Need inspiration or ideas of ways you can engage your class with nature and improve their environmental education? Here are some of the projects other educators have used Nature Express funding to bring to life!

In-person Nature Net Site Visits

• Applicants have visited Nature Net sites for fun nature programming, including the Mackenzie Center, the Cave of the Mounds, and the Welty Center, pictured  below!

Outdoor Play Spaces

• One applicant used the grant to help fund a complete reconstruction of the outdoor learning area at their school!
• Another used the funding to purchase tools to build outdoor “rooms” for activities, including a mud kitchen.
• A fence was also put up to create a safe outdoor play space!

Using outdoor spaces and making space to use for outdoor learning activities is a very effective way to connect students with nature.

Nature and EE Activities

• Going out into nature and doing tree and other plant ID activities, using guidebooks and identification materials is a popular form of outdoor learning!
• Some classes were also able to work on bird identification in the nearby wooded areas.
• The Aldo Leopold Nature Center offers opportunities to learn more about identification methods for local wildlife.
• Funding was even used to purchase materials to create a “nature museum” with locally identified plant material!

Virtual Programming

• Funding was used to pay for students to virtually attend a zoo program, then do a project about what they learned about wildlife.