Session Description

Join us for an inspiring session that explores how the outdoors can serve as a dynamic learning environment for young children! Featuring the newest Let’s Go Outside – We Can Dig It! toolkit developed by Nebraska Extension, this session will share how simple, hands-on gardening experiences support early learning across multiple domains and how programs can use integrated marketing materials to showcase their outdoor learning efforts. 

This toolkit is the second in the Let’s Go Outside series, building on the success of the original Can You Find? guides, which focused on nature scavenger hunts. Both toolkits follow the same effective format, but this session will focus on the newest gardening-themed edition. 

Each front-and-back activity guide in the toolkit includes clear instructions, material lists, and step-by step photo support. Literature connections offer a meaningful bridge between garden experiences and broader learning goals like social-emotional development, language and literacy, as well as supporting child and caregiver mental health. Activities such as smelling herbs, observing insects, and harvesting vegetables encourage sensory exploration, motor development, early science skills, and creativity. 

The toolkit includes sample activities, literature tie-ins, and a robust set of marketing tools, including ready-to-use social media posts, newspaper write-ups, and radio spots designed to help early childhood professionals promote how their program is using the guides and engaging young children outdoors. 

Whether you have access to a garden plot or just a few containers, this session offers adaptable strategies for engaging young children in joyful, story-rich, nature-based learning. 

Learning objectives