Our Skyline Location is currently enrolling children for our Naturalist Outdoor Educational Program ages 2 - 3 years
The New Naturalist Outdoor Educational Program
This program will be located at our future site on Skyline Blvd, where children will explore nature in its natural state. The location is currently being landscaped into have more flat areas, as well as areas to explore along slope sides. A board walk will allow children to walk from one extreme of the property to the other in the lower areas. A rock climbing platform will also be constructed to enhance the playground area. Fun with nature will be much appreciated year round, as children will be able to spot various animals including red tail foxes, garden snakes, wild turkeys, turkey vultures soaring the skies, crows looking for food, different species of birds, deer, and all the crawly creatures found in the forested trails along the property. Children may even be able to spot a coyote in the distance when taking walks on the trails.
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The future site will bring us back to being more organic with our new Naturalist Outdoor Educational Program, where children will continue to be challenged with one of the multiple intelligence's on how children learn, as described by Howard Gardner and his whole approach and inquiry on the multiple intelligence's.
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This location will provide as much exposure to the outdoors as possible. We will put together activities from our activity planning guides, including, but not limited to:
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The Kid’s Guide to Exploring Nature – a botanic garden guide teaching children how to be a naturalist by studying and observing living things and then trying to discover how they relate to each other and the environment. This guide has a lot of hands-on activities for children to read and carry out in the classroom.
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The Kid’s Outdoor Adventure Book has projects such as making a scrap nature book, creating real habits for bugs, and the Fun with Nature take-along guide teaches children easy to learn and remember facts when taking a hike.
​Adventure Educational Nature Van Themes
​The children seem to always love the visits from the nature vans. The Oakland Zoo this spring brought just the right exposure of animals that could be touched and gave a true close encounter. An African Pygmy Hedgehog, a Red King Snake, a Chuckwalla lizard, and a giant millipede. The handling of certain creatures seemed so natural by the zoo personnel, that children truly enjoyed what they learned about these creatures. For the third year in a row, WildCare presented us with learning facts and taxidermy animal encounters- owls, a turkey vulture, a tree squirrel, a woodpecker, a bat, a cub bear, and a fawn. They were all so lifelike that you easily forgot that they were preserved. What an adventure! We topped it off with gardening on earth day and are continuing to care for baby seeds, green and floral plants, vegetables, and fruits for the summer months. We couldn’t have asked for more for the animal habitats themes.