Hike and Learn

Most anyone can take a young child on a hike, pointing out a squirrel here or a leaf there.

But leave it to Gladys Roseman to bring paper and crayons to scribble leaf rubbings, or to break into a cute song about the squirrel.

As a docent for the Children’s Nature Institute, Roseman makes walks in the woods special for children under 8 and their parents.

The Santa Monica-based organization offers one or two family walks almost every day of the year in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, and on Tuesday, Roseman is leading one at Rocky Oaks Park, south of Westlake Village in the Santa Monica Mountains.

It’s a two-hour outing, starting at noon, that includes no more than a mile of walking among boulders and giant oak trees to a pond with cattails and maybe some tiny tree frogs.

The Children’s Nature Institute doesn’t charge a fee for outings, but a $5 donation per family is requested. Formerly known as Nursery Nature Walks, the group changed its name to better reflect all that it does. During the past 13 years, the organization has expanded to include docent training and outreach to inner-city and disabled children. Now it has more of an educational direction.

*

Rocky Oaks Park, near Kanan Road and Mulholland Highway, is just one of 80 wilderness sites where the group leads hikes.

Each year, about 20,000 adults and children make one of these treks, according to Executive Director Michele Nuzzo. They often fill up fast, so preregistration is required.

Children old enough to walk do so. The rest make the trip in backpacks or strollers, if the trail is stroller-accessible. (Rocky Oaks is not.) Babies as young as 2 months can get something out of it.

“If you take very young children out to look at plants, listen to birds, feel bark, smell things, they’re using all the senses and it has an impact on their cognitive development over time,” Nuzzo said.

Parents can certainly undertake such outings on their own, but docents are trained in plant and animal life, geology and Native American history.

“It’s a real science curriculum that parents probably don’t have,” she said.

Docents also teach participants respect and love for the environment. Roseman, a retired preschool teacher, cautions them not to pick up critters such as lizards or bugs, destroy animal homes or go traipsing off the trail.

Roseman, who lives in Encino, has led these walks for five years and can gear them to all ages. In her multi-pocketed vest, she might carry a rubber snake, a toy lizard or spider, an acorn, maybe a hand-puppet or two. If the children are older, she’ll produce her magnifying glass.

During the walk, she breaks for snacks (bring your own), and in the midst of a grove of oak trees she seats everyone at picnic tables for an arts-and-crafts session. She brings her stamp pad, and inks animal images on hands.

The Children’s Nature Institute has other walks coming up in the Ventura County area: Jan. 23, Los Robles Trail, Thousand Oaks, 10 a.m.; Jan. 26, Corriganville Park, Simi Valley, 9:30 a.m.; Jan. 29, Rancho Sierra Vista’s Wendy Trail, Thousand Oaks, 9:30 a.m.

For more information on the Children’s Nature Institute or to make reservations, call (310) 364-3591.

*

Winter may be a little nippy for walks at the beach, but it’s the best time to explore tide pools. Low tides--the ideal time to see critters such as anemones and sea stars--tend to be even lower in the winter.

If you don’t know an anemone from an oyster, Ventura’s recreation department is offering family tide-pool explorations in January, February and March.

The first one is Saturday, 2:30 to 4 p.m., at Emma Wood State Beach Group Camp, near the mouth of the Ventura River. Others are scheduled Jan. 30, Feb. 13 and 27, and March 13. Preregistration is required and the cost is $5.

Children should be at least 5 years old and able to walk a half-mile over sand and cobblestone, unless they are young enough to ride in a carrier; no strollers, though. And be prepared to get wet.

For more information or to register, call 658-4726.