When Kayden Perry heard a wolf howl at the South Shore Nature Center, she knew it was time to clean up.

5-year-old stops are playing with chopped wood near the forest while his classmates rush to get rid of their blocks. The wolf's howling signaled that it was time "to do great things," he said.

Kaiden isn't at summer camp. He and his colleagues attend a preschool where Mother Earth is the primary educator. Wild child care centers have more than doubled in size in the United States over the past five years and are growing in popularity with the pandemic, said Christy Merrick of the Natural Start Alliance, a bunch that advocates for environmental education. In 2017, the organization estimated 275 preschools in the world, which has grown to 680 this year. Merrick said that New York had seen a 20% increase in programs to 36 from 2019 to 2021. Outdoor classes, mostly

 

Little Peepers Forest Preschool in East Islip is one of three preschools modeled on Long Island's nature, where classes are held almost exclusively outdoors, rain or shine and even in snow. Here they play and learn what is traditionally taught in early childhood education by exploring science, art, music, math, and outdoor languages. They only come indoors in dangerous weather – for example, when winds exceed 20 miles per hour or when there are thunderstorms.

Little Peepers, named after the small but noisy frog, is the first of its kind in Suffolk County, said Peter Walsh, the Seattle Environmental Association director of education. This nonprofit conservation organization runs the school.