Kroll, Melanie Rose2025-03-102025-03-102024-12https://hdl.handle.net/11299/270174A Plan B Project submitted to the faculty of the University of Minnesota by Melanie Rose Kroll in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Environmental Education, December 2024. This item has been modified from the original to redact the signature present.This study explored the perceptions of educators, parents, and children who attended a nature-based preschool in Minnesota on how resilience continues to develop in youth as they enter middle childhood. Parents explored what attributes associated with resilience their children demonstrate, ways these are encouraged outside the nature-based school, and reflected on what role nature may play in their family. Youth participants reflected on the resources they used when faced with challenging or adverse experiences. Through thematic analysis, common traits identified by parents include confidence, leadership, empathy, self-regulation, and problem solving. Youth demonstrated a familiarity with place, reliance on self-regulation tools, and trust in their family, friends, and more-than-human companions. The Lead Guide identified programmatic features which instilled a sense of security, belonging, and independence among preschoolers and centered connections to the more-than-human world. Examined together, the perceptions of participants highlight the role of connection, safety, and independent exploration as factors which promote resilience within youth.en-USenvironmental educationresilienceearly childhoodmiddle childhoodplace based educationnature preschooladversityMaster of Environmental EducationCenter for Environmental EducationCollege of Education and Human Service ProfessionsUniversity of Minnesota DuluthPlan Bs (project-based master's degrees)Scholarly Text or Essay