Think back to when you were little.
Maybe you remember collecting rocks, watching ants carry food, digging in the dirt, or looking up into a tree and wondering what lived among its branches. Maybe someone was there with you—a parent, grandparent, sibling, or neighbor—showing you something, answering your questions, or sharing a story.
For many of us, some of our earliest lessons did not happen in a classroom. They happened while we were playing, exploring, asking questions, and spending time with the people around us.
We were learning long before we knew to call it learning.
That simple idea is at the heart of Niñitos de la Naturaleza (Little Nature Explorers), a partnership between El Futuro and the Museum of Life and Science that creates opportunities for young children and their families to explore nature, science, and culture through play and community.
But spend time with the families participating in Niñitos, and you begin to see that something much bigger can happen during those seemingly small moments.
When a flower becomes a family story
Imagine a child picking up a flower and asking a question. A parent recognizes it and remembers a similar plant from their childhood. A grandparent begins talking about the land where they grew up. Another family hears the conversation and recognizes something from their own experience.
A child’s question has suddenly become more than a science lesson. It has become memory. Culture. Connection. And learning.
That is one of the ideas Niñitos invites us to think differently about: children don’t experience learning separately from the rest of who they are.
Their families are part of it. Their language is part of it. Their culture and community are part of it. And the knowledge already carried by parents and grandparents can be part of it, too.
What does culturally responsive learning actually look like?
“Culturally responsive” can sometimes sound like an abstract concept. Niñitos offers a very tangible example of what it can mean.
The Museum of Life and Science brings expertise in science education and playful learning, creating opportunities for children to approach the natural world with curiosity and questions. El Futuro brings its experience in culturally responsive, community-centered work and creating spaces where families feel welcomed, understood, and connected.
Put those strengths together, and learning can look a little different.
Science meets family.
Nature meets culture.
Curiosity meets belonging.
Sometimes that means a child leads the exploration. Sometimes the adults become just as excited as the children. Sometimes it is messy, loud, playful, bilingual, and wonderfully unpredictable.
And sometimes it is simply a family noticing something new together.
Those moments matter.
When children and families have opportunities to explore the world in ways that honor who they are, where they come from, and the knowledge they already carry, curiosity has room to grow. And when that curiosity grows within a community, learning can become something even more powerful: a way to strengthen connection, belonging, and a family’s relationship with the world around them.
Thanks to Alexander Sabala for sharing this reflection based on his work as Project Manager for Youth Mental Health and Community Engagement at El Futuro. Special thank you to our partner The Museum of Life & Science in Durham.
Alvely Alcántara, LCSW
Rossy C. Garcia, MEd 
Katy Sims, MD 
Everardo Aviles, LCSW, LCAS (Eve)
As a medical anthropologist and social work researcher, Dr. Gulbas’ research embodies interdisciplinarity through the integration of applied theories of health and human development with qualitative and ethnographic methodologies. Her work seeks to understand how people—children, families, and providers—navigate complex sociocultural landscapes in the pursuit of mental health. Most of her work, to date, focuses attention on developing more robust interpretations of suicide risk. With funding from the National Institutes of Mental Health, this body of research has contributed to advancements in theoretical and empirical knowledge of the broader contexts within which youth suicide risk is situated. 
R. Gabriela Barajas-Gonzalez is a developmental psychologist and an assistant professor of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Dr. Barajas-Gonzalez is the principal investigator of a study that examines the impact of immigration-related threat and stress on school communities. She earned a PhD in developmental psychology from Columbia University and hold a BA in human biology from Stanford University. Dr. Barajas-Gonzalez is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and a first gen college student.
Dr. Parra-Cardona is an Associate Professor in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work (SHSSW) at the University of Texas at Austin. At the SHSSW, he serves as Coordinator for Mexico and Latin American initiatives. He also serves as Area Director for Research at the UT Austin Latino Research Institute. Dr. Parra-Cardona’s program of research is focused on the cultural adaptation of evidence-based parenting interventions for low-income Latinx populations in the US and Latin America.
Bianka Reese, PhD, MSPH is a research scientist and program evaluator specializing in adolescent and young adult sexual and reproductive health. Her previous research in the experiences of Latinx LGBTQ+ youth stems from her work as the Research and Evaluation Manager at SHIFT NC (Sexual Initiatives For Teens), where she led largescale evaluations of multilevel, community-based sexual health promotion initiatives and research projects aimed at elevating the voices of diverse youth in North Carolina. Dr. Reese is currently the Senior Research Strategist at Creative Research Solutions, LLC, an award-winning national evaluation, research, and assessment firm.
Tania Connaughton-Espino, MPH is an independent researcher focused on adolescent and young adult sexual and reproductive health. Her interest in the experiences of Latinx LGBTQ+ youth stems from her previous work with SHIFT NC (Sexual Initiatives For Teens), where she led the training and evaluation department, conducted capacity-building workshops for youth serving professionals including on the topic of how to be more affirming of LGBTQ youth, and from her extensive experience working with the Latinx population in NC.
Maru Gonzalez, EdD is an Assistant Professor and Youth Development Specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences at North Carolina State University. Her areas of inquiry include youth development with a focus on activism, social justice, and the experiences of LGBTQ+ young people across familial, school, and community contexts. 
Nayeli Y. Chavez-Dueñas, PhD
Hector Y. Adames, PsyD