Come Play With Us!
Please join us for our unique, all outdoor programs.
We provide open ended nature and art based activities, and large amounts of time for free play.
Winter/ Spring 2024 Session
Registration
Is Now
Open!
2024 Winter/ Spring Session,
Registration is Now Open...
We are currently taking registration for our Spring programs. We are very excited to announce 2 new programs for spring 2024.
Restore: A Free, Postpartum Rehab Program, with outdoor, forest school child care Included. This program is a partnership with Live Well Physiotherapy, Our Health Centre, and Wild Wonders Forest School.
Looking forward to Spring 2024, we will see the return of our Nature Kindergarten program (ages 3-8) and the introduction of our new Outdoor Adventurers program for children (ages 6-12). These will start In late March/ early April and run until mid-late June.
All programs need at least 7 participants to run. Wild Wonders Forest School reserves the right to cancel any programming due to insufficient registration.
*Please see our full Cancellation Policy and other Terms and Conditions in our Parent Handbook below.
If you'd like to keep up with our latest news and updates, please drop us an email, so we can add you to our mailing list!
Our Programs
Outdoor Adventurers
Monday
9am-4pm
Ages
6-12
Outdoor Adventurers
Outdoor Adventurers
Mondays
Full Day - 9:00am- 4:00pm
Ages 6-12
Dates
Spring 2024
Mondays - April 8th - June 17th
(No program May 20th, Victoria Day)
Make-up date June 24th
The Outdoor Adventurers program is for children who are elementary aged (6-12 years) to get outside and learn together in our beautiful forest. This program is designed with inquiry based, outdoor exploration to especially complement both homeschool and public school curriculums. As with all our programs, we focus on free play, story time, nature based art activities risky play and tool use and mindfulness practices.
Our Outdoor Adventurers will explore and connect outdoors while taking charge of their own learning. We will have the opportunity to explore skills such as whittling, fire building and lighting, knot tying, shelter making and more, which skills we really dive into will be based on the interest of the group!
This program gives children a chance to be self directed and explore their own curiosities through nature play, art and craft activities, and building projects of their own devising. We also make time for reflection and mindfulness, in order to deepen learning as well as their sense of compassion for all living things.
Families will be responsible for packing a lunch and snacks for thier child!
Price-
10 Week Session/ 7hrs each day
1 Day/ Week (Mondays 9-4) $875
Multi-child families get 25% off each registered child's tuition!
Scholarship spaces are available. Please inquire for more information!
* Please note: We will hold one make-up day for each session, in case of cancellation due to inclement weather or any other circumstance. Please see our Parent Handbook for our full weather and cancelation policies.
*New
Program
For Spring
2024!
Nature Kindergarten
Tuesday and/or Thursdays
9am-2pm
Ages
3-8
Dates
Spring 2024
Tuesdays- April 26th - June 11th Make-up date June 18th
Thursdays- March 28th- June 13th
Make-up date June 20th
Nature Kindergarten is for our youngest learners. It is targeted at pre-schoolers and early elementary children (3-8 years). As in all our programs, we focus on free play, nature based art activities and mindfulness practices. We also sing songs, read books, try art processes and get messy!
Children will be immersed in a natural learning environment that lets them explore and follow their own curiosity. Educators work to support opportunities to push their inquiries further. This is designed especially for pre-literate children and those exploring early literacy. This program is set up to support a variety of pre /early literacy skills. Examples of these are sensory exploration, core strength, as well as hand and finger strength development, mark making practice and so much more! We give kids lots of space to explore, create and play in our beautiful forest setting.
Families will be responsible for packing a snack and a lunch for their children.
Price
12 Week Session/ 5hrs each day
1 Day/ Week (Tuesdays or Thursdays)- $750
2 Days/ Week (both Tuesdays and Thursdays)- $1275 (15% savings over 1 day /week)
Nature Kindergarten
Multi-child families get 25% off each registered child's tuition!
Scholarship spaces are available. Please inquire for more information!
* Please note: We will hold one make-up day for each session, in case of cancellation due to inclement weather or any other circumstance. Please see our Parent Handbook for our full weather and cancelation policies.
Nature Kindergarten
Tuesday and/ or Thursdays
9am-2pm
Ages 3-8
Restore:
A Free Postpartum
Rehab Program
*4
Week Trial
Wednesdays
9am-11am
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Dates
4 Week Trial Program
February 21st & 28th
March 6th &20th
Make-up date Wed March 27th
* No program March 13th due to SSRCE March Break
Motherhood isn't often described as a physically demanding occupation - but it can be! Activities like lifting heavy kiddos and car seats, carrying children long distances, lowering little ones slowly into cribs, and prolonged baby wearing can all be significant physical challenges.
The early years of motherhood are also often a time when women experience significant deconditioning, due to cultural expectations regarding physical activity during pregnancy, prioritization of the needs of children over the needs of mothers, reduced time for structured exercise, and many other factors. Mothers will be offered a 1hr exercise class with a 30min social break afterwards.
Mothers will keep infants in the exercise room with themselves, but once children are walking they will be coming outside to explore and play. We will be using Legacy Park, The Rails To Trails system, as well as the Croft Road Playground for our time outdoors. These are all within 5 mins of the Chester Basin Legion where the exercise class will take place.
It is really important to us to that we create access to this program for the mothers, through providing free child care and also that the child care is also providing strong, engaging, programming for the children. We are focused on enriching the mental and physical wellbeing for both groups in their own age appropriate ways . This new, free postpartum rehab program, with free forest school childcare, has been designed with all of these purposes in mind.
Price
Free!
*Funding provided through Our Health Centre In Chester N.S.
Restore: Postpartum Rehab Program
Wednesday Mornings
9am-11am
For Moms at any stage
postpartum & their Children
* This program takes place at the Chester Basin Legion not our program site in Midville Branch.
*New
Program
For Spring
2024!
Meet Our Team
Our entire team is very comfortable and well versed in the outdoors. They also bring with them a diversity of skills and talents, from summer camps to back country camping, from art to yoga. Each educator brings their own unique background and experience to our team.
For every program, we employ a Lead Educator with a Forest School Practitioners Certification (or Equivalent) and a minimum of a Standard First Aid Certification. Each program also has another adult in a support educator role. All our Educators (whether volunteer or paid) have, a Criminal Record Check and a Child Abuse Register Check. All programs have 2 adults present at all times. Our ratios are a maximum of 5 children to 1 adult for toddler and preschool programs and 7children to one adult for elementary aged programs.
The exception to these guidelines, are the Forest Families: Stay and Play Drop-in as parents stay and play with their kids for this program, therefore only a Lead Educator will be present.
Sarah Storm
Founder and Lead Educator
HI! I'm Sarah Storm, the founder of the Wild Wonders Forest School. I am a mother, educator and an artist. I started camp counselling in my youth and over the years, I have been a Camp Counsellor, Fine Arts Co-ordinator and even the Camp Director at summer camps in both Alberta and Nova Scotia. I hold a Bachelors degree in Education as well as in Fine Arts degree, with a specialization in Arts Education. I’ve spent the last ten plus years substitute teaching with children of all ages, in the public school system. I finished The Child and Nature Alliance of Canada’s Forest School Practitioners Certification, in April of 2022.
As a mother, an educator and as a human being, living in the crazy world we do right now, I feel that our children need more time outside and that families need support making that happen, I want to provide that space and support network for my family and my community. I'd love it if you wanted your kids to come and play with us.
Sarah Gillett
Support Educator
Sarah a mom of two little ones who LOVE to play in the woods. She moved to Nova Scotia from Alberta about in 2022, and couldn’t be happier about it. Sarah loves hiking through the forests and along the beaches, discovering all the magical secrets Mother Nature presents us with. She strive to live with nature and have a new found passion for identifying plants and trees and learning all about their purposes in nature and for us.
She enjoys sharing her love of our natural world and helping to build confidence and comfort within nature. She looks forwards to getting to know you and your littles!
Jessica Carroll
Support Educator
Jesica grew up exploring the woods around her home in Bridgewater Nova Scotia. Playing and building forts with the kids in the neighbourhood. She loves being outside so much so that her parents had a hard time getting her in for dinner most evenings!
For most of her career, she's worked in ecological landscaping. Being outdoors, gardening in nature has brought her so much joy.
She started helping with the Wild Wonders Forest School in the summer of 2021and was thrilled to get into nature with the kids to discover the forest landscape and of course, play!
In August of 2022, she welcomed her son Cameron to the world. He now tags along in the forest with us somedays. She is looking forward to helping him, and all the children of Wild Wonders to get into the forest and interact with the beauty of nature.
