Southeastern NC

When people ask "What do you do?" its hard to come up with a succinct answer. "Well, I take kids out in the woods"; "I teach Earth Skills to 3-12 year olds"; "I help children connect to themselves, each other and the natural world"; "I'm a program facilitator". None of...

 Two of our friends received super cool survival bracelets for Christmas and Sadie brought hers to program and we all got to practice making a spark with her flint and steel striker! Thank you for sharing with everyone, Sadie! Almost all of us were able to make a spark...

We had such a fun surprise when we arrived at pickup this week! There is a new sign at the entrance to the Preserve and among the list of guidelines, it says "No Campfires" and then in small print "Except for Nature Connect Class"! The kids were so thrilled! We only wo...

After such focused compass and mapping work (which was still fun!) it was nice to have a relaxing day to explore our imaginations and play games. It was quite chilly so a fire was the first order of the day. We've been learning how to safely use tools, so anyone who wa...

 Its amazing how much fun and exploration we can pack into two hours at the after school program! This week we used all of the mapping skills we have been playing with to create scavenger hunts! We split up into two groups and  led each other on a wander through the pa...

What are these things on the pine branches? The recent wind storm and rainy weather knocked down many of them off of the branches, and one of our Tadpoles was fascinated by then finding them attached to the branch! We had a great conversation pursuing different guesses...

The land feels so different when it is as windy and blustery as it was today. Sounds are different, the trees look different and even the smells are changed by the wind. 

 We made sure to look up frequently to keep an eye out for dead branches that might break loos...

 Even though the weather was brisk and damp, we managed to stay warm exploring, wandering and climbing.

 Some of the plants and animals also seemed confused! We found April-Blooming plants with buds on them and our second salamander in two days. 

We starte...

What a gorgeous day! The sun was warm and shining, the birds were singing and baby turtles were out! 

After our opening circle, we headed out on a wander and didn't get very far before finding a mysterious bottle with a message inside! It was from the Wood Gnomes and ha...

It was so nice to have some friends join us today! The Tadpoles were feeling a little mischievous, so instead of waiting for the teens to arrive, they wanted to leave a trail of magic beans to lead them into the forest! Then they hid until the teens and their parents g...