Toes in the sand or hands in the dirt, time spent outside gives children the freedom to explore their surroundings without structure or constraints.
What follows are imaginations running wild, problem-solving skills built and confidence boosted.
The Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee is focused on connecting people in cities to nature and each other. Early childhood specialist Matt Flower shares more on the organization and, specifically, its youth programming.
What types of programs do you offer to the community?
We have a wide variety of programs for the community, including:
Environmental Education Partnerships: The UEC partners with child care centers, preschools, kindergarten classrooms, special needs classrooms, intergenerational facilities, elementary schools, middle schools and high schools for multi-visit outdoor experiences in our three outdoor classrooms: Riverside Park, Washington Park and Three Bridges Park.
Community Science: Community members can join the Urban Ecology Center’s research team to collect data on urban environments.
Community Programs: We also offer after-school and weekend environmental education experiences.
Sustainable Food: There are many programs available that focus on sustainable foods and connect community members to community supported agriculture, or CSA, sources.
Eco Travel: The UEC organizes amazing national and international trips to interesting that focus on exploring the nature of that region. It’s a chance for community members to get out and explore the world!
Birthday Parties: All our locations offer fun, nature-themed parties — sometimes with live animals from our Native Wisconsin Animal rooms and always with a focus on outdoor exploration.
UEC Institute: The UEC Institute offers educational opportunities for adults to explore the “UEC Model” and learn how the UEC fulfills our mission. We also have a partnership with Alverno College to offer ECOPEEP, an Urban Nature-based Early Childhood certification.
Equipment Lending: We also offer an equipment lending program for community members that provides access to outdoor recreational equipment for free with membership.
Can you tell us more about the Preschool Environmental Education Program and the Neighborhood Environmental Education Program?
PEEP focuses on our youngest explorers, children ages one to six years old. PEEP partners with child care centers, preschools, kindergarten classrooms, special needs classrooms and intergenerational shared-site facilities.
PEEP partnerships vary more than NEEP partnerships — the frequency can be just a few seasonal experiences or can be monthly depending on the commitment they request. Content is always customized and is heavily influenced by the season and teacher preference, but usually contains age-appropriate topics such as the four seasons, five senses, life cycles, habitats, et cetera.
I developed the PEEP program after teaching NEEP for eight years. With all the research pointing to the importance of high-quality early learning experiences, I wanted to begin teaching environmental education to children earlier. Starting at the age of one, children are introduced to the joys and wonders of nature through a wide variety of programs — in their classroom, outdoors on their property, at a walkable green space and, starting at the age of three, field trips to the Urban Ecology Center!
The main goal is to introduce very young children to nature in their neighborhood. All PEEP programs are aligned with Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standard and include a variety of vicarious, indirect, and direct experiences with nature.
NEEP is our main environmental education program for children K4 through high school. Schools within a two-mile radius of an Urban Ecology Center partner with us for twenty-four half-day field trips.
We have a wide variety of programs for schools to choose from for each grade level. These include lots of different science-related topics such as ecosystems, geology, chemistry and physics; outdoor adventures such as canoeing, rock climbing, snowshoeing and canoeing; mindfulness and wellness classes; as well as specific topics such as amphibians or birds. Teachers can align the program to their current classroom curriculum or indicate naturalist choice, where UEC educators put together a fun, seasonal program based on what’s happening in nature at the time of their trip.
What’s the average number of NEEP and PEEP partnerships per year?
Each program has sixty-plus partners for a total of over 120 partnerships per year.
How have those programs specifically impacted the community?
The incredible thing about these PEEP and NEEP partnerships is that children, starting from the age of one, are part of the UEC model throughout their whole educational career. Coming to their neighborhood UEC, visiting the same greenspace year after year, forming relationships with their educators and a local park that they can visit with their family and friends.
We offer an outdoor leadership program for high schoolers, internship programs for college students as well as employment opportunities. This green-career pipeline is growing the next generation of scientists and land stewards for our planet Earth!
One partnership that stands out in my mind is with one of my PEEP partners, UW-Milwaukee’s Children’s Learning Center. Three years ago I developed an all-day, all outdoor, ten-week summer camp for children four to six years old. Many children from the Children’s Learning Center attend this camp and I can personally see the general knowledge and skills gained from the PEEP program. They are content and confident in the outdoors and have a resiliency that comes from being exposed to the elements from an early age. Due to the fact that we are a community center that educates locally, we are often fortunate enough to see the fruits of our labor.
It’s really incredible what happens when kids are allowed to immerse themselves in the outdoors. What’s a favorite memory you have of being outside as a kid?
Our family had an up north cabin near Eagle River. We never took vacations to Disney Land or other locations; we always went up north and we would spend weeks at a time at our cabin just poking around and exploring nature. I would go fishing, swimming, berry picking, catch turtles and frogs, build forts, shoot my bow and arrow and explore endless stands of pine trees. The one memory that stands out is waking up early one morning and going down to the creek that feeds into the lake. With every step near the water, a frog would jump! There must have been over fifty green frogs that morning and hearing their “peep” as they jumped would startle me, but also excite me. I spent the whole morning with the frogs — catching some that I could and watching others as they jumped to their new hiding spots.
How can the community get involved with the Urban Ecology Center? Any volunteer opportunities?
You’ll find lots of volunteer opportunities at the UEC! We have the Restoring Our Outdoor Treasures (ROOT) program, where you can help heal the land. There are various ways you can get involved with our educational programs. If you’re looking for something in the science realm, we have an incredible Community Science department that gathers important data in the parks we manage — such as bird banding, mammal surveys and dragonfly surveys.
You can join Fixin’ Facilities Team to learn about our green buildings and general maintenance required to keep them beautiful. We also have an all-volunteer reception team that greets our members in person or over the phone. There are also many special events, like our Fall or Winter Festivals, that have lots of ways you can help the Urban Ecology Center fulfill their mission.
You also have a lot of amazing resources for kids and families available right on your website — can you tell us more about Urban Ecology Center in my Backyard?
One bright spot from the pandemic was the creation of UEC in my Backyard. The circumstances of not being able to reach students and community members in person spurred an unbelievable amount of fun, creative, digital content that was made available via our website. Our staff distilled years of experience and knowledge into a wide variety of lessons, presentations, demonstrations, videos, audio dramas and outdoor adventures that encourage people to explore nature not only in nearby blue/greenspaces but also in their very own backyard. It’s very empowering when you realize that there’s so much life all around us and you don’t need to look farther than your backyard for free fascinating fun.
– Megan Kulick
Photos courtesy of the Urban Ecology Center.
Megan Kulick is a journalism graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. She worked in the nonprofit field for seven years before becoming a stay-at-home mom. She and her husband and their daughter and son live in Mount Horeb. She is always in pursuit of a great trail to run, a good book to read and the best place to find a good iced coffee.