Through story time, crafts and hands-on activities ... and programs like the Preschool Nature Hour only cultivate this curiosity, introducing kids to their natural neighbors and the whole wide ...

CEDAR RAPIDS — In the late summer heat, preschool students at Creekside Forest School — a nature-based program — find the shade, drink a lot of water and are monitored closely by their teachers.

Liam and his 3- to 5-year-old classmates sat around a large picnic table in the Bob Jones Nature Center and Preserve, feet dangling from the bench, as they learned about the life cycle of frogs.