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.
Fall 2024 Session
Registration
Is Now
Open!
2024 Fall Session,
Registration is Now Open...
We are currently accepting registrations for our fall programs.
Looking forward to fall 2024, we will see the return of our Nature Kindergarten program (ages 3-8) on Tuesdays and Thursday. We will start Nature Kindergarten In Early September and run until late Nov. There is also a new carpooling option for Nature Kindergarten from Petite Riviere, with one of my staff.
* A note on Restore: Our Free, Postpartum Rehab Program, with outdoor, forest school child care Included... This program will not run for Fall 2024, but will be aiming to return for Spring 2024, pending funding. This program is a partnership with Live Well Physiotherapy, Our Health Centre, and Wild Wonders Forest School. You can email Our Health Center to get added to the waitlist for the fall program.
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
Nature Kindergarten
Tuesday and/or Thursdays
9am-2pm
Ages
3-8
Dates
Fall 2024
Tuesdays- Sept 10th-Nov 12th Make-up date Nov 19th
Thursdays- Sept 12th-Nov 14th
Make-up date Nov 21st
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
10 Week Session/ 5hrs each day
1 Day/ Week (Tuesdays or Thursdays)- $625
2 Days/ Week (both Tuesdays and Thursdays)- $1065 (15% savings over 1 day /week)
Nature Kindergarten
Families with multiple children attending get 25% off the second registered child's tuition and 50% off all additional children when three or more are registered!
*New Carpooling option from Petite Riviere. Information at registration.
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
Forest Families,
Summer Stay and Play
Drop-in
Wednesday Mornings
All Ages
Welcome
Forest Families
Summer Stay & Play Drop-In
Wednesday Mornings
9am -Noon
All Ages Welcome!
Forest Families
Stay and play, Drop-in
*Dates
Forest Families will return again For Summer 2025
3 Hour Drop-In Session
Every Wednesday Morning
"Pay What You Can" Donations Are Appreciated
Forest Families, Stay and Play is for families with children of all ages, as a chance to get outside and play together, with other children and families. In this open ended program, we provide our lovely natural play areas and loose parts collections for your family to explore together, art materials for creative exploration for all ages, and reflective activities for family bonding. A big focus here is creating comfort and literacy with nature, free play, risky play.
We want to help create a community of families, who value outdoor play can connect and play together. Theses connections will hopefully extend outside of our programs too. I, (Sarah Storm) will be there, (usually with my own son) to provide activity offerings and help parents navigate the challenges of being outdoors with their kids. I am here to create an experience where families can play together with support. This can be especially helpful if parents are uncomfortable with some parts of being outdoors with their kids, or letting their kids engage with risky play. Some examples of topics I might advise on might be... dealing with boredom, teaching tool use, balancing safety and risky play, risk management for a variety of weather conditions, or how to dress comfortably in a variety seasons, etc…
Families should bring a snack and water for their children and themselves, as well as extra clothing to change into if we get wet or messy, as we tend to sometimes do. This is a rain or shine program, so families should come prepared to be outside for the whole morning. Please dress for the forecast and bring what you ned to be comfortable.
This program is a great introduction to our programs and philosophy, without the commitment to a full session. It's a great way to check out our space, and a chance for the whole family to join us as well. we often have special guest join us as well bringing activities and knowledge on a variety of outdoor related topics.
A registration form is required, prior to the first session. After that, you can just email Growingwildwonder@gmail.com to confirm your participation each week that you'd like to come.
Price-
A donation of $20 for each family , is suggested to cover costs of location, art supplies and Nature Practitioner time, and participants are encouraged to PWYC.
Restore:
A Funded,
Postpartum
Rehab Program
with child care incuded
Spring 2024 Dates Tba
Wednesdays
9am-11am
Dates
10 Week Session
Spring 2024 Dates TBA
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
Fully funded, including child care option for toddlers older children!
*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.
Next program
Spring 2025
Dates TBA
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 loved 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.
