It's a Jungle Out There!

Some websites can move children outdoors

National Wildlife Federation's Great American Backyard Campout partner, PBS Backyard Jungle, has developed an exemplary blend of the virtual and real worlds. The Backyard Jungle website provides young people with the opportunity to develop an on-line map of their very favorite outdoor space. To do this, they need to get outside and explore. Once the child has takena close look at, let's say, their backyard, he or she will map it by filling it with the right symbols and icons and then post the map on the Web. The kids also can post their comments and observations and share them with other kids.

For the August 20, 2005 Great American Backyard Campout, our friends at the Corporation for Public Broadcastng and the Jungle's remarkable site-creator, Forum One Communications, have added a tent icon to the map options! At this writing almost 22,000 people are signed up for the Backyard Campout -- we hope you will join us.