History

Spider Webs to Snail Slime was the title of an environmental education professional development workshop presented by Linda R.F. Zaletel in the mid-1990s at the Midwest Environmental Education Conference and other locations. While Linda truly enjoys the energy and enthusiasm of preschool-age learners, other non-formal educators can be a bit intimidated! Linda’s own enthusiasm was as infectious as those of 3, 4, and 5-year olds and several of us were hooked!

Preschool programming was a large part of the environmental education program at Story County Conservation in the 1990s as well, thanks to Linda R.F. Zaletel. Preschool classes would visit McFarland Park in the spring and fall and Linda would also take "activity tubs" to the preschool classroom.

In 1997, Debbi Williams was an intern at Story County Conservation and taking an idea from Linda, she created a booklet called “Nature Box Activities” which included a few tubs to be checked out with the activities inside.

Utilizing Linda’s activities and ideas, an Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Resource Enhancement and Protection Conservation Education Program (REAP-CEP) grant was received in 1997, along with support from Story County Conservation, to develop “Nature Boxes for Early Childhood Educators.” The Nature Box program was still in use in Story County Conservation educational programs in 2005.

The nature box program was presented at the National Association for Interpretation - National Interpreters Workshops in Tucson, Arizona, in 2000 and Des Moines, Iowa, in 2002, and at the Iowa Conservation Education Coalition's Winter Solstice workshop in 2004 and 2005. An article by Zaletel entitled "Naturalist in a Box" was published in the National Association for Interpretation "Legacy" magazine in 2003.

Toddling on the Wild Side was developed in 2003 by Wendy Zohrer of E Resources Group, Ginny Malcomson, and Jennie Grove. The purpose of "Toddling" was to provide parents with age-appropriate activities to engage with their young children outside. The program was offered in Des Moines, Iowa for one hour at many of the local parks in the area.

In 2005, the preschool activities and offerings from “Nature Boxes” and “Toddling on the Wild Side” morphed into KinderNature. KinderNature became a website hosted and maintained by the Story County Information Technology (IT) Department and funded by a REAP-CEP grant (2005), Story County Conservation, and E Resources Group.

KinderNature workshops were presented on the Iowa Public Television’s statewide ICN in 2005-2006; Child Care Class at Des Moines Area Community College for statewide caregivers 2005; the Midwest Environmental Education Conference in 2005; Iowa State University’s childcare workshops in 2005, and at the Iowa Family Child Care Association meeting in 2006.

No project this large can be accomplished in a vacuum and these thank you acknowledgements come from the 2005 KinderNature documentation:

• Debbi Williams, Intern, Story County Conservation, activities
  • Lisa Ronca, Carol Elbert, and Emily Williams
• Cerro Gordo County Conservation Board, activities
• Linn County Conservation Board, activities
• Marshall County Conservation Board, activities
• Polk County Conservation Board, activities
• Story County Conservation Board, activities
  • Nan Geske, Mary Unsworth-Born, and Cele Burnett
• Warren County Conservation Board, activities
• Woodbury County Conservation Board, activities
• Theresa Kruid for snack ideas
• Lisa Thom, KinderNature advisor
• Luella Kalvig, KinderNature advisor
• Donna Kennebeck, KinderNature advisor
• Sandy Dittmer, KinderNature advisor
• Jerry Keys for the KinderNature name!
• Dean Biechler for logo design
• Iowa PBS (then Iowa Public Television) and the Iowa Communication Network (ICN) for their support in training early childhood educators, and interest in the environment!
• Matt Emerson, Story County webmaster who built the website
• Iowa Association for the Education of Young Child (IAEYC) for their knowledge and their support of this project!
• Resource Enhancement and Protection Conservation Education Program (REAP-CEP) board for their continued support of environmental education.
• Minnesota Early Childhood Environmental Education Consortium and Marcie Oltman, editors of Natural Wonders: A Guide to Early Childhood for Environmental Educator; Helen Bartee, Fontenelle Forest; Children’s Museum – Minneapolis; Julie Miller, Heidi Skiba, and other leaders in the field of environmental education and early childhood education.

The 2005 KinderNature website was used by the following agencies to create their own KinderNature programs:

• REAP-CEP grants
  • 2007 – KinderNature Outreach Program – Dickinson County Conservation Foundation
  • 2007 – IPTV Using Technology to Extend KinderNature Outreach across Iowa
  • 2008 – KinderNature in Your Backyard – Little Sioux Valley Conservation Association
  • 2012 – Outdoor Education Classroom Nature Trunks – Cass County Conservation
• Environmental Outreach - Luther College, IA
• Pottawattamie County Conservation, IA
• City of Davenport Park and Rec, IA
• Story County Conservation, IA
• River Bend Nature Center Faribault, MN
• Lime Creek Nature Center – Mason City, IA
• Webster County Conservation Board, IA
• City of Milwaukee Park and Rec, WI
• Kinder Nature Camp – Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, PA
• Listed as a resource on the NAAEE website

The KinderNature site remained within the Story County Conservation website until 2014 when the Story County IT department upgraded their web presence and the KinderNature pages went offline.

In 2014, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Iowa Conservation Education Coalition (ICEC) began discussions on how best to collaborate on the delivery of professional development and follow-up support. The focus was on using web-based formats to help interested preK-2 educators utilize inquiry and project-based learning focused on their local natural resources. These supports would be a great addition to the Growing Up WILD training program.

Housing the KinderNature website within ICEC as a signature program gives KinderNature a bigger, broader audience while being the ongoing support piece for GUW trainees.

In 2015, the Iowa Conservation Education Coalition received a REAP-CEP grant to revamp the website and correlate the resources with the Iowa Early Learning Standards. ICEC maintains this site so that educators and parents have a reliable site to obtain quality outdoor activities and programs.

A big thank you to Linette Bernard, Missy King Smith, and Barb Gigar for updating the KinderNature website in 2015.

The collaboration between the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and KinderNature/ICEC to send monthly email focusing on a Growing Up WILD activity ended in 2026.