Climate-Aware VBS
This Great Idea is based on two pieces from Katharine Hayhoe’s September 7, 2024 Talking Climate post:
Katharine opens with the Good News of Pollinator-Friendly Solar Farms and how they boost biodiversity well beyond themselves. Citing the Center for Pollination in Energy, Hayhoe asserts that, ‘When solar farms are carefully planned and seeded with native plants that pollinators love, they can help tackle the biodiversity crisis at the same time as the climate crisis. Well-designed and managed solar farms can create habitats for honeybees, bumblebees, and other pollinators. And when pollinators increase in number, nearby cropland benefits too!’
She goes on to talk about how ‘sheep and goats are used at many solar farms around the country to ‘mow’ the grasses back.
Curious VBS leaders might utilize The Nature Conservancy’s Pollinator-Friendly Solar Scorecard to learn about nearby pollinator-friendly solar farms.
However, solar farms aren’t the only places to explore pollinator habitat and biodiversity:
Jesus talks about seeds and grasses, flowers and birds countless times throughout the Gospels. Finding one small story or parable a day would be extremely easy.
Pair each story with a walk to your own or a nearby solar field, pollinator plot, orchard, garden, or arboretum and simply allow kids to learn about nature – and wonder about their connection with it.
Let VBS this year be as simple as connecting Jesus’ words with creation – and instilling a sense of meaning, connection, awe, and wonder in everyone who participates. As climate scientist (and guest editor of Hayhoe’s June 28, 2025 post), Dr. Kate Marvel writes, ‘A wise person once said that the most important thing we can do to confront climate change is to talk about it*… – and it’s not all fear and doom. In dark and challenging times, it’s crucial to dream of better futures – and then get to work making them a reality. To do this, we need to engage people with wonder, hope, and beauty…[and develop an awareness that] Everyone and everything I love lives here on Earth. Pretending we feel nothing about our changing world makes us liars… We need to embrace all our emotions when it comes to climate change.’
In her September post, Hayhoe lifts up the Parry Sound Forest School as a fine example of kids learning in and from nature.
We’ve got a lot of great examples in Minnesota, too – an internet search for ‘nature schools for children in Minnesota’ revealed too many to list here. Community Centers and Indigenous-led engagement centers abound, as well. There is something along these lines near you!
You might partner with a nearby solar field, pollinator plot, or nature engagement organization/school by:
- Inviting a teacher or mentor to present and/or plan outings;
- Gain permission to lead VBS in their wild spaces;
- Encourage families to develop relationships for on-going immersion/experiences/learning;
- Develop a congregational partnership for intergenerational, year-round experiences.
Developing a sense of awe, wonder, beauty, and deep connection with creation is essential to spiritual growth, supports self-awareness and intellectual development, and encourages healthy physical growth. Basically, the more we connect with nature, the more we connect with the Divine and our True Selves. VBS is a great place to encourage all areas of growth!
Read Hayhoe’s full September post here.
Read Marvel’s full June post here.
(*See our Third Space Ministries Great Idea, also from this week!)
