Nature Preschools & Preschool Programs
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What could be more magical than a preschool where each child's innate connection to nature is celebrated? Through hands-on activities, exploration, movement, and play, we support children's curiosity and wonder using our wildlife sanctuaries as outdoor classrooms.
Licensed Nature Preschools
Mass Audubon's innovative, licensed preschools provide opportunities for young children to learn through hands-on nature-based experiences that address their developmental needs as they explore the varied habitats at our wildlife sanctuaries
- Arcadia Nature Preschool, Easthampton & Northampton
- Pathways to Nature Preschool at Boston Nature Center, Mattapan
- Community Preschool at Drumlin Farm, Lincoln
- Ipswich River Nature Preschool at Endicott, Wenham
- Fern & Feather Preschool at Felix Neck, Edgartown
- Nature Preschool Explorers at Long Pasture, Barnstable
- Stony Brook Nature Preschool, Norfolk
- Habitat Nature Preschool at Habitat Education Center, Belmont
Programs for Preschoolers
Many of our wildlife sanctuaries around the state offer weekly programs for preschoolers. These programs offer preschoolers a chance to explore the outdoors with enthusiastic classmates and educators, discovering nature close to home in fall, winter, and spring.
- Blue Hills Trailside Museum – Nature Time
- Broad Meadow Brook – Preschool Story Hour, Discovering Nature, Nature Adventures, Wonder Walks
- Habitat – Preschool Naturalists
- Joppa Flats – Imagine, Sing, & Learn
- Moose Hill – Knee-High Naturalists
- Stony Brook – Tiny Trekkers
- Pleasant Valley – Knee-High Naturalists
- Wachusett Meadow – Nature Adventures for Young Folks
Teacher Professional Development (Preschool & Pre-K)
Natural Connections for Early Educators
Mass Audubon educators will teach you how to make the outdoors into a relaxed and safe classroom. When you shift teaching your curriculum outside, you and your students can take advantage of the calming effects of nature, better air flow, and increased spacing for social distancing.
Our series of professional development workshops, available in-person or online, cover:
- Resiliency Building: Children, Nature, & Social-Emotional Development
- Calming Sensory Stimuli: Art & Music Found Outside
- Expressing Yourself: Nature-inspired Language & Literacy
- Adapting to Change: Building Early Science Literacy
- Going the Distance: Socially-distancing Math Lessons in the Natural World
- Spreading Your Wings: Fine & Gross Motor Development
Resources for Early Educators
Mass Audubon is committed to early childhood education. Our preschool programs encourage curiosity and wonder through hands-on nature exploration, movement, and play—a tradition we've upheld for nearly 100 years.