14 Things All Kids Need, Part 2 of 2

In this heartfelt episode, clinical social workers Heather and Kristina dive into the final seven out of 14 essential things children need to thrive. They explore the power of simplicity—how reducing material clutter can bring peace and the importance of affirming a child’s inherent goodness with daily expressions of love. They discuss the value of daily rhythms, providing security and predictability; creating a calm environment to nurture mental well-being; and cultivating compassion to help children safely express their emotions. Heather and Kristina also talk about the profound impact of being a “shoulder to cry on” through active listening and nonjudgmental support, and they emphasize the transformative power of expressing gratitude for who children are, not just what they do. Tune in for an insightful discussion on these free, simple practices that can strengthen our bonds with our kiddos and make a world of difference in their lives.

Gear Up! Adventures In Parenthood is recorded and edited by Dave Purnell and produced by Jen Plante Johnson for the ODC Network in Holland, Michigan.

The ODC Network is a non-profit organization that strives to advance outdoor education and conservation in West Michigan.

Since 2000, The ODC Network has served over a million people through hands-on, outdoor learning experiences and conserved thousands of acres of native habitat through restoration and preservation projects.

The ODC Network’s vision is building a better community by connecting people, land and nature. To learn more and get involved go to: www.odcnetwork.org.

Transcript

Kristina  00:00

In today's episode, we're wrapping up our two-part discussion on the 14 things kids need more of with the final seven things.

Heather  00:08

These are all about creating a simple, supportive environment for our kids to truly thrive. We're talking simplicity, belief in their goodness, daily rhythms and so much more. 

Kristina  00:19

We'll dive into the power of a calm home, the importance of listening without judgment, and why it's so crucial to express gratitude for who our children are, not just what they do. 

Heather  00:31

It's amazing how these simple, free practices can have such a huge impact on kids, emotional well being and strengthen our family connections. 

Kristina  00:42

We can't wait to share these ideas with you. So, let's do it.

Heather  

Welcome to Gear Up! Adventures In Parenthood.

Kristina

A podcast where we explore the struggles and challenges we all face as parents. We'll share ideas and offer tips and strategies for raising happy, healthy children. My name's Kristina Boersma

Heather

And I'm Heather Bouwman. Kristina and I are clinical social workers who've been working with families and children for a good long minute. We're Support Service Directors for the Early Childhood Network of ODC Network in Holland, Michigan. And we get to support parents and children as they navigate the tricky terrain of raising children and growing up in today's world.

Kristina

We're here to help unpack the hard stuff and connect with the joy of parenting. 

Heather

Are you ready? 

Kristina and Heather

Let's hit the trails.

Heather  

This project is made possible by the ODC Network, an amazing nonprofit organization based in Holland, Michigan, where we get to work supporting preschool aged students, their teachers and their parents.

Kristina  

The ODC Network is all about nurturing the community and the next generation through a wide variety of innovative nature-based initiatives.

Heather  

Please visit www. ODCNetwork.org to learn more about the ODC Network's mission and impact.

Heather  02:11

Hey, Kristina?

Kristina  02:12

Hey!

Heather  02:13

What are we going to talk about today? 

Kristina  02:15

We are talking about the other seven things from the 14 things that children need more of in their life. 

Heather

Awesome. So last episode, we talked about the first seven, and this episode-

Kristina  02:29

Seven more. Yes, yes, exactly. We will explore the remaining seven. And something I didn't say last episode that I really want to make sure we say in this episode is one: you'll notice that all 14 things cost nothing.

Heather  02:47

Free.

Kristina  02:48

Free to use. Free to implement. And two: please, I don't want any of us to think we need to move into tomorrow implementing these 14. 

Heather  03:00

Oh, my goodness, please don't. Oh, it's overwhelming just thinking about it. 

Kristina  03:05

So, as we listen and as we explore these things, I'd like to challenge us all to pick out one or two things that we can commit to, saying, “I'm going to do more of that in my family and in my life, moving forward.” You can keep the list of 14. And I will refer back to them. And if it's like, “Hey, we've got those two things, we can pick a couple. We can pick a couple more…”

Heather  03:30

But take bites. Don't try to eat the whole meal. 

Kristina  03:33

Okay, I just needed to say that, because I can be an overachiever and be like, “I got 14 things. I got them on a list. I got my little check boxes. And here we go.” And that's not reasonable. 

Heather  03:45

Alright. Well, tell us what number eight is. 

Kristina  03:47

Number eight is simplicity. 

Heather  03:50

Excellent.

Kristina  03:51

And we have a lot of fun talking about the good old days, right? When times were simpler. But there's something about that simplicity that's actually really, really good for kids. Back then, toys were simple, activities were simple, games were simple. And today we have a lot of very complicated things.

Heather  04:13

Well and even as I think about our homes, like I think about the childhood home that I grew up in and that we weren't constantly renovating. There was no Pinterest. There was no expectation, right? You know, it's just so different.

Kristina  04:29

I had a doll, not 20 dolls, right? We just had fewer things. And that allows for space. Less is more when it comes to the complicated things that we include in our lives and in our children's lives. I remember hearing, if this is several years ago, a friend of mine thinking about Christmas, and what she shared was that in their family, each person gets four gifts. Something they want, something they need, something they wear, something to read. Dour things. Holy cow. And when I heard that, I thought, “I love that.” And then I thought, “Is it possible to only give those four things at Christmas?” And the fact that I had to ask myself that, and really was kind of confronted with, well, I love those four, but there will be more gifts and thinking, “but there don't have to be.” Our kids have so many toys. It's not like I have two coloring books. I have 17 coloring books and less, really can be more. There was a study done, and this had to do with supermarkets, actually. And if there are too many choices, like too many cereals, there's a tipping point where we become immobilized when there are too many choices, 

Heather  05:59

Yeah, and we see that with children, yeah, we really in our classrooms. Try to pare things out. In our indoor classrooms, try to pare things down for them, because too many choices is debilitating. 

Kristina  06:10

Yes, something that my husband and I both struggle with is getting rid of things, right? We always have donation boxes going in the back room of our house, because we donate things an awful lot, but we also hang on to things for a long time. And I know that that's kind of just never know when you're gonna need it. Well, you don't, and then, darn it, sometimes you actually did need the screw to the old door knob that you kept in the back corner of the garage, even though you didn't even know what it went to. But then, darn it, you needed it. Welcomed my life last weekend when a door knob fell off and we needed that particular screw, which they don't make anymore, because our house was built down 1903. so it can come back and bite us sometimes when we actually do use that stuff. But what I'm saying is we both grew up with the scarcity model, and so we hang on to things because of that deep fearthat we wouldn't be able to replace it if we needed it in the future. And I'm very aware, especially as Grace gets older, that I don't want to pass that on to her, right? So for her to see us with always those giveaway boxes, and saying it's much better for somebody to use this than for us to store it, to allow her to have a looser grip on these tangible things in our world, and to be willing to pass them along, I think is really good. I just heard somebody say, for Lent. You know, I follow the season of Lent, and that for the 40 days of Lent each day, give something away, 40 things. And that can seem like a lot of things. And if you live a simpler life, that is a lot of things. But from my life, I should get rid of like, four things each day, because living a simpler life declutters the mind as it declutters your spaces. And can help with anxiety too. 

Heather  08:12

Oh, absolutely. I know that if my space gets filled with too many things and out of order, I do not feel good on the inside, 

Kristina  08:22

Right. It's what we used to do as kids growing up, if my mom was getting stressed out, we had a secret code, and you would just go to the room that a sibling was in, and if they were in their bedroom, you'd open the door and say, white tornado. White tornado, very quietly, and we all knew that that meant you were going to clean as fast as you could, as quietly as you could, because that was going to help decrease the stress in the house. It was going to help my mother feel better. So those stairs, going upstairs, we were all taking all the things off the stairs and putting them where they belonged, putting laundry away, having a simpler environment helps us all feel more calm. So modeling and practicing with children that kind of non-attachment with things and being able to let go of things that can become normal for a child, if you model that so looking at your life and saying, where are the places we could simplify schedule, simplify the things that we welcome into our home, simplify the expectations that we have for different events. Even that is something that children need more of they do not need more toys. They need less toys. And in fact, what we can do is to even put some of the toys aside and cycle things in and out so that they don't have access to all the toys. Yeah, at the same time, 

Heather  09:57

Because they get  tired of them after a while, and then they're just sitting. And we used to do that, put some things away and get things back out at a different time, because they interact with them differently. If they haven't been with all of those toys for a while, right? 

Kristina  10:14

And if you have 50 toys, that's a lot to take care of, but if I have 10 or 15, that's more manageable when you're teaching-when we teach our children about putting things away and caring for belongings and respecting things like property, less is more. 

Heather  10:34

Alright. Number nine, belief in their goodness. I love this one because I am so grateful to be a mom and to have three wonderful kids, and I always wanted them to know. I always wanted them to feel highly regarded, and I always wanted them to know, no matter what had happened in the day, right? We're not perfect parents. Nobody is no we all goof it up. We all muck it up. We have days that are bad for any number of reasons. Maybe we yelled, maybe I had said things I didn't want to ever think that I would say to my children, or I had a quick wick and had gotten angry, and they internalized that. 

Kristina  11:25

Because that's what children do. 

Heather  11:26

They absolutely do that for lots of different reasons, partly because we're their people, and we're their safe place, and so when we regard them in that way, they think they've done something wrong, because that's what they naturally tell themselves. Developmentally, littles are just so egocentric, and then into that re-emerges, in you know, the teenage years, when they're so incredibly egocentric again, that they can convince themselves of all sorts of irrational things, like my teacher's in a bad mood because of something we're doing in class, or my parents are fighting because I didn't eat my dinner, right? And it doesn't even have to make sense or be rational. They have a child's mind and brain, which is hard for us as adults with our adult brains, to comprehend how they could possibly come to that conclusion, Because it is not rooted in anything sensical, right? 

Kristina  12:27

What it's actually rooted in Heather is attachment, 

Heather  12:30

Absolutely

Kristina  12:31

In order for a child to attach to their caregiver, which we know is that attachment more important than food and water. In order to do that, the caregiver has to be safe. So if the caregiver acts in a way that is unsafe, meaning they use words that harm or cause shame or induce guilt, or they behave in a way that's physically unsafe. So physically, emotionally, mentally unsafe, the child has to keep that caregiver safe in their mind so they take on the responsibility for the behavior the caregiver exhibited. 

Heather  13:15

And I have done those things. I have done those things, and we go back to when we talk about sleep and the final thoughts that we want our kids to have at the end of the day, at least my husband and I was, you are loved. We are so glad that we get to be your parents. And to have them go to bed with that knowledge of you are ours. We belong to each other. Those are just really important things, because it builds their inner voice. They have to believe in their goodness, and they have to have that sense of belonging within our homes. I think back to when my son Luke was making Profession of Faith in church. And we are a family of faith, as I've said that before. And he had decided that this was something he was going to do. I believe he was probably 15. He's almost 18 now. So I would say this was roughly three years ago. And they were recording a video, and they had to write basically their testimony. That was the process in our church. And so they had to write their testimony. It was recorded on video. There were many kids that were deciding to do this at once. Safety in numbers, I think. And so this video played, and here we are in church, hearing this and seeing Luke on the screen, and we have not done certainly everything right as parents in our home. But this was a moment that was so impactful for my husband and I. And we were like, even if we did a ton of things wrong, man, at least we got that right. 

Kristina

Yeah.

Heather  15:00

Yeah, and I want to share Luke's words with you, because I don't think as-Oh, I'm gonna, I'm gonna get choked up…As a mom and as a parent sitting next to my husband, I don't think I'll ever forget them. I can quote them to this day, because it was remarkable what he said in the midst of a bunch of other things, the part that really jumped out at me was “I'm told daily that I'm loved, and I'm shown daily that I'm loved. And the love of my earthly father has drawn me closer and helped me better understand the love my Heavenly Father has for me.”

Kristina  15:38

I've got goosebumps all over.

Heather  15:42

I know. And I remember hearing those words come from my 15 year old son's mouth, and oh, he was sitting right ahead of us with all the other kids. And I think I tossed my hand through his hair, and I knew, without looking at my husband, he was choked up. I mean, what a beautiful…he went on to talk about, you know, all of these nature experiences they've had, and what that's meant to him. And how he feels the presence in those moments. But to have that resonate with him, “I'm told daily that I'm loved, and I'm shown daily that I'm loved.” Even when we think our kids are missing it. You pick it up. 

Kristina  16:23

And even when we are really screwing it up.

Heather  16:25

Yes, right? When those words are present and they're frequent, and they're told every single night when their head hits the pillow, “You are loved. We are together. I belong to you. You belong to me.” So belief in their goodness, 

Kristina  16:41

Yeah, and I just want to say something else. We've talked before about how many times a child does not have your full attention. When they do have your full intention, it is because many times they're behaving in a way that is not acceptable, that is not appropriate.

Heather  16:57

Because those are the moments that we zero in on them. 

Kristina  16:59

Absolutely. And so we can focus on the times when a child is being “bad” or “naughty.”And when we focus our energy in that place, that does become their inner voice.

Heather  17:14

It does

Kristina  17:14

right. They doubt their ability to make decisions. They doubt that they are a good person. 

Heather  17:20

And if they get that sort of feeling about themselves and start telling themselves that they live into it because they're told, Oh, I'm the naughty one, right, right? I'm expected to be naughty. 

Kristina  17:33

Yes, again, first five years affect the next 80. And when that inner voice is one of I am bad, I am not capable. That is what the voice into. 

Heather  17:47

It's the voice of shame and doubt, and they will live into that. 

Kristina  17:51

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Kristina  18:16

Okay, tell us number 10. 

Heather  18:18

Number 10” daily rhythms and rituals, which I feel like we've talked about the importance of rhythms and rituals and schedules and all of that. And what this is for kids is it goes back to safety and security and predictability. It allows children to settle knowing that they know what to expect, that they know what's coming, that they know how the day flows. Gives them all that ability to predict and to anticipate, and it allows their nervous system to rest and not have to be on high alert, what's coming, what's happening. I think as adults, we feel better with that so many of us, and of course, that's a temperament thing as well. Some people are just more flexible and adaptable. Others are not. They need that definition. They need that framework. In children, we know all of them do better when they're operating within that framework and that structure, 

Kristina  19:26

When your child is little, right? When Grace was little…and this is true for many, many children. They want the same stories read over and over. 

Heather  19:35

Because it's predictable and they know the outcome, 

Kristina  19:37

Yes, and so they can settle. And again, they don't need to be on alert. 

Heather  19:42

And they find great safety and security and all of that repetition and knowing exactly what to expect. And this is also, I think, when we talk about daily rhythms and rituals, this is the place to where we have to set. We really have to decide what we're gonna allow into our lives, what we're going to place priority on, how we're spending our time and how much of our time. And what we model is what speaks to our children, so much more loudly than our words.

Kristina  20:19

Yep. And they grow up thinking that's the way it is. That's the normal 

Heather  20:23

Our values become their values. So that was number 10, yep. Number 11: a calm environment. I feel like we keep saying the word “calm.” “Calm.” But it's because it's so necessary for children and for adults. It provides, again, safety and predictability. It increases emotional and mental wellbeing. For all, we've all been in situations where you think, I mean your white tornado moment with your mom, right? Doesn't really bring the calm. It's like, oh, something's on the horizon, and it is not pretty, right? And we've all been there in our homes where it's like something's happening here. Storms are brewing. If I put my foot down here, is that mine gonna go off? Yeah, if I put my foot down here, that is not a great way for anyone's central nervous system, right, to live, right? It's just a state of dysregulation. Our jaw might be clenched, our shoulders might be higher. We hold our body with all this tension, and it does not provide an environment for learning and growth. 

Kristina  21:33

No, I like to think of it like an engine. Is your engine idling really high, and we can get used to operating in that zone, yeah, and that allowing space in our homes, especially in our relationships with our children, to have that sometimes right, but then also to have them really experience the lived experience of calm, what comfort that can bring. 

Heather  22:03

I mean, you watch a hummingbird in nature, you think, Oh, my goodness, how do they move at that pace? How do they move at that pace? And then I go outside and I see, you know, my fat cat and laying in the sun, and I'm like, now, that's a life. That is a life. Sunnin’ itself, just laying there, you're no hummingbird, 

Kristina  22:22

Right. And the hummingbirds were designed to operate that way. Yeah, we were not.

Heather  22:26

No, And if we try to operate that way, it can, especially in children, look a bit maniacal. It comes out all sorts of sideways. And we don't want that for our kids. We want them to find peace and calm and rest and not feel guilty about being in a state of rest, in a state of calm, because sometimes our culture can push us into believing Go, go, go, go, go. Right? That's always the way 

Kristina  22:52

you're lazy, you're wasting time if you're not always being productive, right? That's what our culture wants us to believe. I loved the sign you had in your house. Heather, Haven. 

Heather  23:04

Oh, a place of safety or and refuge. 

Kristina  23:07

Yeah, we want our homes and our partnerships, yes, to be a safe haven for each other, for our children, yes, yeah. 

Heather  23:09

And to just be the place where, when the world gets crazy, they want to just come home. They want to be home because of the feelings that home brings. And that goes back to number 9,10, and 11, calm environment, yeah, daily rhythm. You know what to expect. And this is a place where I'm known, and there's a belief in my goodness.

Kristina  23:40

And that whatever you are bringing home, whatever has transpired in your day- 

Heather  23:45

We'll figure it out. 

Kristina  23:46

We will. It may not be pretty, but we're going to do it together, because we belong to each other. I love it. Next one is: compassion. Children need more compassion in their lives. We beat this drum a lot. But having compassion and empathy for our children allows them to feel safe with their feelings, with their wonders, their hurts, and their ideas 

Heather  24:17

and just who they are in general, if we minimize that, they internalize it.

Kristina  24:23

Allowing our children to tell us their realities, instead of telling them how they feel, that they're being ridiculous, that type of thing, it builds their confidence and it also secures their inner voice. 

Heather  24:37

The thing that I have learned as my children have grown is they really just want us to listen. Yeah, so often it's just about listening.

Kristina  24:48

Well and having that developmentally appropriate understanding of what is appropriate for your child at this age, they aren't able to manage all of the things that we can as an adult. They don't experience them the same ways. I think Brene Brown perhaps said something about how empathy really is, believing someone when they tell you what their experience is. 

Heather  25:16

Not that you know their experience better than they do. 

Kristina  25:19

Right. Yep, and then having compassion for that, even if it does seem ridiculous to you. Oh my gosh. Probably 25 years ago, I remember a student coming into my office and oh, she was so upset I did not handle this well. So let me just preface it that way, do not do as I did in this example. So she came in my office, she was super upset, and I was in a space where I was not compassionate, too many things, too little time. That's how I was. Can remember it to this day, she came in upset. I said, something has happened, what has happened? And another child had stuck her tongue out at her, so in this moment, right? Too much to do too little time. Zip, zip, zip, zip, My engine is a humming. I stuck my tongue out at her, and I said, that really doesn't hurt, does it? Oh, gross, right. Gross on so many levels. 

Heather  26:19

Girl, that was not your finest moment.

Kristina  26:21

 It was not my finest moment at all. But to me, it was like, “This is ridiculous. Somebody sticking their tongue out doesn't actually cause you harm, right?” But for this child in this moment with that child's tongue being stuck out at her, was devastating. So I should have entered that in a much different way. 

Heather  26:40

And when I hear you talk about that, I can almost feel your stress. Oh, yeah, whatever was happening. And I think as parents, we do have stress. And we carry stress. And we don't have to apologize to anyone for what our stress does to us. But we have to apologize to our children, or maybe a spouse, or maybe a parent, for what our stress did to them. 

Kristina  27:09

So Heather, we are sliding into the last two of the 14 things children need more of, and it is: a shoulder to cry on. Now this is so similar right to compassion, but we all need a place where we can go and just let it out. And we need to be that for our children. You know, I have started, this is a few years ago, implementing a few questions when somebody comes to me, whether it's my child or a co worker or a friend and saying, “Do you need me to just listen? Are you hoping for advice? Are you hoping that I'll do something?” Because often times for me, I launch into advice or I just want to fix it. And sometimes all we really need is for somebody to listen. So having that shoulder to cry on being the safe place and letting them express their feelings and communicating to them that those feelings are valued and they are valid.

Heather  28:19

I love that you ask those questions because so often our adult brain wants to shift from actively listening into actively problem solving, right? And so often our children just want us to listen. Or our co workers just want us to listen. So the “What are you hoping for?” is a really important question. I'll say to my kids, “What's my role in this?”

Kristina  28:46

Yes, that's another great question.

Heather  28:47

Because it gives them all of the autonomy, all of the control. “What are you needing from me? What's my role in this?”

Kristina  28:55

Yeah, well, and have you ever had it where you just really need to share about something, but as you're sharing, then that person is like, “Well, I'm gonna go talk to so and so, and I'm gonna…” It's like, “No, no-

Heather  29:08

Or they start talking about themselves and whatever. That happens too, not because, I mean, people relate in all different sort of ways, but all of a sudden it can be like, “Oh, okay. Now this is different than what I thought it was going to be…”

Kristina  29:23

Sometimes we just need to be there to listen. Okay, most often just to listen.

Heather  29:31

Final one: 14.

Kristina  29:33

Here we go…

Heather  29:33

Expressed gratitude for who they are. It sounds again, so simple, but it's one of those things that if we're not intentional, we might not realize we're not doing this or communicating this in the way that we might have hoped for. So I think it, again, is the work of Brene Brown, because she's talks about belonging a lot, and about safety and belonging.

Heather  30:00

And I believe it's her work, where she talked about not feeling like she belonged in her home and not feeling known within her family. It's a really important thing for kids that they need to view us as their people. We talk about “same, sames,” right? Tat connect us. And that children can actually be like, “Yeah, my mom really likes that.” Or, you know, Grace could say “My mom loves watching My Pretty Pony with me

Kristina  30:27

It’s My Little Pony. 

Heather  30:31

Oh, sorry. My pretty pony is a very different thing. Think those are from the eighties. Excuse me. But you know, those are the things they need to feel connected to us and known by us, and that their contribution and who they are is enough, 

Kristina  30:50

And that's it. Who they are, not what they do, they're not what they produce, but who they are 

Heather  30:57

as they are, and that they fit right with us. They're exactly where they should be. So that goes back to, I believe this is just again about the modeling. And sometimes it helps me to think, what type of parents do I want my kids to be? What do I want to model for my children? Or how would I want to see them treat their child? And that will help me get out of my emotional brain sometimes and get into back to my thinking. And I think we as parents just want to keep at the forefront what we're modeling and what we're making time for in our homes, and being able to say, I'm so grateful for you. I love you so much. Every single day. Goes back to Luke. “I'm told every day that I'm loved, and I'm shown every day and that I'm loved.”  

Kristina  31:50

I think it's important for us to give specific affirmations and specific expressions of gratitude for who our children are.

Heather  31:59

What it is about them, 

Kristina  32:01

yes, or what characteristic we saw, your kindness, your generosity, your patience, whatever it is that we have seen in them. To call that out specifically, I do think we have this generation, couple generations now, of individuals who do not have a realistic understanding of their gifts and their talents, because we went through this whole phase where, if a child drew a picture, oh, that's the most beautiful picture I've ever seen, or in a child plays their violin for the first time, and it's like, Ah, that's so beautiful. You are such an amazing musician, and this kind of over the top praise that, I mean, that's how we get the American Idol tryouts that we do, right? The ones that are cringy because somebody thinks they're good at..

Heather  32:56

Someone has told them some lies…

Kristina  32:59

Yes along the way. So helping our children build that strong sense of self, strong inner voice and realistic understanding of what their strengths are. 

Heather  33:11

Yeah, rooted in honesty and truth and love. We also have some generations that can't take feedback. Yeah, yes. It's really challenging because everything has been maybe syrup, right? That's tricky, too. Yeah, so being able ourselves and modeling when our kids give us feedback, it's not always the easiest thing to hear the wisdom from the young ones. But when we consider how much wisdom we're imparting on them consistently, we have to be able to take it too and model for them that we also can consider that.

Kristina  33:47

And can continue to learn and grow. So those are the 14 things that children need more of. Important things. Free things. Wonderful, wonderful things. Don't tackle them all. 

Heather  34:02

Please don't.

Kristina  34:03

Tackle one or two at a time. And pay attention to how that impacts your relationships, the dynamic within your family, and the sense of, I think, joy.

Heather  34:17

And well being in your home.

Kristina  

Thank you so much for joining us for Gear Up! Adventures In Parenthood. I'm Kristina.

Heather  

And I'm Heather. And we're so grateful to join you on your parenting journey, until next time…

Heather and Kristina

See you on the trails!

Kristina  

The Gear Up! Adventures In Parenthood podcast is brought to you by the ODC Network in Holland, Michigan. It is produced by Jen Plante Johnson, recorded and edited by Dave Purnell, with original theme music by Dave Purnell,

Heather  

The ODC Network is a nonprofit organization that strives to advance outdoor education and conservation in West Michigan.

Kristina  

Since 2000 the ODC network has served over a million people through hands on outdoor learning experiences and conserved thousands of acres of native habitat through restoration and preservation projects.

Heather  

The ODC Network’s vision is building a better community by connecting people, land and nature. To learn more and get involved, go to www.ODCNetwork.org.