Let’s Go Outdoors in Tacony Creek Park!

By TTF intern Sophie Buckingham

The Tookany/Tacony-Frankford (TTF) Watershed Partnership teamed up with Tarsha Scovens from Let’s Go Outdoors to promote water awareness in our community. On a hot Saturday afternoon in Tacony Creek Park, the Let’s Go Outdoors children’s program opened with a discussion of how we use water every day. After the kids thought of ways they use water often, Tarsha and Seraiah taught the group a dance about water usage. The kids danced to a song about fish and made hand motions to represent taking a shower, drinking water, swimming, and brushing their teeth.

A group of children and one adult stand in a line holding hands.

Since the sun was already baking the pavement at 10:00 in the morning, it was a perfect time for a water balloon toss. The kids and their parents tossed balloons and got wet to cool off. Of course, everyone made sure to pick up the popped balloons from the ground afterwards.

Children and adults toss water balloons in Tacony Creek Park

Kids love circle games, so Tarsha used a variation on Duck Duck Goose to get the kids excited about water. Each child got a turn to be the goose and run around the circle squeezing water onto everyone’s heads from a ball designed to absorb water.

Children and adults play a variant of Duck, Duck, Goose adapted for water play.

Once everyone was nice and soaked, the kids sat in the shade of tents and decorated their own water pouches. There were plenty of colored markers to make the pouches unique, and the kids were so excited that they wanted to start drinking from their brand new reusable pouches right away. Luckily, Let’s Go Outdoors had brought water to pour into the pouches to keep the kids enthusiastic about using reusable containers.

Children decorate reusable water pouches while sitting in the shade of a tent canopy.

With their pouches secured to their belt loops, the kids were ready to explore the park. Along the trail, Tarsha pointed out Queen Anne’s lace, raspberry plants, and a tulip poplar tree, which the kids recognized from a previous Let’s Go Outdoors event. As we came up alongside Tacony Creek, Tarsha paused to explain the importance of keeping the water clean and not littering. On the way back up the trail, some of the parents picked up trash from the sides of the trail to keep the park clean and beautiful.

A group of children and one adult gather near Tacony Creek in Tacony Creek Park.

All in all, the kids had a great time being outside and learning about water. The event was a great opportunity for families to enjoy Tacony Creek Park on a summer Saturday.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *