WINTER SOLSTICE RETREAT:
A SEASON OF LIGHT & LEARNING

Gather for a Professional Learning Day designed for teachers, childcare providers, and administrators

Sat., December 5, 2026

8:30 AM - 4 PM
Robinson Nature Center, Columbia, MD 

About this Nature-Based Training

Winter is on the way! Join us in Columbia, Maryland for an inspiring day of training full of ways to help children welcome the winter season. This hands-on training will awaken your senses, kindle curiosity, and spark more ideas for outdoor learning with young children. 

Our Professional Learning Retreats bring together experts in the field of nature-based education to share ideas and practices, with a variety of workshops to choose from. ANBE will provide a professional development certificate at the conclusion of the event (pending 6 MSDE clock hours). Please dress for the weather, as most of this training takes place outdoors, rain or shine. Coffee/tea with lite breakfast and lunch are included on Saturday, but remember your reusable water bottle for drinks throughout the day. 


Note: We strive for zero waste during our training events; please bring your resuable water bottle for drinks.

Who Should Attend?

This training is ideal for educators, caregivers, and others working with children of all ages in programs that prioritize nature-based experiences. Our participants work in all kinds of settings, from nature-based schools and forest kindergartens to public schools, traditional preschools, HeadStart programs, child care settings, and more.



6-clock hours
MSDE approved training

Learn with seasoned educators
and expert presenters

Discover nature-based tips and tools to use right away

Gather with a supportive network of teachers and practitioners

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS

Tapping into Nature's Sweetness:
A Maple Sugaring Demo
Spencer Kessinger, Robinson Nature Center

Learn about the art and tradition of maple sugaring – when the sap from trees is collected to make syrup. Enjoy a hike to learn about maple sugaring, a sap cooking demonstration, and a tasting of a variety of syrups. Get equipped with the tools and knowledge to DIY in your own programs when the season is right!


Winter Botany Walk and Tree ID

Bodhi Vasilopoulos, Nature's Love and Wisdom

Join Bodhi Vasilopoulos from Nature's Love and Wisdom for an educational stroll where we will discuss botany and winter tree identification. During the walk we will cover topics such as plant identification, understanding basics of botany and herbalism, techniques for organic gardening, how to harvest sustainably and prepare different wild edible foods throughout the seasons, and more. Enjoy warm spruce tea with maple syrup to round out the experience! 


Winter Solstice Ceremony & Songs for the Season
Lida Lawrence, The Waldorf School of Baltimore

Join together outside for a Waldorf-inspired Winter experience. We will sing songs, hear an early childhood solstice story and form an evergreen spiral to walk in reverence and joy. Learn how to recreate this type of experience for your students.


The Wonders of Winter

Lillian Banks, Carrie Murray Nature Center

Explore the depths of winter through engaging invitations and games that provoke wonder in a season of rest. While the forest may appear to be asleep, there is much life that can be discovered and explored! Prepare to interact with provocations you can bring to your classrooms and learn a few games that lean into winter!


Winter Woodland Tea Time

Monica Wiedel-Lubinski, Association for Nature-Based Education

Cozy up by the fire, share your favorite wild tea recipes, and connect with other nature-based educators to close out the day! In keeping with Solstice traditions, we’ll wild-craft our own Yule Log to take home and celebrate the return of the light.

Teacher is bundled up during the Winter Solstice Retreat with the Association for Nature-Based Education. Wildcrafting with natural materials is one of the activities during this professional learning experience.

PRESENTER BIOS

Spencer Kessinger reads a book outdoors.

Spencer Kessinger (she/her)

Early Childhood Program Coordinator at Robinson Nature Center

Spencer was born and raised on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where she spent her childhood playing outside and developed a passion for teaching in and about nature. This passion led Spencer to pursue a degree in Environmental Studies, with minors in Education and Biology, from St. Mary's College of Maryland. Spencer joined Robinson Nature Center in 2021, first working with the Early Childhood Programming as an educator, and now as the Program Coordinator. The Early Childhood Programming at Robinson Nature Center is dedicated to harness the inquiry, excitement and desire to learn, found during early childhood through engaging nature-based learning experiences, activities, and outdoor, emergent-based play.
Bodhi Vasilopoulos with pawpaw tree.

Bodhi Vasilopoulos (he/him)

Founder of Nature's Love & Wisdom

Bodhi Vasilopoulos is a passionate forest gardener, herbalist, forager, and educator. His teaching explores the intersection of foraging, agroforestry, and food systems with ecology, activism, and cultural transformation. He organizes immersive educational programs and collaborates with local universities and institutions such as Howard University, George Washington University, University of Maryland, Montgomery College, Montgomery County Parks, The US Botanic Garden and many others to spread this work. Bodhi also helps manage Forested, a regenerative food forest farm and education center working to expand forest agriculture in Washington, DC and Maryland. In addition, he is a sitting council member on the Montgomery County Food Council.
Lida Lawrence head shot, teacher from The Waldorf School of Baltimore.

Lida Lawrence (she/her)

 Forest Kindergarten Teacher at The Waldorf School of Baltimore

Lida Lawrence is the Lead Forest Kindergarten Teacher and Board Member at the Waldorf School of Baltimore. She has 20 years of experience teaching in early childhood settings including home daycare, public school, summer camps and private schools. She is currently pursuing a Master's in Innovative Early Childhood Education at the University of Colorado. She loves being outside with young children, helping them positively connect with nature, their learning community and a love of learning.
Lillian Banks head shot, presenter for the Association for Nature-Based Education.

Lillian Banks (she/her) 

Forest Preschool Director of Carrie Murray Nature Center

Lilli grew up visiting a state park nearby her childhood home, just a walk's away. She grew a fond affection for nature through her interactions with it and movies that continued to deepen her love for the animals and natural world. She attended camp at Carrie Murray Nature Center as a kid! After an interview in 2019, with little knowledge, but great fascination in child's development, she became a teacher and later the director of the Forest Preschool in the same building she once attended camp. Learning about the forest alongside children is one of Lilli's favorite moments that she shares, noting there is nothing like the wonder that young children have for our world.
Monica Wiedel-Lubinski, Founder & Executive Director of the Association for Nature-Based Education.

Monica Wiedel-Lubinski (she/her)

Executive Director of ANBE

Founder/cofounder of three nature preschool programs in Maryland and consultant to countless others starting forest and nature schools in the U.S. and abroad, Monica brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to help you jump-start your own nature-based program! She is the coauthor of award-winning Nature Play Workshop for Families (Quarto, 2020) and recently released Nature-Based Early Childhood Education (NAEYC, 2025). 


Monica earned a Bachelor’s degree in Art Educ. (K-12) and Master’s degree in Early Childhood Ed. from Towson University, Baltimore, MD and completed year-long graduate fellowship with UMBC/UMASS in 2024. Monica is deeply engaged in the Outdoor Preschool Licensing pilot, enacted in 2023 in Maryland as she advocates for more equitable access to nature-based education. She is a wife and mother of two and enjoys spending time in nature with her family.
Teachers gather at the Winter Solstice Retreat with log shelter in foreground. Teacher Professional Development with the Association for Nature-Based Education (anbe.org).

- Participants from
Winter Solstice Retreat

"Loved the whole day!"


"I enjoyed networking with other professionals and learning new ways to adapt others teaching skills and ideas into my own practices."


"All presenters were knowledgeable and relayed their knowledge in meaningful and impactful ways. Breakfast, lunch and beverages were truly enjoyable! It’s wonderful to share a day with likeminded educators from various fields."

Questions? Contact us for more information.

Contact us any time