By Lily Gordon, Program Coordinator

April school vacation week was a quieter time in the city, but at Nature Linc, it was all hustle and bustle. Throughout the week, we provided six different programs: three onsite field trips and three offsite nature sessions. The Nature Linc staff team worked seamlessly to deliver high quality nature enrichment, adapting our activities for youth from preschool all the way to 8th grade.

Our week started off with an exciting adventure for our Middle School Environmental Leadership Program, visiting Nature Linc’s site and participating in Eyes on Owls. Spring is always an exciting time to visit Nature Linc’s site, with vernal pools filling with amphibian eggs, plants poking out of the ground, and insects waking up from the winter. The middle schoolers did a fantastic job with the design challenge we gave them: building a trellis out of bamboo stakes and twine for our snap peas. They worked together thoughtfully in small groups and each created a different design. The field trip ended with a special event, Eyes on Owls, during which local owl caretakers and educators Mark and Marcia, introduced us to their five real life owls. Youth exclaimed over how cute and beautiful the owls were!

We also hosted two partner organizations at our Lincoln site: Elizabeth Peabody House Preschool and Housing Families. With the Elizabeth Peabody preschool group, a long term partner organization based in Somerville, the tiny children had a ton of fun planting potatoes and working together to build a large bird’s nest. The group from Housing Families, another long term partner that provides afterschool programming for youth dealing with housing insecurity, also had a blast. Youth were excited to build creative forts in the pine forest, search for worms in the garden, and end with an Earth Day celebration around the campfire making s’mores.

Finally, Nature Linc staff provided three different special offsite programs for various vacation week camps around the Greater Boston area. Staff worked with the Mystic Learning Center to provide a fun afternoon of bird-themed programming at Blessing of the Bay Park. We also built on our existing afterschool program relationships to partner with two out-of-school-time programs, one at the Peabody Elementary School in Cambridge and another at the George P. King Elementary School in Framingham. At the King school, a relatively new partnership, we sent five staff to provide a whole day of programming; kids loved making their own herbal tea, exploring the nearby forested trail with binoculars, and building mini nests.

At the end of the week, our staff team was tired but very proud of our work to connect so many youth with nature and to provide opportunities for them to enjoy being outside.

An Action-Packed April Vacation Week