About this Professional Learning Experience

Join us in Blairstown, New Jersey to recharge and get inspired at the close of the school year. This training will awaken your senses, kindle curiosity, and spark more ideas for outdoor learning with young children. 

This retreat brings together experts in the field of nature-based early learning 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. 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 canteen for drinks throughout the day. 

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

Workshop Descriptions 

An Artful Pause with Bryanna Waldron, The Windy Forest
This workshop is an invitation to pause. Together we’ll gather what calls to us from the land and let it guide us into ephemeral works of wild art. In silence and in circle, we’ll create, reflect, and gently weave our small group pieces into one collective whole. Along the way, forms may quietly emerge such as spirals, fairy dwellings, or woodland creatures shaped by imagination and the materials at hand. This session offers teachers a chance to rest, reconnect with themselves, and carry home a renewed sense of calm and kinship with the land.

Wet Felting with Melissa Sheppard, Star Child Nature School 
Wet felting is a beautiful art form that produces lovely results. Warm water, aromatic soap, and soft wool roving all make for a rich, sensory experiences. Whether used to make decorative or purposeful items, wet felting is a creative technique to add to your live arts repertoire.

Foraging and Medicinal Wander with Andrew Lovering, Wild Serenity Walks
In this session, participants will be educated on and connect with the land of Flourish Nature School. We will take the time to recognizing the edible and medicinal properties of the plants and mushrooms we observe while wandering the property in order to take learning deeper in our own respective wanders. 

Breath Vitality with Jen Lewin, Flourish Nature School
Discover and share simple breath practices to support regulation, focus and connection in the classroom. This interactive workshop offers moments for reflection, discussion, and tools you can use with your students and beyond.

Have questions? Contact us at programs@anbe.org. Please note that all participants are required to complete this waiver during registration. Our refund policies are found here as well.