When Forest Magic Meets Environmental Science

Four kindergarten teachers at Ray School discovered something powerful last year: you can teach rigorous environmental science through pure wonder, power tools, and a healthy dose of forest magic. Their three-month "Kinderguardians of the Forest" project transformed 75 five-year-olds into confident environmental stewards while building wooden troll sculptures from upcycled materials.

The project began with teacher Leslie Connolly's summer visit to Thomas Dambo's installations in Maine—giant wooden forest guardians that tell stories about conservation through art. "Our kids were already out there loving the trees," explains Connolly. "This was a way to thread everything together." When she proposed building their own trolls, her colleagues immediately committed, each naturally gravitating toward a different tree component: roots, trunk, branches, and leaves.

The Ray School approach prioritized student agency from the start. Rather than teacher-directed craft activities, kindergarteners used real tools to solve authentic construction problems. During three dedicated "troll work days," small groups rotated through stations where they sawed, hammered, measured, and problem-solved their way through engineering challenges. Teachers provided safety scaffolding—"small groups, deep breathing, and hoping," one noted—but students drove the design process.

"They were bouncing ideas off each other, giving each other compliments," observes teacher Sophie Doiron, who moved to Vermont from Arizona specifically for the opportunity to do climate education with young children. "You know, they'd say, 'Oh, I like that idea. That's a good idea.'" Democratic decision-making became daily practice as her nineteen students negotiated everything from troll names to quest trail clues.

The project's magic lay in its integration of rigorous learning standards with kindergarten wonder. Students conducted detailed tree studies, learning botanical vocabulary and life cycles while developing genuine expertise in their assigned tree component. "My kids were all about the roots for months," reported Connolly. "If they saw a root in the woods, they'd call everyone over." Environmental stewardship emerged naturally as children developed deep knowledge about forest ecosystems.

Community partnerships flourished as word spread about the kindergarten trolls. A local business owner donated scrap wood and bowls. Richmond Middle School students cut out hands and feet. A dendrochronologist visited with specimens including thousand-year-old tree rings. A local family provided transportation for the 300-pound finished sculptures. "When adults see kids caring deeply about something real, they want to help," notes Connolly.

The democratic process extended beyond individual classrooms. Students navigated the complex challenge of multiple perspectives: "He's only got two arms and two legs, but there's 19 of them, and they all have their own ideas," explains Doiron. Yet the collaborative framework allowed every child to claim ownership—"That's my fact, I screwed that hand on"—while learning to blend individual visions into collective creations.

The project culminated with installation at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS), where families now follow a quest trail to find all five trolls (one from each class, and one created collaboratively by all four classes). But the real transformation was evident when children became environmental educators themselves, proudly guiding visitors and sharing conservation knowledge they'd internalized completely.

Taking 15-20% of curriculum time over three months, the project demonstrates how climate education can begin with love rather than fear. "We owe it to our kids," reflects Doiron. "Getting them thinking about the changing world and solutions, even if it's just talking about how we can make trolls from upcycled wood."

The Ray School model offers a replicable framework: start with children's natural wonder, provide real tools and authentic challenges, build community partnerships, and trust students to develop genuine environmental stewardship through hands-on learning. This kind of project works because it connects science standards with "the magic of being five and six." As Michelle Landry summed up when talking about the book used to kick off the year, "Our job is to be out there to get to know the earth so we can understand the earth and learn how to love it and protect it." Kids this age don't need to be convinced that trees are worth protecting—they just need to know them well enough to love them.

For more information, contact: leslie.connolly@rayschool.org, michelle.landry@rayschool.org, angelahotvet@hanovernorwichschools.org, or Sdoiron48@gmail.com from Bernice E. Ray School in Hanover, NH, or check out The Equitable Climate Action Partnership at bit.ly/hopefulstories.