Audubon Visits for Preschool Nature Learning 2026
Preschool
Introduction
Reptiles and Bees programs
Grant Details
All preschool students at Delaney Elementary School were given the opportunity to experience and participate in Mass Audubon programs in their classrooms. In March and April, students participated in the Reptiles program, and in May, students participated in the Bees program. Tuesday/Thursday classes (younger students) received a 30-minute presentation, while Monday/Wednesday/Friday classes (older students) received a 45-minute presentation. The programs are specifically tailored to preschool students and offer experiences in imagination, listening skills, patience, gross- and fine-motor movement, singing, natural artifacts, sounds, scientific games, and/or experiments to engage students' five senses.
Highlights
In March, preschool learns about animals in all different types of habitats such as forest, desert, polar, rainforest, and pond. We had just finished learning about animals in these habitats when we had the Reptiles presentation. Students were able to make connections about snakes, turtles, and crocodilians between their previous learning and the new information they were gaining in the presentation.
The students in Mrs. Terrell's class (4- and 5-year-olds) completed a group dictation/writing activity on their next school day about what they learned/what they remembered. The Reptile group writing was as follows:
Reptiles
"I really liked touching the pretend snake. I liked touching the snake skin. I liked touching the turtles’ shells and I learned what turtle shells feel like. I didn’t know that Crocodilians even existed! Ms. Cohen brought grapes for reptile eggs because they are squishy. Our fingernails are made from the same thing as snake skin. The snake’s tail is at the end of his body where there’s no ribs. Reptiles are cold-blooded and they have to go in the sun to get warm."
In late April and early May, preschoolers learn about nature that can be found in their backyards. This, of course, includes bees. Students were able to make connections between information they learned about bees in our read-alouds and what they learned during the Audubon presentation a short while later.
Again, the students in Mrs. Terrell's class (4- and 5-year-olds) completed a group dictation/writing activity on their next school day about what they learned/what they remembered. The Bees group writing was as follows:
Bees
"Bees can be blue, green, white, yellow, or black. On the Sweat Bee, we saw all colors of the rainbow. There are girl bees and boy bees. Girls can sting but boys do not have stingers. They girls work more than the boys. They can fly when they are grown-ups. The grown-ups spit some food in the babies' mouths to feed them. The bees have to clean their cells after they hatch. The workers get food for the queen bee and fan her while she lays eggs. The workers go get pollen and bring it back to the hive."