Three Pines Project

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Three Pines Project

Three Pines Project (formerly Nature Connect) is based in southeastern North Carolina and offers nature-based learning for all ages.

Our programs include exploring outdoors, animal tracking, bird language, nature & sensory awareness, storytelling, edible & medicinal plants, mentorship, empowerment, primitive skills & crafts, and lots of fun and play!

03/01/2025

It’s the first of 2025 and the final day of our winter mini sessions!

This crew hiked to the river yesterday where we found tons of tracks, made fox dens and even saw an osprey with its lunch!

Always an adventure!

01/01/2025

Happy New Year from all of us at Three Pines Project!

We hope this year is filled with small wonders, moments of connection, fresh curiosities and lots of hours outside!

See our previous post for ways to get outside this month!

Photos:
Top: New Hanover County- CB State Park
Middle: Brunswick County- Brunswick Nature Park
Bottom: Pender County- Abbey Nature Preserve

31/12/2024

Happy NYE!! 🎉 Wishing you a 2025 filled with outdoor adventures!!!

There are so many ways to get outside this January, including events at all three of our Nature Explorer sites!

•1/4/25 Brunswick Nature Park Trail maintance day with the Coastal Land Trust and We Live Here Leland from 9am-11am

•1/11/25 Join Friends of Pleasure Island State Parks for a Lily Pond clean up from 1pm-4pm

•1/25/25 Free Hot Chocolate Hike with Pender Parks and Rec at Abbey Nature Preserve starting at 10am

•1/27/25 3P Nature Photography Workshop with Erin Whittle Photography at Belville Riverwalk Park from 9:30-11:00am $25 per participant (BYO-camera)

We can’t wait to see you on the trail, let’s kickoff the year together in the woods!

30/12/2024

Session 1 of our Winter Minis was an absolute BLAST!

Highlights:
•finding THREE salamanders
•fox squirrel face to face encounter
•Nature Journaling
•campfire cooking
•intro to orienteering and map skills
•exploring new trails each day
•checking out cool spots (salamander city, cypress pond and the flytrap observation deck)
•forming friendships and lots of play!

Looking forward to our second session this Thursday!!

27/12/2024

Happy from our Winter Mini Session Nature Explorers!

Yesterday, we found ourselves face-to-face with a fox squirrel, a first for many of our explorers!

Have you seen a fox squirrel in real life?

25/12/2024

Wishing you a holiday season filled with joy, peace and outdoor adventures!

20/12/2024

Thank you to everyone who made our Winter Solstice Night Hike so special!

It was lovely to welcome current and alumni families, community members, grandparents and friends of friends from across our tri-county area!

We loved to see kids playing together, adults chatting and laughing as we reflected on the year and gathered for our hike. Together, we made lanterns, sipped hot cocoa, and celebrated with light and friendship on a hike through the dark!

If we missed you this time, there’s always next year. Happy Solstice! 🕯️

16/12/2024

Reminder: 3P Nature Explorers are on Winter Break through January 3rd!

We can’t wait to see everyone for our solstice celebration this Thursday and our winter minis!! 🕯️

13/12/2024

Happy from our Nature Explorers!

11/12/2024

It’s Wednesday and our Nature Explorers have been up to a LOT this month!

Highlights:
💌Site-to-site penpals across our tri-county service area sealed with wax!
🦉 Owl pellet dissection/investigation!
🥖 Stickbread and community shaken butter!
🦌 As always, tons of play and games!

Reminder: next Thursday is the last day to register for our mini sessions! 2 spots left for mini 1 and waitlist options available for mini 2!

10/12/2024

☃️ Two ways to connect this December! ☃️

Winter Solstice Celebration:
-Free and open to the public!
-Join us Thursday December 19th for hot coco, lantern making and a night hike!

Winter Mini: Session 1
-Get your kids outside over break with our December mini session!
-December 26th and 27th from 9-1
-Registration closes Wednesday the 18th!

09/12/2024

Our acorn pouches are coming together!

We love all the embroidery decorations for these little treasure pouches!

Skills:
• How to sew on a button 🪡
• Sewing with pattern pieces
• Stitch options for joining the pieces: running, back, whipped, and blanket stitch!
• Patience, hand strength/body sense, and slowing down!

Check out The Early Years Blog post with a PDF pattern and tutorial!

06/12/2024

We gave a bittersweet farewell to our Forest Families for the winter and we can't wait to do it again in the spring! Fall highlights included exploring along the river, learning about local plants and animals, and creating fun nature crafts! Registration is now open for the spring session in Belville - join us to see what new adventures we discover! Learn more and register: https://www.threepinesproject.org/family

Where else would you like to see a Forest Families program? Comment below and let us know!

04/12/2024

One of our apprentices asked if he could share about persimmons! Our explorers were very interested and the samples were a huge hit! We especially loved the color coded ripeness guide!

It’s so cool to watch the next generation share their passions and knowledge!

Way to go, Eliot!

03/12/2024

Today’s the Day!

Here are four ways you can support the next generation of nature explorers:

1️⃣ Gear Lending Library: We’re in need of gently used outdoor gear—especially sizes 10+

2️⃣ Donate to our scholarship fund:
•Check: Make checks payable to Three Pines Project and include “3P Scholarship Fund” in the memo. (100% of your donation supports scholarships! Note: donations are NOT tax-deductible.)
•Venmo: Send donations to with “3P Scholarship Fund” in the notes. (3% goes to processing fees; donations are NOT tax-deductible.)

3️⃣ Amazon Wishlist: Purchase essential program supplies directly from our wish list: Three Pines Project Wishlist.

4️⃣ Share!

Every contribution—big or small—makes a huge impact. Thank you for supporting outdoor education and adventure!

02/12/2024

Tomorrow is !! 💚

Help us reach our goal of $3,500 in tuition assistance for the 25/26 program year! Here are four ways you can support our scholarship fund and programs:

1. Check: to ‘Three Pines Project’ include ‘3P scholarship fund’ in notes/memo (100% of donation goes to the scholarship fund, donation is NOT tax-deductible)

2. Venmo please include ‘3P Scholarship fund’ in note. (3% of donation goes to processing fee, donation is NOT tax-deductible)

3. Gear Lending Library: donate gently used gear (sizes 10-14+ of greatest need).

4. Wish list: purchase items from our Amazon wishlist, ‘Three Pines Project Wishlist’

More info at: threepinesproject.org/donate

Thank you for helping bring the gift of hours outdoors to more families!

01/12/2024

⛄️ December with 3P! ⛄️

Giving TUESDAY: Four ways to give! Your donations help ensure our programs are accessible to all! 💚

Spring Forest Families: registration opens December 6th!!

Winter Break: December 16- January 3

Winter Minis: December 26 & 27 and January 2 & 3

Winter Solstice Celebration: FREE and open to the Public! Join us at 5pm by the pond at Long Leaf Park for lantern making and a short night hike to celebrate the shortest day of the year! BYO-jar if you have one! 🕯️

29/11/2024

Learning to recognize hazards and how to respond builds confidence in our Nature Explorers! This is a key part of our program and it’s amazing to see how knowledge can transform fear into appreciation!

When we take the time to understand the world around us, what once felt scary becomes an opportunity to connect and feel empowered.
By practicing with scenarios and help from things like Mr. Buzzington (our bee finger puppet for ‘buzz tests’) we help keep ourselves and the creatures around us safe.

We love hearing feedback like this from our parents! 🐝

Address

Opening Hours

Monday	09:00 - 17:00
Tuesday	09:00 - 17:00
Wednesday	09:00 - 17:00
Thursday	09:00 - 17:00
Friday	09:00 - 17:00

Telephone

+19107073956

Website

https://www.threepinesproject.org/

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Videos

Sweet moments and sweet messages like these make our hearts so happy! #natureexplorers #optoutside #threepinesproject #vitaminn #naturebasededucation #newhanovercounty #pendercounty #brunswickcountync #southeasternnc #lowercapedear #coastalnc #natureimmeesion #outdoorprogram #notallclassroomshavewalls #getoutside @

This group has written a song! These Nature Explorers wanted to write their own song for our end-of-year showcase! We are obsessed!! 🤩🎶 Visit natureconnectnc.org/programs for our spring and summer offerings! #trailsong #kidsoutdoors #teamworkmakesthedreamwork #homeschoolenrichment #natureconnection #natureexplorers #ExploreWithUs #naturebasededucation #pendercountync #newhanovercounty #pendercounty #brunswickcountync

We were lucky enough to find this little red-bellied snake on the trail the other day thanks to an eagles eye explorer! Our Nature Explorers have been learning all about the many snakes that call this area home, this was our first time seeing this species at this site! What a sssweet ssspotting! 🐍 .....#snakeidentification #nonvenomous #redbelliedsnake #snakesofnc #optoutside #homeschoolenrichment #naturebasededucation

Such a sweet little compass haiku. 🧭 . . . . . #natureispoetry #poemoftheday #haikupoem #ExploreWithUs #staycurious #naturebased #optoutside #naturebasedlearning #wondermore #nextgeneration #kidsoutdoors #homeschoolenrichment #naturebasededucation #natureconnection #pendercountync #newhanovercounty #pendercounty #brunswickcountync #community #wilmingtonnc #coastalnc #compass #compassskills

Happy New Year! 🎉 We hope your 2024 is filled with adventure, outdoors and connection! #optoutside #naturebasededucation #placebasedlearning #naturebasedlearning #homeschoolenrichment #getoutside #pendercounty #brunswickcountync #newhanovercounty #ExploreWithUs #kidsoutdoors #natureplay #staycurious #natureconnections #wondermore #natureconnection #naturebased #natureschool #nextgeneration #givethegiftofnature #natureplayground #community #wilmingtonnc #homeschool #nature #coastalnc #forestschool

We had so much fun at our first solstice lantern celebration for our December community Meetup! We made lanterns, warmed up with hot tea/cider, and took a night hike! Such a fun way to get outside on the shortest of days! Happy Winter! 🕯️ #shortestday #wintersolstice2023 #nighthike #wintersolsticecelebration #wintersolstice #lanternwalk #longestnight #natureconnections #getoutside #communityevent #naturebasededucation #optoutside #ExploreWithUs #placebasededucation #brunswickcountync #newhanovercounty #pendercounty #kidsoutdoors #coastalnc #wilmingtonnc #community #forestschool

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