Preschool Programs with DelNature
Preschool-aged children have the opportunity to engage in immersive nature-based education with DelNature’s preschool programs!
Introduce your 3–5-year-old preschoolers to the natural world by livening your classroom with activities and animals, or by visiting our sites to explore ecosystems through hands-on discovery and play. Offerings differ by county.
New Castle County
Bring DelNature to You
Note: The “Bring DelNature to You” package includes a program for up to 25 children with one instructor within a 20-mile radius of Hockessin, Delaware. We are happy to schedule multiple sessions per visit to accommodate larger groups. Discounts apply for multiple sessions.
Animals In Winter
Program Length: 30 minutes or 1 hour
Fee: $150 for 30 minutes / $230 for 1 hour
What do you do to get ready when the cold winter weather arrives? View live animals and taxidermy native to Delaware to learn about different animal strategies for winter survival. Investigate which animals hibernate, which stay awake, and which migrate.
Budding Explorers: Autumn Adventures
Program Length: 1 hour
Fee: $230
Available: September–November
Explore hands-on fun with our innovative autumn program for preschoolers. Get a sensory feel for the changing seasons, observe what animals do in preparation for winter both on the farm and in nature, and become immersed in a vivid fall landscape! It’s a playful and educational adventure for curious young minds.
Reptiles & Amphibians
Program Length: 30 minutes or 1 hour
Fee: $150 for 30 minutes / $230 for 1 hour
Learn fascinating facts about frogs, toads, turtles, lizards, and snakes during this live animal presentation. Discover the differences between reptiles and amphibians and learn about their unique adaptations and differing life cycles.
Words & Wildlife: The Gruffalo
Program Length: 30 minutes or 1 hour
Fee: $150 for 30 minutes / $230 for 1 hour. Circle up and enjoy this terrific tale by Julia Donaldson. Mouse avoids becoming dinner for a hungry fox, owl, and snake by inventing a monster—the huge and terrible Gruffalo. But what happens when a “real” Gruffalo appears? Discover the surprising answer and meet the mouse’s foes, both live and taxidermied. Then use predator “parts” to create a fearsome Gruffalo of our own!
Nature In Your Neighborhood
Program Length: 30 minutes or 1 hour
Fee: $150 for 30 minutes / $230 for 1 hour
Investigate your neighborhood in a whole new way. Explore the animals and plants that also call Wilmington home. Examine a robin’s nest, feel feathers, and touch a raccoon’s fur. Learn how animals survive city living.
Coverdale Farm Preserve Field Trip
Budding Explorers: Connecting Farm to Nature
Program Length: 2 hours
Fee: $140 per 12 children
Available: April, May
Explore hands-on fun with our innovative springtime program for preschoolers. Engage in farm and nature experiences, get creative in our maker space, discover animal habitats, and dive into the world of soil. It’s a playful and educational adventure for curious young minds.
Kent & Sussex Counties
Abbott’s Mill Nature Center: Bring DelNature To You Programs
Animals In Winter
Program Length: 30 minutes
Fee: $5 per student plus $35 travel fee
Available: December–March
Learn about different animals native to Delaware and their strategies for winter survival. Investigate which animals hibernate, which stay awake, and which migrate south. See and touch live animals, taxidermy, and enjoy a story.
Native Wild Animals
Program Length: 30 minutes
Fee: $5 per student plus $35 travel fee
Available: Year-round
Learn about wild animals native to Delmarva while looking closely at live animals and taxidermy. Examine the habitats and characteristics of these wild animals and learn which species might live in your backyard.
Reptiles & Amphibians
Program Length: 30 minutes
Fee: $5 per student plus $35 travel fee
Available: Year-round
Discover fascinating facts about frogs and toads, salamanders, turtles, and snakes during an exciting animal program. Live specimens aid in examining the differences between reptiles and amphibians and in exploring the significance of their unique adaptations and life cycles.
Unhuggables
Program Length: 30 minutes
Fee: $5 per student plus $35 travel fee
Available: Year-round
Spiders, bats, snakes, and lizards are all animals that make many people shudder. Learn about the remarkable role these less popular animals play in the balance of nature and explore their wondrous adaptations.
Paleo Lifeways
Program Length: 30 minutes
Fee: $5 per student plus $35 travel fee
Available: Year-round
Investigate the lives of the early inhabitants of Delaware as you examine tools and clothing. Experience several activities that people who have lived in Delmarva long ago participated in.
Abbott’s Mill Nature Center Field Trips
Beach Discovery
Program Length: 1.5 hours
Fee: $7/student
Available: September–May
Explore Slaughter Beach while learning about crabs, sea turtles, and other animals of Delaware Bay. Build with sand, create a sea turtle nest, walk like a crab, and help “sand” turtles get to the water. This program meets at Slaughter Beach.
Discovering Habitats (Who Lives at Abbott’s?)
Program Length: 1.5 hours
Fee: $7/student
Available: Year-round
Use your senses to explore the forest, stream, and meadow in search of animals that live in these habitats. Discover the special adaptations, shelters, and foods these animals depend on. Get up close with live animals and taxidermy.
Discovering Trees
Program Length: 1.5 hours
Fee: $7/student
Available: Year-round
Explore the habitat at Abbott’s Mill to discover a variety of trees. Find out how trees grow and protect themselves, identify parts of trees, and describe their functions. Determine why and how trees change throughout the year and why they are important to other plants, soil, clean air, and water.
It All Starts With Soil
Program Length: 2 hours
Fee: $7/student
Available: Year-round
Discover soil and how it influences plants, animals, and people. Conduct scientific experiments to identify the three basic components of soil and compare different soil types from forest, meadow, and swamp. Observe soil layers with augers and test pH to distinguish humus, sand, and clay.
Maple Sugaring
Program Length: 2 hours
Fee: $7/student
Available: February–March
Discover how a tree makes sap and explore the history of maple syrup. See how the longtime inhabitants of Delmarva collect and boil sap to make this tasty tree treat. Try your hand at tapping a tree, experience the sights and smells of maple sap turning into maple syrup, and sample the final product!
Pondering The Pond
Program Length: 1.5 hours
Fee: $7/student
Available: Year-round
Ponder the pond and discover the plants and animals that call it home. Meet live animals and taxidermy to learn about mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. Explore how pond organisms are similar and how they are different.
Paleo Child
Program Length: 1.5 hours
Fee: $7/student
Available: Year-round
Experience the lives of Delmarva’s first inhabitants. Learn about the animals and plants that supported historical populations and the ingenious ways that they used the environment. Visit a stream, try on traditional clothes, make music, and enjoy a legend about a Turtle.