Regulation-First Nature Curriculum — Educator Edition (Ages 2–5)

Most nature curriculum for young children starts with content: here is a leaf, here

is its name. This one starts with the nervous system.

A dysregulated two-year-old cannot identify a leaf. They cannot take turns, follow a

two-step instruction, or notice anything at all — the thinking part of the brain has

gone offline. Every card and every session plan in this bundle names its regulation

goal before its content goal, because that is the order children actually learn in.

WHAT YOU GET

21 Activity Cards — Facilitator Edition

Each card has a facilitator front (why this matters, setup, facilitation sequence) and

a reverse carrying what children are building, four learning objectives, what you need,

and a facilitator note. Laid out two-up on US Letter with cut lines, so you can print

and cut a 4×6in deck on any home or office printer.

Gather Your Own Collection — 2 pages

Everything the cards call for and where to find it: bark, stones, wooden rounds, a hand

lens, a box with a lid a child can open alone. Nothing proprietary, nothing to buy from

us. Includes the six safety rules that matter with children under five — choke sizing,

what never goes in the box, and what to leave living.

4 Complete Outdoor Session Plans — Ages 2–5

Sixty to ninety minutes each, built on four real ecosystems: sandhill, swamp, pond

edge, and the boundary between them. Arrival ritual, regulation opening, invitation,

extension, closing ritual. Written to be run by one adult with a small group.

The Pedagogy, Throughout

Regulation before instruction. Relationship before mastery. Place before abstraction.

Not a separate chapter to read — it is the structure of every page.

WHO THIS IS FOR

Forest school and nature preschool programs. Early childhood educators who take

children outside. Park and nature centre staff running family programming.

Homeschool cooperatives with mixed-age groups of young children.

WHAT YOU DO NOT NEED

No kit. No proprietary box, no branded materials, no subscription. The collection is

gathered from the ground, a garden, or a charity shop. That is the point: if this only

worked with something you had to buy from us, it would not be a method — it would be

packaging.

WHO THIS IS NOT FOR

If you want printable worksheets, or activities that produce a craft to send home,

this will disappoint you. There is no product at the end of these sessions. The point

is the practice of noticing, and returning.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tamara Henry is a year-round camp host in the South Carolina state park system and is

Forest School Teacher Institute certified. The ecosystems in these plans are places

she works in and returns to through the seasons.

FORMAT

59-page PDF. US Letter. Print at home or at any copy shop. Instant download, no

account required. Licensed for use by the purchasing educator or program.

#forest school, #nature curriculum, #early childhood, #ages 2-5, #outdoor education,

#activity cards, l#esson plans, #self-regulation, #nature play, preschool, printable