PS 282 | Fall Outdoor Garden Afterschool | PreK through 5th Grade

Brooklyn Rewilders Fall 2026 Afterschool Program

Meets Wednesdays, September 23 to December 16, 2:20–5:00 pm

Grades: PreK, K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th (mixed age) 

Location: PS 282 School Garden

Schedule: Every Wednesday (except DOE holidays and half days)

Hands-on garden science.

There's a whole wild world in the PS 282 garden, and most of us walk right past it. Our kids learn to slow down and observe. They get their hands in the soil, follow the last bumblebees hunting for a place to overwinter, and carefully look to see who lives under a fallen leaf. Curiosity leads, and real science follows: they start asking who lives here, what each creature needs, and how it all connects. The garden changes every week, so there is always a new wonder to chase, whether they're new to the garden or already in love with it.

What We'll Do This Fall

🌳 Explore the garden as a living community: meet the oak and everyone who depends on it, and get to know the birds, squirrels, and insects who share the space. 

🔬 Ask real questions and test them: start a decomposition jar and watch it change week by week, discover how different seeds travel, and look closely with microscopes, magnifying glasses, and binoculars. 

🌱 Learn to see like a naturalist: what even makes a plant a weed? Which ones are native, which feed the wildlife, which crowd everyone else out? Kids learn to notice, question, and name what's growing around them. 

🍂 Do real garden work: leave the fallen leaves where they shelter insects and feed the soil, mulch and tend the beds, and plant fall seeds and native plants. 

🍯 Make and taste the season: shake fresh herb butter, make pesto, and try wild and garden flavors most kids have never met. 

🎨 Make art from what the garden gives: hammer leaves to print their color, paint with berry juice, keep a nature journal.

By the End of the Semester, Children Will:

🌎 Understand how a garden and its creatures get ready for winter 

🔍 Ask a question and test it: look closely, compare, and record 

🐝 Know the wild neighbors who share their garden, by name 

🙏 Take part in our rituals of gratitude, sensory observation, and looking out for one another

Program Structure

2:20–5:00 pm | Outdoors in the PS 282 garden

We are outside most days, light rain or shine, with indoor classroom space for severe weather. Please send children dressed for outdoor play.

All children will:

• Create a personal nature journal for the semester

• Receive materials and supplies for each lesson

• Take home their nature and art projects

Snacks provided.

Financial aid available. Tax-deductible donations are also welcome to support equitable programming!

Brooklyn Rewilders is a nonprofit reconnecting children and communities to the living world, through garden-based learning in schools and native food hedges along Brooklyn's fences. See more of our work at Brooklynrewilders.org.

We can't wait to get outside with you this fall.

Questions: brooklynrewilders@gmail.com