Youth Outdoor Education

School Programs

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The Mary May Binney Wakefield Arboretum hosts school field trips during the autumn and spring months for local schools and youth programs. The organizations’s innovative Outdoor Environmental Education program provides school age children from the Greater Boston area, grades K-5, a full day of outdoor hands-on participatory learning experiences that focus on life cycles of plants, animals and insects utilizing the grounds and resources of the arboretum and grounds.

With an emphasis on outdoor activities and environmental science, the site is ideal for children ages 5-12. Topics of exploration include life cycles of plants and animals, ponding, landforms, decomposers, stream studies, tree identification, nature journaling and more.

Holly Rosa, one of our BPS partner teachers from Russell Elementary School describes the program this way: "The Wakefield Estate field trips were one of the most valuable experiences of the school year for me and my students. This place was where science came alive for them! From the moment they stepped off the bus for each field trip they were filled with wonderings about the natural world.  These kinds of learning experiences stay with students, not for a year or a month, but for their whole lives.”

For many of these children, these visits are the only opportunity they will have all year to engage with the natural world in a structured educational context. We have seen stark differences in attitudes and behaviors in children between their first and second visit to the arboretum. Bringing children “back into the woods” has a powerful impact - one that opens children’s eyes,

To inquire about scheduling a field trip, call 617-333-0924 or email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

You can help support these educational programs that have enabled thousands of young people connect with nature by making a tax-deductible donation by mail to:
Mary M. B. Wakefield Charitable Trust, 1465 Brush Hill Rd, Milton, MA 02186 
or 
by Paypal or credit card via this link.

 

 


 

 
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