学进去

“My favorite thing about hiking is that I get to work out my legs,” said Skylar, a six-year-old camper. “And I get to see the view!” Skylar is one of twenty kids participating in the week-long Gross Out Camp, a summer program hosted at parks and outdoor spaces across Alabama. “This is kids’ natural habitat out here in the woods,” said Verna Gates, who started Gross Out Camp 14 years ago.

As schools begin again across Alabama, most students are returning to days spent in indoor classrooms, but some will continue to learn and play outside, even while at school. It’s part of a growing movement to teach kids in nature and help them connect with their environment.

In recent years, at least three nature preschools, or forest schools, have opened across Alabama. They operate almost entirely outside. “It seems like a very foreign concept, especially when we first described it to people,” said Sarah Crim, director of the Woodland Wonders Nature Preschool in Auburn. “But it’s great, and it works.”

In this forest school, students learn knowledge from every activity. The class might discover a turtle walking along the forest floor at the Kreher Preserve & Nature Center, where the school is located. That presents an opportunity for students to talk about the animal’s shape and color, and write about their discovery.

After starting Woodland Wonders in 2019, Crim said word spread quickly. The school has since added classes and programs for older kids, but they can’t keep up with demand. It’s a similar case at Little Mountain Forest School in Huntsvillem, where kids learn and play at Monte Sano State Park. Co-founder and co-director Beth Barry said that both kids and parents love the natural space.

Fellow co-founder and co-director Sarah Callaway said the most common question is about the weather. They spend a lot of time reviewing proper clothing, because students are outside rain or shine. “As a forest school parent, it can be a pain in the behind to have to deal with your muddy and wet kid,” Callaway said. “But the kids love it. Those are some of the best days.”