San Antonio Sessions List
Browse the list of indoor and outdoor sessions taking place in San Antonio, June 25-26, 2026.
Sessions are subject to change.
Indoor Sessions
Grounded in Nature, Built to Last: Advancing Sustainable Policy and Program Design in Early Learning
Presenters: Sheila Williams Ridge, Wande Okunoren-Meadows, Dominique Bostic-Arrington
Nature-based early learning is on the rise, but without sustainable programming and policy alignment, it remains vulnerable. This session challenges participants to move beyond inspiration and examine how intentional program design, sustainability, and policy navigation can secure the future of programs.
Rooted Resilience: Culturally Authentic Nature Education as a Path to Protection and Wellness
Presenters: Sabine Thomas, Chelle Jones
This session guides educators in a mindset shift: seeing Black children through an asset-based lens of cultural richness, using the National Black Child Development Institute’s mental model for nature-based learning environments, and utilizing culture and knowledge systems as an act of identity affirmation and protection.
Innovative Partnerships: Bringing Outdoor Nature-Based Learning to Public Schools (PS - 5)
Presenters: Nicole Corbo, Sibyl Maer-Fillo, Maddie Cole
Explore what's possible when ONB educators support classroom teachers in taking learning outside. Look at how programs in WA successfully partner with local schools to help expand and deepen classroom learning through nature-based activities and experiences.
Nature in Early Childhood Toolkit: Embedding Nature into ECE Systems
Presenters: Jennifer Salinas, David Beard, Vera Feeny
Discover the newly released Nature in Early Childhood Toolkit, which supports communities in embedding nature across early childhood systems. Through discussion and hands-on activities, explore key milestones and identify practical steps to bring this work into your local context.
You Don’t Need to Own Land: Creating Thriving Nature-Based Programs Through Mission-Aligned Partnerships
Presenter: Sarah Besse
You’re a nature-based educator with an entrepreneurial spirit, ready to lead your own program, but with no land and no clear next step. This session is for you. I’ve launched nine outdoor preschools with nine nonprofit land partners. Learn what makes these partnerships succeed--and what to watch out for.
Roots and Beginnings: Findings from a Nature-Based Family Intervention
Presenters: Arianna Pikus, Hannah Thompson
This session will present findings from a recent intervention designed to support well-being in parents and their infants/toddlers through weekly experiences in nature. A cohort of 8 families and their young children (birth to 24 months) participated in a pilot, 6-week nature play group. Each session focused on a different area of development and provided strategies for families to support their child’s development of that skill within a natural setting. For example, collecting different natural materials (such as sticks, leaves, and acorns) helps support the development of your infant’s fine motor skills. Outcomes from the intervention include increased time and comfort with their child in nature, a deeper understanding of how experiences in nature help to support young children’s development, increased community connection, and increased well-being. Future directions for the intervention and ways for others to implement similar programs within their communities will be discussed.
Imagine If We Taught to Children’s Interests: Creating Curriculum Webs That Honor Every Learner
Presenter: Ragon Ralston
This interactive workshop invites educators and caregivers to imagine learning that begins with curiosity instead of curriculum. Participants will explore how to design meaningful, child-centered experiences using curriculum webs that connect children’s interests to standards and developmental goals. Through hands-on guidance, we will practice identifying authentic interests, linking them to learning domains, and applying Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles to make activities inclusive and adaptable. Using real examples from nature-based education, attendees will see how one child’s passion, such as eagles, can expand into rich explorations of math, literacy, science, and art. Participants will create their own curriculum web to take home, gaining the confidence to use and share this approach within their communities. This session makes emergent, interest-led teaching accessible to anyone who believes learning should feel joyful, relevant, and connected to the real world.
One-Year-Olds: Wonderful Ways to Support Little Ones in Outdoor Programs
Presenters: Rebecca Drake, Karissa Burdett
Many programs for young children focus on ages three to five. Each developmental stage has distinct milestones and needs. We advocate that one-year-olds are not too young for outdoor educational experiences. They are capable of exploring and discovering their communities in many ways. If teachers are prepared, curiosity, wonder, and independence can be fostered within each child. We are excited to share our ideas and experience with other teachers to support little ones in outdoor spaces.
Nature Is Where You Make It
Presenter: Rosanna Munoz
Mill Creek Natureplay Preschool, located in Shawnee, Kansas, was established in 2013. Shawnee is a suburb in the Greater Kansas City area, and the school is located inside a gymnastics facility and nestled between autobody shops, self-storage units, and home repair businesses. A parkway runs east-west alongside the outdoor classroom, and train tracks run north-south just 100 yards away. It is not an ideal setting for a nature school. However, our philosophy is that nature is where you find it – or sometimes where you make it. Participants will hear how this program has successfully built a natural outdoor classroom and has developed relationships with city and county parks to bring the maximum amount of nature possible to children in our not-so-naturey site.
Fruits of Our Labor: Compelling Ways to Communicate Learning Outcomes
Presenter: TBD
Imagine a world where the benefits and outcomes of nature-based environmental education are common knowledge, widely accepted, and attainable for every child. Through a combination of audio-visual presentation, practical workshop, and inspired dialogue, this session serves to describe techniques in observing, documenting, and reporting the plethora of mental, physical, and academic benefits for children ages three to five-years-old who are afforded time for nature play every day. Participants will hear from teachers at Nature Forward’s Nature Preschool, leaf through floor books, yearbooks, documentation binders, lesson planning folders, progress notes and assessments, newsletter archives, story play books, and nature journals, and engage in breakout group dialogue before closing with collective thoughts and considerations.
Look, Wonder, Connect, and Care: Nature Observation for Preschoolers
Presenter: Hollie Whiteseven
Young children are beginning naturalists—curious, imaginative, and eager to explore. This session introduces a simple framework for early nature-based learning: Look, Wonder, Connect, and Care. Participants will learn how to guide preschoolers in observing with their senses, asking questions, connecting with nature, and practicing gentle conservation stewardship. A special focus will highlight the Care component, including ways to teach Leave No Trace principles with age-appropriate language and hand signs. Attendees will gain simple strategies that help children respect wildlife, leave natural treasures where they belong, and care for the spaces they explore. Through examples from forest-school practice and playful teaching tools, participants will leave with ready-to-use activities and routines that nurture curiosity and environmental responsibility in young learners.
Growing Calm: Nature-Inspired Strategies for Self-Regulation
Presenters: Holly Morris, Shannon Ladouceur
With childhood anxiety on the rise, it is more important than ever to help our students learn how to regulate big emotions. Our teaching staff has incorporated a variety of strategies to weave self-regulation techniques into all aspects of our program. In this session, we will talk about how spending time in nature can reduce stress and share different strategies we use in our classrooms. Participants will learn self-regulation strategies and mindfulness practices, including breathing techniques and sensory experiences that are inspired by nature and can be used outdoors. We will also discuss conflict resolution strategies we use to help build independence and classroom community. This session will leave participants with a multitude of approaches that can immediately be put into practice with young learners.
Growing Resilience: Curious, Courageous, Confident Toddlers Thriving Outdoors
Presenters: Jenny Leeper Miller, Mollie von Kampen, Brenna Walsh, Eric Unrau, Chelsea Brisbin, Miki Montgomery, Madeline Williams
Young toddlers are naturally resilient when given the chance. This session explores how nature-based experiences foster emotional regulation, adaptability, and persistence. Through stories, reflection, and practical examples, we examine the educator’s role in co-regulation and creating safe, meaningful challenges. Participants will gain strategies to help toddlers navigate uncertainty, recover from frustrations, and build confidence outdoors. Together, we will reframe resilience not as toughness, but as trust in themselves, in the environment, and in the caring adults who guide them. These early experiences as toddlers build a foundation for problem-solving, social-emotional growth, and confidence, supporting more complex, collaborative outdoor learning and lasting skills over time.
I Student Taught in a Nature Preschool, Now What?
Presenters: Kristen Chandler, Katie Pollock
For over 90 years, the University of Delaware Lab School has been a training site for ECE undergraduates. Master Teachers Kristen Chandler and Katie Pollock will share their experiences supporting and mentoring student teachers in nature-based settings, both during their placements and post-graduation. The lasting impact these experiences have had on pre-service teachers has shaped their professional identity and continues to inform their relationships with learners and with decision-making, risk-taking, and curriculum design. We will start the session by building a nature-based educator together. Next, we will share personal accounts from former and current student teachers. We will then break into small groups to role-play real-life scenarios. Participants will leave with practical insights for both hosting student teachers and for critically reflecting on their own teaching experiences. These students are the future of our profession; we must strive to ignite a spark and keep the flame going.
We've Been There Before! Fostering Family Belonging in Detroit's Natural and Cultural Spaces
Presenters: Amy Greene, Ryan Vance
Imagine a community where families co-create learning rooted in nature, art, and their local environment. City Sprouts unites Detroit-based cultural partners to nurture hands-on, nature-driven exploration for young children and their caregivers. We will discuss how place-based play fosters a sense of belonging, confidence, and growth in early learning. Explore what it takes to build equitable access to nature and the arts, and how partners embraced lessons learned from the pilot program to inform growth in the second year. We will exchange strategies for designing multisite, community-powered programs, cultivating trust with families, and fostering the powerful moment when a child says, “Look! We’ve been here before!." Join us in sharing actionable ideas for collaboration, neighborhood engagement, and experiences that help every child see themselves in their local landscape and imagine what becomes possible when they do.
Beyond the Boots: Building an Outdoor Culture for All
Presenters: Anne Adams, Anne Stires
Outdoor apparel and equipment are more than protection from the elements—they are essential to curriculum, equity, and building an outdoor culture in schools and early childhood settings. This session explores how access to quality gear increases time and comfort outdoors, reduces educator stress, strengthens connection to nature, and communicates program values to families. School-provided gear is not only for nature-based programs, but for any setting that values daily outdoor access. Participants will learn from statewide efforts in Maine that promote equitable access to outdoor apparel, including data from public school recess studies, the MaineECO Gear Grant, and case studies from schools implementing gear solutions at multiple levels. Practical strategies such as mini-grants, rental programs, gear swaps, and emerging state-level funding will be shared. Time for discussion and Q&A will support participants in identifying strategies and partnerships that fit their communities.
Teens and Toddlers: How Nature Play Brought Two Unlikely Groups Together
Presenter: Brenda Rivera
This session highlights the partnership between two Chicago non-profits: Lincoln Park Zoo and After School Matters. In 2025, we piloted the Nature Buds internship with six Chicago teenagers to support the zoo’s nature-based early childhood offerings. During the internship, we shared a variety of science and education-related career pathways, and the teens facilitated two programs: Nature Play and Reading-to-the-Animals. By the end of their 6 weeks, the teens had connected with hundreds of young visitors and their families. This success has inspired us to think more creatively about ways that we can improve this internship opportunity. We are excited to continue learning and growing with teens and see what we can offer each other in the years to come.
Imagine If Every Neighborhood Had a Voice: Place-Based Pedagogies for Environmental Justice
Presenters: Chelle Jones, Islah Izzie Tauheed
Dr. Yolanda Sealey Ruiz teaches that equity begins with “critical love,” a commitment to caring for the communities we serve. For many children of color, nature is the block, the courtyard, the riverside in Ghana. Place-based pedagogy honors these environments as ecosystems worthy of study, while revealing the inequities that shape those places seen as natural. In this workshop, Chelle and Izzie ask: How can we reimagine the classroom to become a space where students’ various environments are not only invited but celebrated? Educators will examine how their experiences shape beliefs about nature, and which environments are valued in early learning. Through storytelling, writing, and discussion, participants will rethink who authors environmental narratives and explore ways to center student voice. They will also consider how stories, imagery, and community knowledge challenge idealized notions of nature and affirm that all children’s environments hold ecological meaning.
Where Healing Meets Nature: Simple Outdoor Tools That Strengthen Young Minds and Hearts
Presenter: Crystal Ann Hall
This session offers simple, nurturing ways to use nature as a tool for emotional growth and joyful learning. Participants will explore how grounding walks, sensory baskets, outdoor storytelling, and movement-based play help young children regulate, connect, and thrive. The session blends community wisdom and child development insights with hands-on demonstrations that educators can use anywhere, from large outdoor spaces to small play areas. Attendees will walk away with practical, calming, nature-based routines that support early learners’ confidence, curiosity, and well-being.
Courageous Play: Why Risk-Taking Matters and How to Make It Work
Presenter: Alysa Meeks
Risky play can be a very intimidating topic for administrators. Balancing what you know is best for child development, how parents and families can react, state licensing regulations, and teacher comfort levels can be a lot. My goal for this session is to break down the different types of risky play and what that may look like in different spaces. We will discuss how to analyze risks vs hazards, as well as the benefits that go along with those risky activities. We will go over how to communicate with families, as well as staff, about risky play, and I hope to help each person find their "yes" when it comes to risky play. We aren't all ready to be climbing 20 feet up in a tree, but we can all be ready for something.
Growing Together: Nature-Based Programs and Specialty Partnerships
Presenter: Diona Williams
The purpose of this presentation is to explore how nature-based education programs can thoughtfully and effectively collaborate with specialty providers—such as Mental Health Counselors, Applied Behavioral Analysts (ABA), Occupational Therapists, and Special Education Teachers—to better support all children. As education continues to evolve across public, charter, private, homeschool, and unschooling spaces, families are increasingly drawn to nature-based learning environments. With this growing interest comes an opportunity—and responsibility—for programs to reflect on how they can remain inclusive and responsive to the diverse needs of children and families. This session will highlight practical ways nature-based programs can partner with specialty providers through consultation or on-site support, while staying true to their program philosophy and outdoor learning values.
Shared Values, Shared Spaces
Presenter: Madeline Cole
First presented at the National Association of Museum Schools Conference in 2025, this presentation addresses common issues in partnerships between nature preschools and larger organizations, like nature centers, museums, arboretums, etc. I provide examples from my 11+ years in nature-based early childhood programming and two years on the Board of the Washington Nature Preschool Association to highlight ways to prevent common discrepancies of language, logistics, and planning between nature preschools and larger organizations. I examine these through the specific frameworks of shared values, shared spaces, supplies, and shared public interface.
Strengthening Nature-Based Programs Through Leadership, Pedagogy, and Inclusion
Presenter: Michelle Dolan
Imagine if your nature-based program applied a leadership framework combining leadership essentials, pedagogical leadership, and administrative leadership into a cohesive approach that shapes program culture and supports staff and student growth. This framework aligns with the program vision to create high-quality outdoor and experiential learning experiences. This session explores how this approach advances equity and inclusion by centering children, families, and educators, while strengthening connections to the natural world. Participants will engage in discussion, case studies, and interactive activities to apply these leadership principles and identify at least one actionable change to enhance their program.
Unique and Unified: Creating a Cohesive Curriculum for Schools Within an Organization to Align and Customize Its Teaching and Learning Experiences.
Presenters: Rina Zampieron, Jill Canelli
The term “nature-based” has many definitions, from traditional programs using nature in their curriculum to those that occur 100% outside without structured lessons. With many ways to be “nature-based," what does it look like to create a set of unifying practices to ensure high-quality programming that also allows the unique qualities of each school to shine? This is what Mass Audubon asked itself as we sought to unify our network of preschools across the state of Massachusetts. We wanted to honor the diversity of our programs’ schedules, locations, and communities. Cue the creation of a curriculum model that enables the flexibility of each school to customize, while using a solid set of guidelines that define the goals and objectives of this area of our organization. In our workshop, we’ll share the process we went through to create our curriculum model and describe the ways our programs implement it, while highlighting the wonderful uniqueness of each school site and setting.
Taking Learning Outside: How States Are Advancing ONBL in Public Pre-K
Presenter: Kate Hodges
This session will provide an overview of ONBL policies in all state-funded preschool programs using data from the 2025 State of Preschool Yearbook. In addition to exploring the current national ONBL landscape, the session will feature a state agency leader and a practitioner who engage in this work at the state and local levels. They will provide information about their state’s work and process to expand high-quality ONBL opportunities through publicly funded programming. There will be time for questions and networking among attendees with the goal of promoting cross-state collaboration.
Supporting Educators to "Take It Outside!"
Presenters: Kelly Kazeck, Olivia Christensen, Kate Dole, Lucy Arias
Minnesota is expanding statewide efforts to help early childhood programs integrate more outdoor and nature-based learning. This session highlights a cross-sector partnership among state agencies, community organizations, higher education institutions, and early childhood educators working together to strengthen opportunities for young children to learn outdoors. Presenters will share findings from an educator survey that identified the supports educators need most when starting or growing outdoor and nature-based programs. Participants will also engage in a facilitated discussion to explore common challenges, effective strategies, and resources that can help programs increase access to high-quality outdoor learning.
Nature for All: Cultivating Affirming Spaces for Neurodiverse Families
Presenters: Laura Seger, Kelsey Navin
We will support nature-based early learning practitioners in shifting from inclusion models of neurodiversity to identity-affirming approaches. We will discuss the differences between the two models and explore the next steps on the path to celebrating our neurodiverse communities. We will focus on amplifying the strengths and unique contributions of neurodiverse learners and model ways to create affirming schools from registration to graduation. We will delve into how our physical environments, curriculum, policies, and procedures can support the development of self-advocacy and self-esteem. The newest research and resources will be shared through interactive discussions.
Growing Together: Community and Preschool Partnerships for Garden-Based Early Learning
Presenter: Leigh Ann Fish
This session shares an emerging collaboration between a university lab preschool, a college garden club, and community partners to create early learning experiences through multi-season garden projects. Presenters will share how preschool educators, university faculty, college students, families, and local experts co-designed a shared garden vision integrating science, play, culture, and community engagement. Examples include sensory and pollinator gardens, “Three Sisters” plantings tied to Wabanaki studies, apple cider pressing, a pizza garden supporting family dinners, and an Adopt-a-Bed program for families. Alongside examples, this session provides practical recommendations that any early childhood setting can adapt: low-cost starter beds, seasonal activity calendars, community volunteer roles, ideas for authentic child participation, and approaches to sustaining gardens when staffing/space varies. Participants leave with ready-to-use strategies that work across diverse settings.
Environmental Kinship
Presenters: Sheila Williams Ridge, Megan Gessler, Heather Fox
This interactive session will provide an overview of the Environmental Kinship Guide and how nature-based learning supports children's development in all domains, and share stories from our experiences. The bulk of the session will be dedicated to inviting participants to share impactful stories of how a deep relationship with nature has impacted the children and adults in their programs.
Imagine If STEAM Learning Starts Under a Tree: Research Findings from a Nature-Based Preschool
Presenter: Nazia Afrin Trina
This session presents a case study of the Will Smith Zoo School in San Antonio, Texas, to prove the hypothesis that an outdoor learning environment designed with appropriate landscape elements for children (ages 3-5) with diverse play and learning affordances can effectively support STEAM concept development and learning. Using Video Observation and Behavior Mapping Data, researchers analyzed how children are deliberately engaged in meaningful STEAM-related behaviors in settings that offer varied and flexible affordances, such as sand and water play areas, loose parts play, and places with diverse natural topography. This highlights the crucial role of policymakers and educators in shaping the future of outdoor play spaces. This case study represents the value of less structured, affordance-rich natural environments as a way of providing diverse STEAM learning experiences and increasing the flexibility of settings for children.
Reimagining DAP: Developmentally Responsive ECEfS Pedagogies
Presenters: Stacey Alfonso, Megan Gessler, Victoria Carr
Imagine if sustainability were not an add-on but the foundation of early learning in outdoor classrooms. Imagine if every nature-based educator had a practical framework for integrating sustainability, equity, and ecological care into daily practice. This session explores how developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) can be reimagined as developmentally responsive pedagogies that address dimensions of sustainability. We frame this through Early Childhood Education for Sustainability (ECEfS) (Elliott & Davis, 2024), and responding to children’s curiosity and biocultural knowledge systems (Hill, 2020) that sustain communities and ecosystems.
We will present ECEfS as a flexible framework for NBEL programs and guide participants in analyzing and discussing case studies that demonstrate responsive, transformative pedagogy. Attendees will leave with practical strategies and new perspectives to foster ecological literacy, social responsibility, and ethical engagement in outdoor learning.
Planting Seeds to Foster Environmental Stewards for a Better Tomorrow
Presenter: Tarneshia Evans
“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.” This quote by Rachel Carson highlights the important role that adults must have in nurturing children’s sense of wonder about the natural world. In this session, we will explore how early childhood environmental education (ECEE) has the potential to inspire children’s lifelong learning, love of nature, and their affinity for taking
A Texas Approach to Systematic Change in Nature Access and Outdoor Learning
Presenters: Melody Alcazar, Chery Potemkin, Sarah Coles
This panel explores how Texas communities advance outdoor learning through a systems change framework in early childhood education. Panelists will share examples of how partnerships, policies, training, and strategic resource alignment drive sustainable improvements in early childhood environments. By engaging parents, educators, community leaders, health professionals, and policymakers, programs can identify local needs and co-design solutions that reflect each community’s cultural and environmental context. This collaborative approach strengthens relevance and sustainability, expands equitable access to nature, and equips educators with the support needed to implement outdoor learning in daily practice. Whether you are a practitioner, center director, or advocate, this session offers valuable insights into how systems thinking can transform outdoor learning.
Expanding Access to High Quality Early Childhood Education Through Public-Private Partnerships
Presenter: Michelle Hartmann
Discover the power of Early Childhood Partnerships and the transformational benefits they bring to children, families, and education systems! This session dives into the concept of Early Childhood Public-Private Partnerships—collaborations between public-school early childhood programs and private schools. Together, these partnerships aim to deliver high-quality nature-based education to children aged 3 to second grade, with opportunities to maximize additional funding sources by co-enrollment with public school systems across the state of Texas. By working together, public and private programs create innovative solutions, such as wrap-around care, to better support the needs of working parents. For eligible children, dual enrollment in childcare centers and public-school systems ensures seamless, comprehensive care and education. These partnerships not only foster higher educational standards but also encourage stronger community ties and shared resources.
From Playgrounds to Possibilities: Reimagining Recess Through Nature-Based Learning
Presenters: Rhonda Kaiser, Erica Palmer
This session explores how traditional school playgrounds can be transformed into developmentally supportive, nature-rich outdoor environments that engage children and families. Participants will learn how intentional design fosters creativity, self-regulation, collaboration, and problem-solving while reducing behavior challenges. The workshop highlights strategies for naturalizing spaces—using loose parts, repurposing wild areas, and simple materials to enhance play and learning. Drawing on examples from Educare Central Maine, presenters will show how outdoor environments strengthen family engagement, improve child outcomes, and inspire cross-school collaboration, including mentoring an adjacent elementary school to build a shared, family-centered vision for outdoor learning.
What If Nature-Based Early Childhood Education Became Standard Practice?
Presenters: Robin Moore, Nilda Cosco
What if every state offered a nature-based Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) recognizing outdoor spaces/programs as equivalent to indoor classrooms? Without such reform, mainstream childcare facilities struggle to participate in the nature-based movement equitably. Currently, only two statewide QRIS systems (SC ABC Quality, TX Rising Star) include indicators that incentivize outdoor learning equivalent to indoor programming. These systems reward quality outdoor learning, but do not require equal time outdoors. Led by the Natural Learning Initiative (NLI), the NC Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE) recently completed a two-year project addressing regulatory and QRIS pathways alongside workforce training. Provider webinars, regional meetings, and a statewide summit engaged regulators and QRIS assessors in constructive dialogue. Results will be shared in a workshop-style session.
Schemas in Early Childhood: What Every Teacher Should Know
Presenter: Deb Lawrence
Early childhood schemas are demonstrated by repeated actions and patterns in children’s play. These repeated actions suggest that children’s play is a reflection of deeper, internal, and specifically directed thoughts. Schemas are internally driven and express themselves as children develop. These patterns of behavior stay with us throughout our lives and can be seen in early childhood and throughout the lifespan. When children are exploring the nine schemas, they are building understandings of abstract ideas, patterns, and concepts. In nature-based settings, observing children and schema development can provide information to families on how to foster schema development at home. Often, schema development is frustrating to parents. Letting them know that this is a crucial part of development will allow children to strengthen schema development and make strong patterns in the brain. Recognizing the nine schemas also helps forest school playworkers document development.
Imagine If Support Systems Could Bloom: Mentorship as the Root of Equitable Nature-Based Education
Presenters: Ashley Jones, Megan Vaillancourt
Imagine if every educator felt confident, supported, and inspired to bring children outdoors. This session explores how mentorship builds educator confidence and strengthens their “why” for nature-based teaching. Through reflection, modeling, and collaboration, mentors guide educators from uncertainty to empowerment—creating outdoor experiences that are joyful, inclusive, and developmentally appropriate for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Drawing from a real-world mentor program in a nature-based early learning setting, we’ll highlight how intentional support systems remove barriers, nurture growth, and promote equitable access to nature-rich learning. Participants will gain practical strategies for fostering reflective mentorship and cultivating a culture where educators feel grounded in purpose and empowered to extend learning beyond classroom walls—imagining what’s possible when mentorship helps both teachers and children bloom outdoors.
More Than Mindfulness: Ecospirituality as a Transformative Model for Teacher Education
Presenter: West Willmore
As schools face ecological, social, and emotional challenges, teacher education must cultivate more than technical skills; it must support the inner lives and wellness of teachers. This session draws on findings from the dissertation, "More Than Mindfulness: The Effectiveness of an Ecospiritual Fellowship…Rooted in holistic education, nature-based learning, and place-based practices," the program engaged a P-8 faculty in contemplative, restorative, and playful experiences designed to deepen connection, promote wellness, and shift perceptions of the human-earth relationship. Findings show it enhanced well-being, strengthened ecological identity, and increased commitment to experiential, ecocentric pedagogy. Teachers reported greater confidence in taking students outdoors and designing learning that yields empathy and environmental responsibility. The session highlights implications and practical tools, offering a conceptual framework and strategies for integrating nature-based practices.
Undoing Overprotection: Lessons Learned While Walking with School-Agers Along the Mississippi River
Presenter: Emily Holder
For over 20 years, our society has been consumed by a culture of overprotecting children.
To meet parent safety expectations and align with school accountability policies, school-age care programs must reinforce this culture. We now know that many of these efforts have resulted in negative developmental consequences for kids. How do we stop over-programming children’s time and over-supervising children’s play? Insights and observations (action research) from a Summer Community Education Camp: “Mississippi River Walkers,” will help us explore best practices that would support the outdoor play opportunities that school-agers really need.
On-the-Go Centers: Overcoming Space and Storage Challenges
Presenter: Ana De Hoyos O'Connor
This interactive brainstorming session will help educators discover practical strategies for taking classroom centers outdoors—especially when working with shared spaces, limited room, or minimal storage. Participants will explore creative ways to make materials portable, maximize small spaces, and create meaningful outdoor learning experiences with the resources they already have. Through collaboration and idea-sharing, teachers will leave with realistic, adaptable solutions they can use right away.
Growing Beyond Preschool: Lessons From Building a Nature-Based Elementary Program
Presenter: Niki Lopez
What happens when nature-based learning grows beyond preschool? This session uses the children’s book "School Is Wherever I Am" as a storytelling anchor to explore the intentional design of a standards-aligned, nature-based elementary program. Participants will follow the real-world journey of launching a kindergarten pilot at Will Smith Zoo School, examining how learning moves fluidly between the classroom, community, and natural environments. Designed as a reflective narrative with practical takeaways, this session invites educators to rethink what school can look like beyond early childhood.
Pause, Ponder, Play: The Power of Time in Nature-Based Learning
Presenter: Rachel Larimore
In the fast-paced world of early childhood education, time often feels like the one thing we never have enough of. In this session, we’ll pause to consider the deep impact of time on teaching and learning outdoors. Together, we'll examine essential questions: Are we giving children the time they need to play, notice, fail, and try again, build relationships, be still, and just be? How does our own relationship to time—whether we’re clock watchers or flow followers—influence our work and our children’s experiences? We’ll explore the quantitative and qualitative aspects of time, what time allows for in children’s learning, our relationship with time on any given day, and how that relationship impacts our interactions with children. Ultimately, in this session, we’ll reframe the common refrain of “there’s never enough time” and explore how slowing down can lead to deeper connections with nature, ourselves, and each other.
Rooted in Wonder: Cultivating Experiential Nature-Based Learning in K-3 Classrooms
Presenter: Michelle Savickas
Discover how experiential, nature-based learning can meaningfully connect to academic standards while honoring children’s natural curiosity. In this session, participants will explore examples of both planned and unplanned outdoor learning experiences that foster authentic engagement in K-3 classrooms. Together, we’ll examine how to balance teacher-directed instruction with student-led, inquiry-based exploration, creating opportunities for meaningful curriculum connections in literacy, math, science, and the arts. Attendees will leave with practical strategies and inspiration to transform everyday moments in nature into powerful, standards-aligned learning experiences that nurture curiosity, creativity, and resilience.
How Language Shapes Human-Nature Relations: A Critical Discussion of Implications in Nature-Based Early Learning
Presenter: Elizabeth Boileau
The English language has structural limitations when it comes to describing human-nature relations. Some embedded colonial assumptions were recently discussed by Kuchta and Blenkinsop (2024) in their paper “Towards an eco-relational English.” The authors propose possibilities for relational shifts in English. These, along with Kimmerer’s language of animacy (2013, 2017) will be summarized as a starting point. Prompts will be provided for discussions, through which participants will critically examine their own practices (e.g., What gender pronouns do they use when referring to a bird being?), as well as the importance of elevating local Indigenous languages. A short vignette about a child-nature encounter will be provided; participants will discuss how the language might be adjusted to better represent the moment in a relational tone. Participants who bring an understanding of other languages will be invited to share their perspectives and to compare and contrast with English.
Imagine If Nature Heals: Building Climate-Resilient Early Learning Spaces in Pakistan’s Most Vulnerable Mountain Regions
Presenters: Hashim Khan, Samia Kamran
This session highlights Solutions Pakistan’s nature-based early learning interventions in Gilgit Baltistan and the Swat regions, facing some of the fastest climate-related degradation in Asia. Drawing from field experience with young children affected by floods, glacial melt, and ecosystem loss, the presentation showcases low-cost, culturally adaptable outdoor learning models created in partnership with local educators and communities. Participants will explore case studies demonstrating how nature-based play supports emotional resilience, cognitive development, and climate awareness in early childhood. The session will provide replicable tools, community-led strategies, and evidence-backed practices for integrating sustainability and climate education into early learning programs, especially in underserved or crisis-affected regions.
Statewide Systems of Support for Outdoor and Nature-Based ECE
Presenter: Tara Von Dollen
While Wisconsin has had a variety of supports for ONB ECE over the past 15 years, these efforts have not necessarily been strategic to provide access and equity for all ECE providers and the young children they serve. Nor has it been straightforward or consistent throughout the state. More recently, WAEE (Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education) was awarded money from WiNACC (Wisconsin Nature Action Collaborative for Children) as it dissolved, and WiNBECA (Wisconsin Nature-Based Early Childhood Association) voted to become a program of WAEE. These two events led to the creation of a statewide coalition with the vision to advance ONB ECE programming and resources, and both the environmental education and early childhood education fields. In this session, we will explore the pathway of ONB ECE in Wisconsin, outlining key partnerships and goals moving forward.
Let's Talk Risky Play: How Outdoor Exploration Builds Languaging
Presenter: Alix Hudson
This collaborative session focuses on how educators and families can create opportunities for outdoor risky play for their children. In my brief overview, I'll review the types of risky play and modes of languaging. (I come from a translanguaging, multimodal Reggio lens.) Then, I will share my anecdotal findings for how risky play has improved language(s) development for my emergent bilingual students, infant/ toddlers, and children with special needs throughout my tenure so far. Attendees will then use the time as a collaborative work session—using either the outdoor space at the zoo or their own professional/ personal spaces, to create a plan for how their children of varying ages/ languages/ abilities can experience different types of outdoor risky play, and how to document concurrent language learning. We will conclude with optional share-outs and networking.
Nature Preschool in the Age of the Science of Reading
Presenter: Nicole Dravillas Fravel
There is a push in education to anchor literacy instruction in what is termed "the science of reading." This session will explore how emergent literacy practices supported by research mesh with outdoor nature-based preschool settings. Participants will be welcomed into the session with a song and movement activity designed both to get to know each other and the setting, and to introduce the topic of emergent literacy. This warm-up activity will be followed by a discussion of what the term "science of reading" means, what good readers need to master, and how that relates to emergent literacy in preschool. Participants will then be led through playful open-ended processes to practice each of the components, using the nature available in the setting for phonics, oral storytelling, and vocabulary acquisition.
Protocol for Shared Abundance: Cultivating Civic Ethics in Nature-Based Early Childhood Education
Presenter: Andrea Brown
This interactive, hands-on session introduces the Protocol for Shared Abundance, a systematic, five-phase framework for integrating K-3 learning (Math, Practical Life, and SEL) with the core challenge of ethical resource allocation. We will move beyond simple equality to advance equity and social justice by using the garden as a real-world lab for civic decision-making. Attendees will use a Framework Design Worksheet to map out the pedagogical choices and complex ethical discussions appropriate for their students. The session provides principle-oriented strategies for transforming nature spaces into labs for civic responsibility and inclusion, laying a foundation for future community impact. Participants will leave with a ready-to-implement tool for teaching the practical 'how' of fairness.
Outdoor Sessions
Happy Hands: Fiber Arts in Outdoor Caregiving Practices
Presenter: Heather Quinn
"What the hand does, the mind remembers.” --a Maria Montessori’s quote, which recognized the power of experience. When children use their hands in concrete, active learning, the knowledge gained is more deeply imprinted on their minds. You will learn to ignite their minds and inspire their spirits with nature-connected, multi-sensory, handwork focused on fiber art!! Discover how these activities offer emotional and full-body support for all children, serving as a platform to understand the early years' fine motor development. Are we asking too much of them when their bodies are not ready? Through developmentally appropriate fine motor practices, children will strengthen hand muscles, enhance visual motor skills (hand-eye coordination), and gain a deeper understanding of seasonal changes and our connection to the earth and everyday life. These adaptable activities also provide opportunities to differentiate for those needing extra support.
Finding Our Place in Nature: Sit Spots That Transform Learning
Presenter: Jen Heyer
What if every child had a special spot in nature to return to again and again? In this presentation, we’ll explore Sit Spots as a simple way to bring K–3 students outdoors for meaningful, curriculum-connected learning. Participants will try a guided Sit Spot, look at real classroom examples, and design lessons that connect literacy, science, math, and SEL. We’ll discuss strategies for success, such as access, supervision, and inclusion—even in schools with limited green space. Attendees leave with a Sit Spot framework, student prompts, and a plan to start or expand Sit Spots in their own programs.
Dig, Plant, GROW!
Presenter: Shana Lloyd
This seminar explores how teaching children about gardening can foster a lifelong appreciation for nature, food, and environmental responsibility. Participants will learn practical, age-appropriate ways to introduce young learners to gardening, native pollinators, sustainable farming practices, and where our food comes from. The session highlights hands-on activities, storytelling, and observation-based learning that help children understand the connection between soil, plants, insects, and the food on their plates.
The Sprinkle of Ongoing Magic
Presenter: Heidi McKay
A program can always add more magic, new and interesting ways to integrate nature through seasonality and celebration. Deeply woven into seasons, the children know when the first nettle leaves appear and that it will soon be time for tea, pesto, and soup! When the cottonwood buds drop after a storm, the children rush to a teacher to let them know it's time to make salve. Through the teaching of seasonal songs, hands-on seasonal activities, videos, and oral stories, I will bring to life what it looks like from September through June, all the ways we keep the magic of the forest alive.
Taking Flight: Building Ecoliteracy With a Year-Long Study of Birds
Presenters: Katie "Goldfinch" Pollock, Amanda "Bluebird" Lala
After attending a 2023 Natural Start conference session, these presenters were driven to make changes to their program. The biggest change would come after removing their honorifics and adding bird names. Katie Goldfinch and Amanda Bluebird were born! Their nature preschool children then chose their own bird names, launching them into a year-long study of birds. Why birds? Birds can be found everywhere from cities to farmlands to suburbia and beyond. These feathered friends provide countless opportunities for discovery learning to both young and old. Birding is a way for nature-based educators to practice mindfulness for themselves, as well as model for their students. In this session, attendees will choose their bird identities based on their region. Participants will experience how to support all areas of development through a variety of engaging activities that meet diverse learners' needs. Strategies to incorporate birding into pre-service teacher education will also be shared.
Rooted in Place: Teaching Young Children with Native Seeds and Grassland Ecosystems
Presenter: Lotus Chaney
Most nature-based early learning programs incorporate vegetable gardens, but few integrate the native grassland ecosystems that once dominated North America's landscapes critical for pollinators, biodiversity, and climate resilience. Southeast native grasslands are now considered "the most threatened terrestrial biome in the world," so most children will never experience these ecosystems because they've been erased from our landscape and educational consciousness. This hands-on session introduces educators to teaching with native plants and seeds—powerful tools for sensory learning, place-based education, and environmental justice. Participants will engage in developmentally appropriate activities designed for young children (ages 2-6), learning how native seeds become entry points for ecological literacy and cultural connection, through three experiential stations. This session models expanding nature-based education beyond the garden to include wild North American ecosystems.
Imagine If…We Belonged: Humanizing Pedagogy Through Somatic Connection and Indigenous Earth Wisdom
Presenter: Alexandra Granato-Garcia
What if every child felt deeply connected to their body, their community, and the Earth? In this workshop, we’ll explore how somatic movement, play, and Indigenous earth-based wisdom can transform early childhood nature education. Feeling safe in the body is essential for learning, and safety begins with our surroundings. Rooted in Flutura Creative’s philosophy of embodied wisdom and sacred reciprocity, this session invites participants to align with the natural flow of life, building nervous system resilience and fostering a sense of belonging. Through somatic inquiry inspired by nature, playful creative expression, and a collaborative string-weaving activity, you’ll discover how self-awareness and embodiment improve relationships, strengthen the collective bond within the web of life, and inspire wonder and curiosity. Together, we’ll imagine classrooms as radiant spaces where children feel safe, seen, and connected to themselves, each other, and the greater web of life.
Little Bodies, Big Discoveries: Using Loose Parts Outside With Infants
Presenters: Anna Raumaker, Lisa Nelson
This hands-on session will introduce infant teachers to the power of loose parts play with open-ended materials that spark curiosity and discovery. This session is designed for teachers of infants who are just developing mobility: sitting up, crawling, and taking first steps. Loose parts can be natural objects, such as leaves and tree cookies, or manufactured items like balls and bowls. We will explore various types of loose parts and how to arrange them for different types of play schemas, such as rotation, enveloping, and connection. We will share with teachers how to observe infant behaviors to encourage play and language development. Teachers will discover practical, low-cost ideas with blankets and baskets of materials, have an opportunity to design a loose-part zone with materials, and discuss practical safety tips for choosing materials and supervising infants' play with loose parts.
One Size Fits None: Designing Hyper-Local Nature Learning Resources
Presenter: Aswathi Asokan
Nature education demands radical adaptability, especially given the ecological, infrastructural, and socioeconomic diversity of regions in the Global South. We introduce practical tools and processes developed through our work in India, empowering educators to go a step beyond readily available content, to creating contextualised nature learning material/resources. This hands-on session demonstrates how local nature observations can be translated into highly relevant, age and culturally-appropriate tools by implementing a contextual process and adapting diverse nature-learning strategies to their specific teaching-learning sites. We will showcase collaborative low-cost bespoke resources, from early years sensory activities and anchor charts, to advanced gamification hacks that adapt classic games to teach ecological concepts. Equipping attendees with the confidence and capacity to create site-specific, impactful nature learning lessons that promote equity and relevance is the core focus.
Imagine If Our Classrooms Were Gardens of Justice
Presenter: Charlene Esufemi Favorite
What if classrooms became gardens where justice could take root and grow? This session explores how nature-based education can be a living practice of environmental and social justice. Drawing from The Homeschool Village’s Afrocentric microschool model, participants will discover how ancestral foodways, seed sovereignty, and ecological literacy can be woven into daily lessons. Through hands-on strategies such as gardening projects, seed-saving rituals, and community meals, children learn that sustainability is not only science but also culture, identity, and responsibility. By centering equity and ecology together, educators can nurture young learners who see themselves as stewards of the Earth and advocates for justice. Attendees will leave with practical tools to design inclusive, culturally resonant programs that empower children to grow justice alongside their vegetables, cultivating classrooms that honor both ancestral wisdom and ecological sustainability.
INIWIRMO for Early Childhood: Observation, Inquiry, and Authentic Learning Outdoors
Presenter: Cheryl Potemkin
This session explores how the BEETLES INIWIRMO routine—I Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds Me Of—can be adapted for early childhood to strengthen observation, communication, literacy, and STEAM learning. We will examine how INIWIRMO supports authentic expression, equitable participation, and multiple ways of knowing by slowing down learning and centering children’s lived experiences. Participants will engage in hands-on noticing and wondering with natural objects and images, practicing facilitation strategies that help young children build vocabulary, ask meaningful questions, make connections, and share their thinking with peers. We will discuss simple prompts, routines, and extensions that integrate INIWIRMO into daily outdoor exploration, storywork, and inquiry-based play. Attendees will leave with practical tools to implement INIWIRMO immediately in their classrooms to deepen curiosity, communication, and joyful learning outdoors.
Imagine If: Nature Journaling for Wonder and Connection
Presenters: Cyna Schuster, Mo Walters
This hands-on outdoor session invites participants to experience nature journaling as a powerful tool for strengthening children’s sense of wonder, connection to place, and observational skills. Blending mindfulness practices, sensory awareness, and developmentally appropriate journaling routines, the session demonstrates how to help children slow down, notice more, and document discoveries through drawing, words, and movement. Participants will engage in guided journaling practices, explore a variety of prompts that spark curiosity and open-ended inquiry, and learn how journaling deepens nature connection, supports sustained attention, and encourages early scientific thinking. The session highlights how simple, mindful noticing routines can be woven into daily outdoor experiences and provides concrete tools educators can implement immediately in their programs.
Sense It Out: Sensory Exploration with Project Learning Tree
Presenter: Aja Gray
Exploring nature is a complete sensory experience, filled with color, sounds, scents, and much more! For 50 years, Project Learning Tree (PLT) has developed instructional materials that help educators lead environmental explorations with their learners. Sensational Trees includes three PLT activities that guide young children to use their senses to explore trees in their neighborhood. Sensory experiences with the natural world excite children’s imaginations and foster their curiosity and sense of wonder. During this session, participants will discuss why sensory-seeking activities are key for early childhood learners and how to engage in sensory activities with these learners. This discussion will be woven throughout the session as participants become the students, being led through the activities. Participants will also learn about other PLT resources and how to connect with PLT in their state. Every participant will leave with an access code to download the activity bundle.
Water Walls
Presenter: Jill Bienenstock
All kids love playing with water. Whether it’s jumping in a puddle or playing at the water table, it’s always a big hit. At this workshop, learn how to set up your own water wall with some tubing, connectors, and ties. The best part is that these water walls take up vertical spaces and are set up on a chain link fence. Children can work together at this activity while they control the amount and direction of the water. Add food colouring and the children can have fun creating new colours. There’s so much potential in such a simple activity.
Exploring Beyond Spaces with Early Childhood Programs and K-3 Schools: Site Selection, Safety, and Engagement in Action
Presenter: Katie Krause
This outdoor session takes participants into the Beyond to experience how our nature-based learning program engages children outdoors in early childhood and K–3 settings. As we explore beyond spaces together, attendees will see how we assess and select sites, manage risk and safety, and plan activities with essential supplies. Participants will gain hands-on insight into the full program process, from initial site engagement to practical strategies for sustaining meaningful outdoor learning.
Come and Join the Circle: Creating Connection in the Outdoor Circle
Presenter: Catherine Koons Hubbard
Whether we're roasting marshmallows around a campfire, sitting with children in a circle of tree stumps, or gathered on blankets to hear a story, the circle is a small but powerful part of the outdoor classroom. Circle time is often the quiet pause in a day that is otherwise filled with movement. It is when we come together to exhale, to see each other's faces, and to connect as a class or community. It is also when squirmy bodies struggle to be still, and listening to others can be a challenge. During this session, I’d like to re-create the outdoor circle as we discuss our different approaches to circle time: what rituals, songs, and traditions have our different programs developed? What are the strengths and gifts of circle time, and what are its drawbacks and difficulties? For those of us who may feel overwhelmed, exhausted, or even lonely at a national conference, gathering in our own outdoor circle is also a way to pause and deepen our connection to each other.
Let's Plant and Grow a Children's Forest in the USA!
Presenters: Sally Wren Stevens, Ellie Fuller
This session will introduce participants to the UK-based Children's Forest (CF) program that works with children to plant and tend trees together as an ongoing, multi-year project. CF is run by Forest School professionals who work in both public and private school environments, on public and private land. Facilitators utilize a 4-Step Journey with children ages 3-12 over two consecutive days at least once a school year in a nearby woodland or park. After training as a Children's Forest Facilitator and planting a micro forest with the SOL Forest School community, I believe the Children's Forest model and 4-Step Journey is adaptable to any nature-based program or setting with a desire to do something tangible for the natural world we love. In this session, we will imagine this possibility together!
Process Art in the Nature Preschool Setting: Engaging learners with their environment through experimentation, problem solving, and creative voice
Presenters: Abigail Finn, Jade Ratliff
In this workshop, attendees will participate in hands-on process art activities. We will start by analyzing the difference between process art and product-driven/teacher-directed art projects and their relevancy in the nature school curriculum. We will look at how process art provides an age-appropriate, authentic, integrated approach that meets children where they are at and provides them with opportunities to explore, take risks, and problem solve. We look at ways for students to develop their artistic voice and make their learning personally meaningful. Participants will then have a chance to try multiple activities that can be taken back to their own classrooms and applied to their curriculum. We will share tips and tricks for successfully implementing art projects outside, both using nature as the inspiration and the materials. Examples will be shown of both standalone processes and collaborative projects that function as assessments and visual representations of learning.