Basecamp: Program Models

According to the Natural Start Alliance Project outdoor and nature-based programs for young children are carried out in various locations, including schools, zoos, parks, nature centers, farms, homes, and other settings (North American Association for Environmental Education [NAAEE], 2019).

Program models may have both indoor and outdoor facilities, and participants may spend varying amounts of time outside, with some programs being entirely outdoors whenever possible. 
​
​Each program takes a unique approach to early education.
Still, they often share several key characteristics:
  • focusing on exploring and connecting with nature
  • extended time spent outside in all kinds of weather
  • appropriate risk-taking
  • embedding environmental education values into the program
​​(Minnesota Department of Education [MDE], 2021).

Outdoor and Nature-Based Learning Programs Around the World

Nature-based education has been practiced globally for many years.

Friedrich Fröbel is credited with establishing the first kindergarten in Germany in the 1800s. The literal translation was “children’s garden” and focused on children accessing their own gardening space and growing in connections to nature. European and other models in Nordic nations influenced models found in the United States (NAAEE, 2019).

In Australia, the government has explicitly included access to nature in the standards for early childhood programs (Morrissey, Scott & Wishart, 2015).

​Although current program models in the United States have much in common with those worldwide, cultural differences and regulations affect how programs implement practices.

European Models

A study examining practices in several European programs, including England, Scotland, Denmark, and Finland, found that programs shared several key characteristics but varied in how they implemented programming, which was closely tied to differences related to their cultures (MacQuarrie, Nugent & Warden, 2015).

For example, all programs had features that encouraged parent engagement; however, in the Finnish program, this extended to grandparents who regularly participated in programming(MacQuarrie, Nugent & Warden, 2015).

Finnish programs incorporate outdoor experiences throughout the daily routine, with nap time even taking place outdoors (Kemp & Josephidou, 2023).

MacQuarrie (2013) documented shared features focused on:
  • play in nature
  • observing seasonal changes by revisiting specific places (place-based learning)
  • sensory exploration
  • the importance of the adult-child relationship.
These features are also shared with nature-based programs in the United States.

Nature-Based Learning in the United States

Outdoor learning programs in the United States began to be formally recognized as nature-based preschools in the 1960s (NAAEE, 2019). They were often located in nature centers, like Dodge Nature-Preschool, which opened in Minnesota in 2000, and is part of the Dodge Nature Center (NAAEE, 2019; Dodge Nature Center, 2025).

Similar to programs worldwide, programs in the United States differ in service delivery and regulations but adhere to similar kinship values. These values, a focus on:
  • nature
  • active experiential learning
  • parent involvement
  • environmental literacy
These are factors that the NAAEE (2019) suggests might be driving the growth of nature-based programs, seen by some families as an alternative to highly academic-focused programs.

The United States has seen growth in outdoor and nature-based learning programs over the past two decades (Ardonin & Bowers, 2020).

Program regulations, or the lack thereof, differ across states. In Washington, the state has enacted special licensing for outdoor and nature-based programs that address the uniqueness of these program types (NAAEE, 2023).

Nature-Based Learning in Minnesota

​Minnesota has the third-highest overall number of nature preschools, just behind Washington and California (NAAEE, 2023).

​​Many early childhood outdoor and nature-based programs in Minnesota must follow general child care licensing rules or school district policies (Minnesota Department of Education [MDE], 2021).

Programs across Minnesota embrace nature-based education in:
  • family child care homes
  • child care centers
  • preschools
  • Head Start programs
  • Early Childhood Family Education Programs
  • Public and Private schools including elementary schools, with more continually being added
(MDE, 2025).

Traditional and nature-based early childhood care and education programs in rural Minnesota are primarily delivered in family child care homes, which often have access to larger outdoor spaces (Child Care Aware, 2017).

Traditional, nature-based early care and education programs in urban areas are often delivered in child care centers and schools (Child Care Aware, 2017).

​A common myth is that urban areas lack outdoor spaces for outdoor learning; however, Minnesota has more than one hundred forty-five forest schools, with sixty in urban areas (Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 2025).

Forest Schools

iThe Minnesota Forest School program began in 1949 and is a partnership between the Departments of Education and Natural Resources (The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 2025). I

​In forest schools, educators have access to outdoor classrooms connected to local schools, which range in size from less than an acre to 300 acres and are located in rural and urban communities (The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 2025).

Forest schools share the goal of connecting children to nature.

Tribal Programs

In North America, nature-based learning has long been practiced and remains vital in Native American culture today (NAAEE, 2019). In indigenous knowledge practices, the interconnectedness of the living world is emphasized and woven throughout understanding of the past, present, and future (Warden, 2019).

Minnesota has 11 federally recognized tribes spread across the state in both rural and urban locations, where nature-based teaching has always been part of their way of life (MDE, 2021).

In Minnesota, nature-based tribal programs not only focus on traditional indigenous ways of knowing, but some are now implementing language revitalization as part of their program model (Gookonaanig endaawaad (grandmas' house), 2021).

The goals of language revitalization center on the importance of native languages to a community's culture and understanding of place (Kleinhans, Williams & Wells, 2011).  Rebuilding native language empowers communities to express, reflect, and maintain connection and ways of understanding the world (Kleinhans, Williams & Wells, 2011). 

​Language revitalization efforts are recognized as a way to address past injustices by building strength, closing achievement gaps, and fostering healing (Kleinhans, Williams & Wells, 2011).

Kinship Approach

​The kinship approach to nature-based education creates environments where children can learn in nature, about nature, with nature, and for nature (Fox et al., 2020). This approach often features child-centered practices, such as a child-led, play-based, emergent curriculum that adapts to the children’s interests, diverse needs, and characteristics.

Attention is given to revisiting places in the surrounding environment and observing how they change over time, known as "place-based learning" (Fox et al., 2020).

Appropriate risk-taking is valued as a way to help children develop physical and emotional resilience. An underlying goal of the kinship approach to nature-learning is to help children develop environmental literacy (Ardonin & Bowers, 2020).

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