Feature Stories
Photo by Tina Pretzer
December 2014
Responding to parent demand, Chippewa Nature Center's Nature Preschool has partnered with the local school district to bring nature-based classrooms to public kindergartens.
Photo by Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm
November 2014
Children have a biological connection to living things that can be fostered in early care and education settings. A growing body of research shows that children who are supported in their love for animals tend to generalize that love to other living things, such as plants and nature.
Desert Botanical Garden
October 2014
Despite mounting research about the importance of getting children outside from an early age, there are surprisingly few environmental education programs for babies. This story profiles one program in Phoenix, Arizona.
Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm
September 2014
Take a look inside the nation's first Head Start classroom at a working farm at Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm in Dayton, Ohio.
Photo by Nature Explore
August 2014
Nature Explore's Susan Wirth shares the results of Dimensions Foundation's research that reveals six indicators of thriving, growing, and sustainable outdoor classrooms.
Photo by Lesley Romanoff, Takoma Park Cooperative Nursery School
July 2014
A cooperative nursery school shares tips for how to engage parents, teachers, and children in learning in the outdoors.
June 2014
Liza Lowe shares her story of how she started Wild Roots Nature School at Stonewall Farm.
May 2014
This partnership between a first-grade teacher and a retired environmental educator brought children outdoors to investigate nature with the help of new digital tools.
Photo by Elizabeth Feinberg
April 2014
Are nature-based programs possible in public school settings? Several teachers give us new hope that public schools can use the forest as a classroom.
March 2014
Could the push to get more children into preschool set us back in terms of connecting children to nature, encouraging creative play-based education, and building a love of learning?