With the pandemic, parents and educators embrace outdoor preschools. Many hope the move will be permanent

CHICAGO — On a hazy September afternoon near a willow tree, a boy with a bright red backpack spotted something slimy on the ground.

"Hello, all the mushrooms," he said, gently tapping the fungus, trying not to crush any as his small feet moved through the grass.

A teacher asked why they might be growing in that spot. The boy thought for a moment. "Because it's shady and wet!"

That was just one lesson for the group of kids at the Chicago Botanic Garden Nature Preschool, a program that's part of the growing field of nature-based early childhood education.

Nature preschools were increasing before the pandemic, more than doubling in the last three years, according to a report from the Natural Start Alliance, a project of the North American Association for Environmental Education. The report estimates 585 schools across the country have nature-based education at their core, meaning a significant amount of time is spent outside. Illinois is among the states with the most programs — topping 20. California and Washington, with about 50 programs each, lead the list.

Aerosol transmission of the coronavirus has raised concerns over safety of walled-off spaces, and some parents are wondering if one solution during the pandemic is as simple as stepping outside.

Ann Halley, director of the Botanic Garden school and a member of the Northern Illinois Nature Preschool Association, said enrollment has increased by more than 60% in the last year alone, and many families are new.

Some programs in the Chicago area have indoor spaces but are scheduled to be largely outside through early summer, even when frigid weather arrives. The programs may use the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration wind chill chart as a guide for when to head inside, or pick up cues from the kids on their comfort level. But the winter weather ethos, generally, is bundle up.

With the widening field, teachers and parents are searching for ways to make programs more accessible. Child care center licensing standards, unique to each state, are primarily designed for indoor settings. In Illinois, outdoor programs can operate under exemptions. Supporters have proposed a bill modeled after one in Washington, which last year became the first state to officially license outdoor preschools.

There are a few pandemic-related tweaks this year at the Botanic Garden, which is a licensed program, like hand-washing and mask-wearing. There are no family-style snack options. Watering plants is allowed, but other water play is nixed.

The chance to follow the ups and downs of the natural world's cycles — trees losing their leaves, buds returning — is still there.

Earlier in the day, a visit to the garden's exhibit sparked a theme. "I see one. I see one!" said one girl, looking toward a blackand yellow-striped zebra longwing resting on some violet verbena. The class counted the flutters, one by one, the splashes of primary colors matching backpacks and headbands and masks. Later they stopped for a short story on some tree stumps: "My, Oh My — A Butterfly!"

At a quiet spot between two lakes, the kids transformed into the insects, flapping around. One boy in a dino mask put on some bat wings and ran off. A girl with pink wings asked what butterflies eat, then started her flower search.

Halley said that curiosity comes with the outdoors.

"Taking the children down to the cove area and just sitting and looking at the geese as they're landing, just that sense of wonder and awe — those are things that can only be supplied when you're outside," Halley said. "They cannot be found inside a classroom. And these are the things that inspire lifelong learners."

A ready-made classroom

This summer, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, encouraged outdoor schooling. "Get as much outdoors as you can," he said. "If you look at the superspreader events that have occurred, they're almost always inside." New York City announced a plan to use yards and nearby parks for outdoor learning. In Chicago, heading outside isn't unprecedented; a tuberculosis outbreak in 1909 led to "open air schools."

Outdoor preschools, more widespread and a cultural norm in some European countries, are good for kids' cognitive development, cost-effective and a safer option during a pandemic, supporters say. Additionally, nature fosters resilience, sets kids up for greater academic success down the road and provides a ready-made classroom with lessons in science, math and even empathy. Local leaders in the field point to years of studies showing benefits ranging from sunlight's positive effect on eyesight to stress reduction from green spaces.

When Megan Gessler learned about naturebased early childhood education at the Schlitz Audubon Nature Preschool in Wisconsin more than a decade ago, there were few comparable examples in Illinois. Gessler continued her studies and was among those who created the Northern Illinois Nature Preschool Association, which started small in 2013 and now has more than 200 members.

This summer, Gessler, the early childhood program coordinator at the Morton Arboretum, created a position statement with national leaders in the field on "nature-based early education for all." The group hopes it will be useful to those looking for guidance, as well as a call to action.

"We believe that right now, the pandemic has created an imperative to fundamentally change not just the look and feel of early learning but its very structure in a permanent manner," Gessler said.

At the arboretum, there's always a loose curriculum planned but space for kids' particular interests. Every year, there's a surprise. Like storm drains.

"I don't have a curriculum written up for storm drains," Gessler said. "I didn't foresee that coming."

But the kids spotted a drain outside the classroom and grew fond of stuffing it with sticks and leaves.

"And your first inclination is, 'Would you please just stop putting those down there?'" Gessler said. "But then you have to take note and say, 'OK, there is a lot of natural curiosity here. How can I run with this?'"

The next day Gessler brought ice cubes, some spouts from Menards, boxes, bungee cords. Suddenly the kids were learning about physics, gravity, engineering and the water cycle. They even gathered maps of every storm drain at the arboretum, picking up some mapping skills.

The next time the kids saw sticks on top of a storm drain after a heavy rain, they understood its purpose and cleared the sticks out.

This year, the program will be spending as much time as possible outside, Gessler said, September through May. They don't anticipate canceling classes for weather but have an outdoor shelter with a fireplace, and an indoor classroom if the kids' comfort level dips. Heading inside depends on a mix of factors: wind chill, temperature, sun, appropriate gear, exposed skin. The Botanic Garden program, also part time, similarly follows the NOAA wind chill chart and stays inside if it's not safe to be outside for longer than 10 minutes.