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Clues to Solve the History of Nature Detectives

Summer Alameel

Started in 1984 by volunteer naturalists Ann Cooper, Carol Kampert, and Ann Armstrong, the Nature Detectives Club is a kids’ program through Boulder County Parks & Open Space (BCPOS) that uses activities and engaging content to foster children’s appreciation and connection to nature. At present, Nature Detectives consists of three main components, including an educational insert found in the county’s quarterly magazine, Images, free public programs, and the Mystery Guides, which are activity-based brochures found at various parks and trails around the county. While the Nature Detectives Club is currently one of the most popular programs run by the department’s education & outreach workgroup, the program itself started quite small. Its founding was guided by the big idea that: “Children have an innate sense of joy and wonder about nature,” as Armstrong put it. And that experiential environmental education can help kids deepen their connection to the natural world (Bache-Snyder, 1990).

As robust and developed as BCPOS is now, it may be hard to believe that when the department was established in 1975, it had just four employees — a parks planner, two rangers, and a planning technician. At that time, the importance of open space itself was in question and community debate around the open space sales tax to fund the department was high. Perhaps this is why the creation of the Volunteer Naturalist Program in 1975, the same year that BCPOS was founded, was crucial in providing the support the department needed to successfully serve the community using such limited resources. Ann Cooper became a volunteer naturalist in 1978, leading public programs on environmental education, and would later write natural history articles for Images magazine. Images was first published in the spring of 1980 in collaboration with the City of Boulder Mountain Parks (now known as City of Boulder Open Space & Mountain Parks).

Cooper soon got together with fellow volunteer naturalists, Ann Armstrong and Carol Kampert, who each had extensive experience in outdoor education. The three connected in their passion for teaching kids about nature and shared a concern that children were spending too much time indoors watching TV, losing their connection to the outdoors. This concern reflected a growing societal fear. In fact, in 1984, the American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on Children and Television issued a statement that highlighted the health risks associated with too much television viewing and recommended that parents limit their kids’ time in front of the TV.

Ignited by the notion that children in their community would benefit from intentional, hands-on time in nature, Armstrong, Cooper and Kampert proposed the idea of creating articles and activities about nature specifically for kids to Rich Koopman, who was BCPOS’ Planning Manager and Images editor at the time. Koopman enthusiastically approved the idea, and the trio of volunteer naturalists came up with a theme, brainstormed content, and used a collaborative approach to write “Ponds and Puddles,” an article with accompanying puzzles featured in the first issue of Nature Detectives, which made its debut in the spring edition of Images in 1984.

The original Nature Detective centerfolds may appear somewhat rudimentary to us now with hand-written text, simple illustrations that were largely done by Armstrong, and even the authors own fingerprints that were used to draw the bodies of mice.

Yet what these initial inserts may lack in flashy design, they make up for in accessible, warm content that educates while also encouraging readers to mindfully explore the natural world for themselves. As Cooper wrote in The Courant in 1986, “The key to being a nature detective is ‘hands-on’ (or even, sometimes, ‘feet-in’) participation . . . using sight, sound, scent, and touch as they search for clues of animal activity and animal homes, finding stories in the landscape.”

Cooper, Armstrong, and Kampert continued writing the Nature Detectives centerfolds, which featured short articles, activities, and puzzles, as well as a notice for a public program set in nature that corresponded to the issue’s nature theme. Although Boulder County’s environmental education events for kids already existed prior to the creation of Nature Detectives, the programming became more robust and established under the tutelage of Nature Detectives.

Today, the county continues to run free public programs, the second prong of the Nature Detectives Club, for kids at various county parks. These programs cover a wide range of topics, from woodpeckers and the moon, to water, and park rangers. The three founders of Nature Detectives worked on the program together until the mid 1990s when they published “The Wild Watch Book”, a nature-based kids activity book series that amassed especial popularity along the Front Range. Cooper states that she, Armstrong, and Kamper drew heavy inspiration from the Nature Detective centerfolds to write their books. Cooper even credits the inserts with helping her start her writing career — a passion that resulted in the writing of 12 books, an endeavor that she continues today, 40 years later, by writing for Images magazine. In fact, you can read Cooper’s latest article on the county’s cacti in this issue! Armstrong, Cooper, and Kampert have long since passed the reins of Nature Detectives to other Boulder County volunteer naturalists. However, their legacy and passion for connecting kids to nature has endured. Their work helped spawn the creation of the Mystery Guides decades later, which have since become a revered element of the Nature Detectives Club.

Nature Detectives founders Ann Cooper, Carol Kampert, and Ann Armstrong (from left to right) was featured in a 1990 issue of the Sunday Times-Call Magazine following the publication of their book, “The Wild Watch Book”.

In 2007, Pascale Fried, who worked in education & outreach for BCPOS for 31 years, created the Nature Detectives Mystery Guides. These interactive brochures for kids contain activities and information specific to each of the 10 county parks and trails where the guides are found. Fried conceived the idea for the Mystery Guides after pondering how to encourage kids to enjoy open spaces more. Her inspiration stemmed from her own experiences in parks, where she frequently observed children who were frustrated and in tears during hikes, much to the dismay of their equally frustrated parents. Fried was also inspired by the book, “The Last Child in the Woods,” and a widespread concern within the industry that children were spending too much time indoors — the same sentiment that sparked Armstrong, Cooper, and Kampert to create Nature Detectives in 1984. These factors combined to inspire Fried to launch Mystery Guides.

The guides were created using the principles that the content was to be experiential, self-guided, suitable for families to do together, and importantly, that there were no right answers. Moreover, Fried thought that the Mystery Guides shouldn’t be so much about the science of nature, but rather the being in nature. This helps kids to slow down, observe their surroundings, and get curious about the natural world around them.

Helen Olsson, local author of “The Down & Dirty Guide to Camping with Kids: How to Plan Memorable Family Adventures and Connect Kids to Nature,” wrote of her experience with her kids in completing Nature Detective Mystery Guides at Walden Ponds. She noted, “The kids connected to nature in a way they wouldn’t have if we’d simply been on a hike.” She added, “it got us really looking and listening to nature.” This sentiment echoes Fried’s intentions for the Mystery Guides, which are not about completing all 10 guides or doing every single activity, but rather about engaging in at least one activity and retaining a skill or experience that can be applied to future outdoor explorations.

Fried and Education & Outreach Seasonals started the Mystery Guides series in 2007, creating three guides for different properties each year over a three-year period. They tweaked activities and content along the way and introduced the Nature Detectives mascot, Sherlock Fox. Today, Mystery Guides are available at trailheads in 10 different Boulder County parks and trails. Kids can complete the guides on their own or with an adult, and they don’t need any special knowledge or equipment — just a writing utensil, a curious mind, and a sense of adventure!

Guided by Sherlock Fox, kids become Nature Detectives, tasked with exploring the mysteries of the natural world around them. Using the Mystery Guide, they collect clues and complete various activities and quests. Through this nature treasure hunt, children engage their senses in deep, mindful observation, build confidence in self-guided learning and play, and foster a greater appreciation for nature.

After completing the Mystery Guide, participants and their accompanying adults can fill out their contact information on the back and deposit the guide in the white mailbox located at the Nature Detective station. If more time is needed, the guide can be mailed to the address on the back of the guide. Once the guide is received, a letter and prize are mailed to the participants to encourage them to keep completing more Mystery Guides and getting out in nature.

In celebrating the 40th anniversary of the creation of Nature Detectives, it’s important to recognize that Volunteer Naturalists, Ann Cooper, Ann Armstrong, and Carol Kampert, started this program with the simple yet authentic goal of deepening kids’ connection to nature. Little did they know that this unassuming kids’ program would morph and grow over the years into a multi-faceted approach for nature exploration. Whether it be the written word of the centerfolds in Images, the facilitated programs by educators, or the self-guided exploration born from the Mystery Guides, the legacy that Nature Detectives leaves on this community is immense and deeply meaningful, and is guided by the grounding principle that as Cooper puts it, “any hike, anywhere, anytime, becomes an adventure.”

Where in the County are These Mystery Guides?

A Heartfelt Thanks to All Who’ve Contributed to Nature Detectives Over the Years

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