Our 2 year old class learned about the life cycle of a pumpkin. They explored a pumpkin vine, played with pumpkins, and reached inside to find the seeds. The vine was brought in by one of our families and had multiple blooms in different stages between flower and young pumpkin to show the progression. After investigating the inside of the pumpkin the students left the pumpkin out on our trails for some of our forest friends to enjoy. Over the next few weeks the class returned to the pumpkin to notice changes as the pumpkin decomposed.

Our 4 year old Pre-K classes made paint prints with squid, shared squid facts, and then dissected squid. They distinguished male and female squid, and drew in their journals and painted with the squid ink.

One of our 4 year old Pre-K classes learned about erosion. They did an experiment on soil types and erosion and met our composting worms.

Our 2/3 year old class learned about leaves and autumn. They practiced color and shape sorting with leaves, used hole punches with collected leaves, and made leaf crowns.

Our 3/4 year old class learned about worms, painted with rubber worms, and met our composting worms.

Our 3 year old class explored the changing leaves. They identified different leaves found on our campus, sorted them by different traits, and noticed the sound of the leaves under their feet while walking and what happened to the leaves on the trails.

Our 3/4 and both of our 4 year old Pre-K classes learned about the parts and functions of a flower. This culminated in having the students dissect donated plants and flowers. Students used tweezers, scissors, knives, chopsticks, magnifying glasses and their fingers as tools to aid in the dissection process. Parts of the plant were examines, identified and compared and contrasted. This activity also gave students a close up look at at pollen production, connecting to our pollinator plants.

During our teacher inservice meeting we discussed the status of our Green School renewal. Teachers were asked to pick one of their favorite days/activities for inclusion in the application.

Members of our Green Team updated our Board of Directors on the status of our renewal application.

Our Fall Festival included visits from community helpers (police, fire, EMS), environmental education from ClearShark H2O, owl pellet dissection, building with recycling. It was held outdoors and attended by around 50 students plus additional families from our area.

All students made paper lanterns in class and learned about the solstice and changing seasons. About 40 families gathered on a Saturday evening to walk in a lantern parade through the woods with their students, followed by songs and campfire. While waiting for the sun to set families threaded cranberries and popcorn for our forest friends.

Staff attended the Nature Preschool Conference at Irvine Nature Center. They learned about experiential learning in the outdoors, mapmaking, and the importance of risky play in outdoor settings.

Completed the Growing Up WILD course presented by the DNR, focusing on integrating natural elements and themes into curriculum.

Teachers attended the "Back to Nature School" Conference, focusing on using song and nature to enhance learning, and natural items in loose parts play.

Teachers attended the "Come Outside" Conference, focusing on the importance of connecting young children to nature, and resiliency through adventure play.

Kristin completed the ERAFANS course on Staying Connected through Nature Play & Learning

Teachers attended the In Bloom conference in Delaware presented by Antioch University, focusing on promising practices in nature based early childhood education.

Students in all age groups use water from the rain barrels to water the plants, and in the mud kitchen, reducing water use.

Our water play includes a recirculating water table and a pump and pipe system. These allow students to explore moving and flowing water without using too much water.

Students turn on the lights in the boys bathroom when they enter and turn them off when they leave instead of leaving them on for the school day. The girls room has a window and utilizes daylighting.

As an ongoing practice, all students participate in composting food waste from their snacks, lunches, and class events. They use two composting bins outside. One is located next to our picnic table area so that they can place scraps directly into it, the other is filled from smaller bins in the classrooms if we are eating inside.

Students feed and observe our indoor vermicomposting bin. They add food scraps from snacks and lunches and watch the food be eaten and see the resulting castings.

Students use recycled items to create many new things for art or play. They make binoculars, cars, ships, and many other things from used containers, paper rolls, boxes, packing paper and material, and other items collected by our families and staff.

Students assist in planting and maintaining our Monarch Waystation. They learn about native plants, pollinators, their benefits and why we need to protect them. The signage in the garden shares pollinators and native plants importance with our students as well as visitors. Students care for and water our native plant garden located within the playground.

Students from all classes continually add and update a play "house" towards the bottom of our trails. The structure was organically started by a Pre-K class in 2021. Safety checks and frame reinforcements are done by parents and teachers when needed, but overall design, construction, and use is child driven.

We utilize blankets and seat cushions, or simply sit on the ground to do our circle time outside on most days.

Classes take place primarily outdoors, and we have adapted in many ways to make that possible. Many supplies and activities are simply brought outdoors and used on picnic tables or blankets. We use large boards or stumps as flat bases for building. Some activities use the weather around us such as drawing in frost on a table.

Our 4 year old Pre-K students select their own "sit spot" during the year. Classes return to these spots throughout the year to journal what they see and hear around them, and to observe how the spot changes over time and through the seasons.

Over the last few years we have built and continually expanded our forest trails. They include many different areas for activities and play like running loops and story circles. They also have adapted natural features like a fallen tree for balancing, or features made from natural materials like stumps placed for walking or sitting.

Students forage and eat mulberries from the tree near our riding toy area. Some families come before or stay after class to harvest and take home additional mulberries when they are in season.

Students in our Pre-K classes assist with and observe the growth of snap pea plants in our small container gardening area. They see them from sprouts, to vines growing up sticks, to flowers, and finally pea pods that they sample.

Each year Bodkin Elementary School hosts an environmental fair with vendors and educational groups whose focus is environmentally friendly and/or culturally unique in nature. We exhibit each year, sharing classroom pets, nature themed craft projects, and talking about our nature based program.

At least once per year ClearShark H2O sponsors the Annapolis Maritime Museum to present to our Pre-K age students on bay related topics. For example, in May educators from the museum presented about the importance of oysters and life on an oyster reef. We had the chance to meet a mud crab, a grass shrimp, a goby, a bleny and a bristle worm.