CEED, the Center for Environmental Education and Discovery, located in Brookhaven, has recently announced plans to host their first Dewdrop Discoveries program for preschool-aged children.

The new preschool nature program will be available for children 3 to 5 years old and capped at eight students. Initially, the program will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. from the end of April to the middle of June. In July, they will expand their program to five days a week for three weeks, and beginning in September will offer a whole calendar school year of sessions.

“If it goes well, we hope to expand it in the future,” said CEED volunteer and former board chair Tom Pelletier “I think it’s really central to CEED’s mission, which is connecting people to nature. We believe kids just thrive outside.”

The program, according to program organizer Karrthik Pitchayan, will include center- and play-based learning, mostly outside, weather permitting. Children will be able to engage in music, play with garden beds and a mud kitchen, and spark their sense of outdoor curiosity.

“We want the kids to gain some sense of autonomy, too,” he said, noting that they will be able to guide their teachers on what they want to do.

The price is $320 for two days and eight classes. For more information or to sign up visit:  ceedli.org/dewdrop-discoveries/.

CEED will also be hosting a Spring Vacation Camp from April 14-18. Children ages 5 to 12 are able to be enrolled for one day, or several days, or the whole week. The program will include nature-based learning and activities as well as a visit to the neighboring Mama Farm. About 20 kids will be able to participate.

“We have a lot of kids coming from the city or Brooklyn, and they are not familiar with being outdoors. The second any child has any mud or dirt on them, there is this small moment where they come to embrace it in their own individual way,” Pitchayan said of what makes the camp special.

For more information or to sign up visit: ceedli.org/2025-spring-camp