Welcome to the
Turtle Club!
Tuesday’s
10am – 2pm
June 4th – August 20th
Our Mission
We are an outdoor education program located at the Maine Outdoor Wellness Center, a vast 300-acre plot of land with varying terrain, including agricultural fields, streams, riverbanks, and mountainsides. Each week, our “Turtles” will embark on a new adventure, exploring different aspects of the natural world, and identifying native trees, birds, and bugs. We work to incorporate various aspects of sustainability, engineering, and agriculture to create engaging hands-on activities. Our mission is to create a lasting connection between our youth and the great outdoors!
Our Daily Schedule*:
9:45 – 10:15 – Hello! Put lunches and bags away, morning Turtle huddle, introduce the question for that day’s adventure
10:20 – 12:00 – We’re out in the woods, gathering materials, conducting natural observations, collecting information and items for our projects / experiments
12:15 – 1:00 – Lunch and Rest time (We have books/games available in the building for those who finish early)
1:00 – 1:30 – Nature Art / Creative time / STEM Activity
1:30 – 1:50 – Barn Break! We hang out with the farm animals and say hello to Minerva
1:50 – 2:00 – Turtle huddle and Journal! We will close our activities for the day by discussing what we learned, and sharing any cool observations we had during our adventures! Turtles will be given a journal to help keep track of what they’re learning over the summer.
* Schedule is subject to change depending on interest!
Mackenzie Varney
Turtle Leader
I spent the past two years teaching 6th and 7th-grade science at a public school in Boston. While the experience was educational, it mostly taught me that kids are missing a crucial connection to the land around them.
The Turtle Club is a way to incorporate bite-sized science lessons, gratitude practices, and problem-solving skills in a natural setting that allows kids to be kids! I’m excited to see how this program progresses and am always looking for assistance if you or someone you know is interested in learning more about outdoor education. 🙂
Check out this Article: Benefits of Outdoor Education
Whether you are developing an outdoor classroom to serve more as a natural playground, science center or to teach farm-to-table lessons, it will provide numerous benefits for students of all ages. (Read More)