You may not have heard of the Get to Know Society but you’ve probably heard of the famous Canadian wildlife painter, Robert Bateman. Several years ago Mr. Bateman founded the Get To Know organization that encourages kids to get outdoors and get to know the wildlife in their neighbourhoods and beyond. Here’s what their website says about them.

The Get to Know Society’s mandate is to promote environmental education in order to raise a generation of Canadians who are inherently aware of their impact on the environment and how their positive interaction with their local wildlife can help preserve our natural wonders for generations to come.

Through the Get to Know Program, the Society helps ensure that young people are provided opportunities to spend more time outdoors. This is particularly important in this day and age, as children continue to abandon outdoor experiences for those they can participate in from within the home. This detachment from nature, and resulting sedentary lifestyle, can have a negative effect on the development of children.

The motto of the Get to Know Program is “Connect. Create. Celebrate.” These words articulate our mission to foster connections to nature through the creative arts – and to celebrate the fantastic work being done by youth in response to the environment and the need to understand and value nature.

Every year they have a contest for kids to submit artwork, a video, a piece of writing or a photograph that features wildlife and the outdoors wherever you may live in Canada. As past winners, my brother and I have become part of their youth advisory board and get to spread the word about the contest. The contest just launched and the deadline for entries is August 1. You can make more than one entry and in more than once category. It’s lot of fun to watch the entries on-line and see what other kids have submitted from across the country.