Building a Brighter Future, One Educator at a Time.

Tuesdays classes:

03/10, 04/14, 05/12

7:30 - 8:30 pm Central Time

Inside Outside 2026

This year’s Inside Outside Meetings will center around the Nebraska Extension’s Nature-Based Learning in Early Childhood Professional Development Series. Each month, participants will engage in a blended learning experience designed to deepen understanding and practical application of nature-based education.   
How it Works:
Step 1: Complete a 1-hour asynchronous online PD module at your own pace. 
Step 2: Join a live virtual meeting to reflect, collaborate, and expand on what you’ve learned.

Choose Your Meeting Time: 
Tuesday classes | 7:30–8:30 PM CT 
Thursday classes | 1:00–2:00 PM CT 
Whether you're just beginning to explore nature-based learning or looking to grow your existing practice, this series offers meaningful insights and supportive community connections—all grounded in research and real-world experience. Let nature inspire your teaching—inside and out!

Online

No cost

1.0

No Recording

Register Here for Tuesday Meetings

Thursday classes:

03/12, 04/16, 05/14

1:00 - 2:00 pm Central Time

Online

No cost

1.0

No Recording

Register Here for Thursday Meetings

Wednesday classes:

03/18 04/22

1:00 and 6:00pm

Central Time

STEAM Imagination Guides:  Unearth a Story

Nebraska Extension’s STEAM Imagination Guide program provides all caregivers with books, guided questions, and expanded learning resources to support literacy development, enhance relationships, and to make a connection with their local library.  This year’s STEAM Imagination Guides are inspired by the 2026 Collaborative Summer Reading Program theme Unearth a Story. They focus on dinosaurs, paleontology, and archaeology. This training will explore the guides and highlight additional Nebraska-based resources that align with the theme.  

Registration Links:

March 18

• 1:00:  https://unl.zoom.us/meeting/register/Flh_fdGTSmmmzDAoVhceUA
• 6:00:  https://unl.zoom.us/meeting/register/snt2-QJ2TXe7fBIOnI8JZg 

April 22

• 1:00:  https://unl.zoom.us/meeting/register/2jUHINsyQjqr1fenWw7bgg
• 6:00:  https://unl.zoom.us/meeting/register/48jzDnz1TZSixNgrAaw0yQ

Zoom

-

1.0

Monday Class:

03/23

1:00 and 6:30pm

Central Time

Let’s Go Outside-We Can Dig It!

This training focus' on outdoor activities for kids and another called "We Can Dig It!" related to youth and gardening programs. While the "Can You Find?" program is a parenting tool for outdoor discovery, "We Can Dig It!" is an early childhood extension program for youth that may involve gardening or construction-related activities.

Registration Links:

1:00: https://unl.zoom.us/meeting/register/7dUY0zoSSNimgHWzke1HaQ 

6:30: https://unl.zoom.us/meeting/register/TlU-m-CXTWS6GkInzpnv9A

Zoom

-

1.0

Lunch and Learn Classes 2026

This winter/spring, you can join us live OR get access to the recording for no cost if you register for the class. The recordings will be sent out by Friday each week and you will have until the following Friday to view, complete a quiz and earn your certificate. Classes with multiple dates are designed to be taken together, but you can attend whatever works best for your schedule! You will receive a 1-hour certificate for each class you attend for no cost. Classes are taught by Katie Krause unless otherwise noted.

Tuesday Classes:

03/03 

1:00 - 2:00 pm Central Time

Beyond Behavior: Understanding Children from the Inside Out

This new 6-week series offers a fresh approach to challenging behaviors, drawing on developmental science, respectful caregiving, and current neuroscience. Educators will learn how stress, sensory needs, and emerging skills shape behavior and how to respond with clarity, calmness, and connection. Each session focuses on practical, relationship-based strategies that reduce power struggles and support regulation. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of what behaviors communicate—and how to meet children’s needs in ways that help them thrive.

Online

No cost

1.0

Yes

Register Here

Tuesday Classes:

03/10, 03/17, 03/24

1:00 - 2:00 pm Central Time

Play Is Learning: Discovering Academic Foundations in Everyday Moments

This series helps identify and communicate the learning that happens through play, particularly to families. Participants will use the Nebraska Early Learning Guidelines (ELGs) as a framework to plan activities that nurture curiosity, creativity, and foundational academic skills. 

Online

No cost

1.0

Yes

Register Here

The Joy of Spring:03/19

The Glow of Summer:Mid-May TBA

Beauty of Fall: Mid-September TBA

1:00 - 2:00 pm Central Time

The Seasons of Play - Ideas for incorporating nature following the rhythms of the seasons 

Seasons of Play will meet seasonally to help you bring fresh, meaningful nature play to your early childhood programs. Each session highlights simple, inspiring ways to engage children with the natural world using seasonal opportunities and everyday materials. We will meet once each season to explore playful, developmentally supportive ideas that work in a variety of settings—indoors and outdoors. Join us as we discover how the changing seasons can spark curiosity, creativity, and joyful learning all year long.

• The Joy of Spring - March 19 (Thursday) 

  Explore playful, low-prep ways to welcome the season of renewal through seeds, rain, mud, insects, and new growth. This session highlights joyful springtime experiences that spark curiosity and sensory learning.

• The Glow of Summer (Mid-May TBA) 

• The Beauty of Fall (Mid-September TBA)

Online

No cost

1.0

Yes

Register Here

CHIME Series 2026 Opportunities 

Monday Evenings

March 2 through April 20

Cultivating Healthy Intentional Mindful Educators

CHIME, Cultivating Healthy, Intentional, Mindful Educators Mindfulness as it applies to the early childhood setting and social-emotional development was presented along with ways to be more responsive and less reactive towards children and work challenges. Strategies were shared for incorporating mindfulness practices into daily activities as a way to facilitate and enhance educator’s abilities in maintaining a healthy sense of well-being and nurturing children’s development.

Tuesday Evenings 

May 12 through June 30

Cultivating Healthy Intentional Mindful Educators

CHIME, Cultivating Healthy, Intentional, Mindful Educators Mindfulness as it applies to the early childhood setting and social-emotional development was presented along with ways to be more responsive and less reactive towards children and work challenges. Strategies were shared for incorporating mindfulness practices into daily activities as a way to facilitate and enhance educator’s abilities in maintaining a healthy sense of well-being and nurturing children’s development.