Forest and nature school is an experience that:
  • creates connections. To nature, self, and others. Children connect to a piece of land on an ongoing basis, and learn to love and care for it. 
  • centres Indigenous teachings and uses a Two-Eyed seeing approach to learning on the land. 
  • facilitates learner-centred, hands-on, inquiry-based learning. Forest school leaders help to "chase" questions that grow out of children's curiosity. They encourage inquisitiveness and provide "scaffolding" to raise learning to a new level. 
  • cultivates imagination, resiliency, resourcefulness, and play.
  • educates the whole child. Their heads, hearts, hands; mind, body, spirit.
  • mentors and builds community. A forest school program builds strong adult-child connections. Through consensus, group-building and cooperative learning experiences, we strive to build a sense of community and cohesion within the group.
  • encourages risk taking.  Children learn how to manage their own risks and challenge themselves by choice. This way of learning offers children the opportunity to take supported risks appropriate to the environment and to themselves.
  • creates a space for self esteem, independence, and creativity to grow. Through a variety of activities, skill-building, and relationship-building, children grow in confidence.
Forest school programs are offered through the City of Kitchener's Natural Areas Program. Some of our past offerings include:
  • Weekly forest school programs for ages 3-12
  • Leadership programs for ages 11-16
  • After school drama group called "Thistletop Theatre"
  • After school art group called "Painted Turtle Art Club"
  • After school girls group called "Girls in Nature"
  • After school nature group called "Nature Explorers"
  • Weekly adult/child (5 and under) groups called "Tales and Trails" at various City of Kitchener park locations
  • Free weekend activities for the community, through the City of Kitchener's Natural Areas Program, including guided walks, art events, pond exploration, learning from Indigenous educators, storytelling circles, writing by the pond, night hikes, dawn chorus, and many more! 
  • Programs for Kindergarten groups (immersion Kindergarten in Nature program, and field trip program)
  • Programs for English Language Learner groups
  • Professional development workshops for teachers about outdoor learning
We love this land where we play and learn: the sun that warms us, the trees that give us shade, beauty and places to climb. The plants that give us food. The creatures who teach us about how to live in a good way. Thank you to the bugs and turtles, the great blue herons and the tadpoles. To the fairy shrimp, the tree swallows, the pond snails, the newts. To the Jack-in-the-pulpits, the trout lilies, the goldenrod, the asters - all of you are so beautiful and teach us so much. To the water, which is life - the ponds, creeks and the Grand River watershed.
We are honoured to walk, learn, and play on the traditional territories of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, and Chonnonton Nations, treaty lands of the Haudenosaunee. Grateful for the ongoing care, stewardship, and teachings from Indigenous Peoples that help us walk gently on this earth. We are committed to the ongoing process of decolonization through partnering with local Indigenous educators in our facilitation, learning about the past and about good ways forward together, and respecting the land as our First Teacher.
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​© Nature Connect 2023