You And Your Kids This Summer: Volunteer Outdoors!

By Alan Gionet

AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - Armed with loppers, dozens of middle school aged kids marched out into a field at Cherry Creek State Park clogged with weeds to go at it.

"It's nice to be outside, volunteer and just enjoy nature," said 7th grader Celine.

She and others were from the Challenge magnet school in the Cherry Creek School District.

They cut and yanked mullein before its thousands of seeds broke free from their pods to spread across the landscape. Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado coordinated the effort.

"We love getting them outside and starting to foster the foundation of stewardship," said programs manager Taylor Driver. She instructed the kids on what to do and they absorbed it readily.

VOC has 60 programs a year, from trail building to weed pulling to gardening and habitat preservation. Projects start at age 6 and up. It's for kids and adults. You can go along with your kids if you want.

"There's no long term time commitment," said marketing and communications manager Kellie Flowers. "You can sign up for one project or more projects. We have some that are just a single day, an easy half-day and we have ones where you can actually camp overnight. We give you the campsite, you just have to bring a tent. We'll cook for you."

The programs are at various levels of difficulty and are all over the state.

Here's where you can find information and sign up at voc.org.

Alan Gionet is anchor of CBS4 This Morning and reports on a wide variety of issues and "Good Question" stories. He started at CBS4 in 1994. Follow Alan on Twitter @AlanGTV or on Facebook.