nature Studies spring break program at the Smiley Building. The group were studying sustainable earth learning ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Amelia Scott, 9, holds planet earth in her hands that she is making out of recycling material on Thursday during Durango Nature Studies spring break program at the Smiley Building. The group were studying sustainable earth learning ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Sophia Barnett, 10, holds her robot that she made out of recycling material on Thursday during Durango Nature Studies spring break program at the Smiley Building. The group were studying sustainable earth learning ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Reid Ruecker, 9, shows his robot that he made out of recycling material on Thursday during Durango Nature Studies spring break program at the Smiley Building. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Piper Lang, 8, glues legs on her robot that she is making from recycling material on Thursday during Durango Nature Studies spring break program at the Smiley Building. The group were studying sustainable earth learning ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Lili Ruecker, 6, paints a face on her robot that she is making from recycling material on Thursday during Durango Nature Studies spring break program at the Smiley Building. The group were studying sustainable earth learning ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Amelia Scott, 9, drops recycling material into the right bin as he and others in the Durango Nature Studies spring break program play a game on Thursday at the Smiley Building learning how to recycle. The group were studying sustainable earth learning ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Reid Ruecker, 9, plays around with paper tubes from recycling material on Thursday during Durango Nature Studies spring break program at the Smiley Building. The group were studying sustainable earth learning ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
While some families choose to travel all over the country for spring break, the kids lucky enough to be enrolled at Durango Nature Studies spring break program can stay home and experience a good time.
“I like to bill it to parents as a ‘stay-cation’ over spring break,” said Durango Nature Studies Executive Director Sally Shuffield. “The kids will want to stay cause they get to do all this fun stuff.”
In its third year, the Durango Nature Studies spring break program for first- to fourth-graders offers a week of fun and educational events based around the Four Corners.
Each day has a theme and an accompanying project or field trip, Shuffield said.
On Monday, kids went to the Animas River to create art out of nature, building berms along the river, rock stacks in the river bed and collecting leaves and twigs for art projects.
On Tuesday, a field trip took campers to a geology museum in Farmington, followed by a geology hike. On Wednesday, the program took a field trip to the Anasazi Heritage Center for a tour, scavenger hunt and games.
On Thursday, campers took a tour of the Phoenix Recycling Center in Durango to learn the nitty gritty of recycling, then went back to the Smiley Building to create art out of recycled products.
And the week comes to a close Friday when the Garden Project will take the kids on a tour of various gardens around Durango, followed by a tour of James Ranch.
Shuffield said this year’s program was almost completely booked. The program has capacity for 13 children a day. Parents can book select days or the entire week.
