Hands-on learning for elementary school children.
The Nature Program offers monthly natural science workshops in communities in Vermont and neighboring states for adult volunteers eager to share nearby nature with school children. Each workshop includes natural science information, a variety of hands-on learning activities, plus plenty of joy and wonder. With over 40 lessons, we divide our program into five year-long courses of study, each focusing on a different key science standard.
Four Winds programs are designed to get kids and adults outdoors connecting and learning about nature. Four Winds educators meet volunteers outdoors (mostly) for training workshops and then teams of two or more volunteers meet classrooms of children outside each month to look, discover, and learn. With Covid protocols changing in schools, we anticipate that volunteers will be welcomed indoors, though we still strongly encourage being outside as much as possible.
Each school has two Volunteer Coordinators who act as the liaison between the education staff at Four Winds and the volunteers, teachers, school administrators, and the community at large. Enrollment in the Nature Program or Nature Program All Out includes training workshops for volunteers, teaching materials, and password access to online resources, including Nearby Nature from Home for in-class or at-home extensions of volunteer-led lessons.
It is the dedication of volunteers – their time and energy – that makes these programs happen. thank you! We are happy to share the excitement of nature discovery with children And adults as we come together as a community of learners.
Information for schools
Resources for teachers
Schoolyard Habitat Mini-grants
