Programs and Offerings at Brave Nature School
whether you're looking for more information about our programs for families & children, professional development trainings or want to collaborate with bns,
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Caregiver & Me Program
Weekend and weekday options year-round
AGES 0-4+
Nests
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Nests is a nature-based family program designed for caregivers and our littlest learners to explore, play, and grow together outdoors. Classes meet from 9–11 AM in four seasonal sessions (Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer), each lasting eight weeks.
In every session, we nurture a welcoming, joyful space where families can safely explore nature and practice what it means to teach, learn, and play in an anti-racist, anti-bias community. Each class follows a gentle rhythm with circle time, story, snack, and free play, balancing consistency and freedom for both children and caregivers.
Together, we sing, walk, leap, dig, run, sort, observe, smell, track, touch, listen, laugh, taste, tumble, climb, build, and deconstruct. Minds, bodies, and spirits are engaged as we deepen our connection to the land and to one another — discovering what it truly means to care for ourselves, our community, and the world we share.
Program goals
sample rhythm
waitlist
open for
Sundays at
Sleeping Giant
State park
introduce and practice age appropriate consent-based body awareness and safety skills
share environmental knowledge amongst a multicultural group
connect deeply with ourselves and our child(ren) through activities that focus on care, collaboration, and wonder
build meaningful relationships with one another in a safe, anti-bias environment
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Program goals
sample rhythm
9:00-9:15 Arrival and welcome
9:15-9:45 Morning circle & snack
9:45-10:45 Play Exploration
10:45-11 Closing circle
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Program goals
sample rhythm
Sample Rhythm:
Primary Pilot Program
Year-round, After School & SUMMER CAMP
AGES 3-7
Gardens
now
enrolling
for 2026
At Gardens, learning grows through relationship. Children ages 2.5 to 7 spend their days immersed in play, imagination, and discovery—learning with the land, not apart from it. Our full-time program meets Monday through Wednesday 9 AM-3 PM, September through June, offering a rhythm where curiosity leads and nature teaches.
Co-creating a culture of care comes first: children and playworkers build shared agreements about how we move, speak, play, and rest. They listen to their own bodies, to one another, and to the living world that holds us. We sing and climb, build and deconstruct, track and trace, laugh and learn—engaging mind, body, and spirit in the practice of belonging.
Each day, children cultivate empathy, collaboration, and self-reflection through play-based exploration. Early literacy, numeracy, art, music, and storytelling emerge organically from their interests rather than from a one-size-fits-all curriculum.
Gardens is more than a classroom. It’s a living community—a place where play, care, and curiosity intertwine, and every child is trusted to grow in their own way.
More information
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about the playworkers
goals & rhythm
what to expect
GARDENS SUMMER CAMP
GARDENS After school
Provide a safe, healthy and consistent space for children to play, learn, and grow
Model and support the practice of age-appropriate consent-based body awareness, communication, conflict transformation, and safety skills
Promote multicultural approaches of knowing and being, including through art, histories and cultures, literature, music and poetry, mathematics, sciences, engineering and more.
Build a culture of belonging with one another and all life forms of the park.
Program Goals:
9:00 - 9:15 Drop-off & Play
9:15 - 9:30 Morning Circle
9:30 - 10:00 Snack & Bathroom Break
10:00 - 11:15 Environmental Exploration Thematic Play
11:15 - 12:00 Lunch & Bathroom Break
12:00 - 1:00 Quiet time
1:00 - 2:15 Story/Culture/Art Play
2:15 - 2:30 Tidy Up
2:30 - 2:45 Closing Circle
2:45 - 3:00 Pick-up
Sample Rhythm:
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about the playworkers
goals & rhythm
what to expect
GARDENS SUMMER CAMP
GARDENS After school
Some ways you might see children playing and learning in Gardens:
- pretend play scenarios such as animal families or role play with puppets
- building tools and homes
- participating in both independent and collaborative process art projects using myriad rich materials for expression
- family and culture shares
- digging in dirt and puddles; experimenting with water
- making up games and teaching/playing them with others
- singing and dancing together
- reading and telling stories to ignite a lifelong love of literature and storytelling
- hiking; bird-watching and plant identification
- making and serving one another pretend food in the mud kitchen
- preparing, serving, and enjoying daily lunches (then tidying up)
- mark-making and reflection through journaling
- inspiring unique, emergent threads of inquiry that hold deep meaning for children
- laughter and silliness and holding space for all emotions that arise
- mindfulness, movement and breathing exercises to promote self-awareness and presence
- resourceful independent and community problem solving
The play and learning will always be indicative of and authentic to the particular children and group in a given session.
about the playworkers
register now
about the playworkers
goals & rhythm
what to expect
GARDENS SUMMER CAMP
GARDENS After school
Playworkers are there to protect our play space, support children when needed and facilitate consent culture within our community and amongst all life forms. They serve as an extension of the caregiver role as they model our consent-based, anti-bias, and anti-racist values. Playworkers follow the child, learning with and responding to each child's uniqueness in relationship to their cohort. Some things you will see our playworkers doing are:
• Facilitating a safe and healthy space for children to fully immerse themselves in play
• Co-assessing risks with children
• Modeling listening to our bodies, healthy self-expression and listening to understand one another
• Setting up invitations to thematic exploration using natural elements, ethically sourced multicultural materials, games and resources
• Closely observing children, documenting their interests, questions, play stories, and seeking opportunities to enrich their understanding
• Verbally coaching children through the steps of conflict transformation and repair, only after patiently giving children the space to do it or if the situation has become unsafe
• Intentionally stepping back from their interactions with a child when they have begun to play independently or with other children
• Modeling a lifelong learning ethic by engaging in their own interests and welcoming the children to participate if they express interest
gardens overview
register now
about the playworkers
goals & rhythm
what to expect
GARDENS SUMMER CAMP
GARDENS After school
Join us this summer for 8 Wednesdays (June 18 to August 6) in the vibrant, living classroom of the Edgerton Park Community Garden for a deeply intentional outdoor camp experience with Brave Nature School — a consent-based, anti-racist micro-school rooted in justice, care, and connection.
Designed for children ages 3–7, our Gardens Summer Camp invites children to explore who they are, who the garden is, and how we relate to the life around us. Over the course of multiple themed sessions, children will engage in open-ended play, collaborative art, storytelling, kinship building with nature, and sensory exploration — all guided by community care principles and an abolitionist, land-honoring approach.
- Open play stations with water, soil, art, clay, and books
- Invitations for storytelling, movement, and imaginative exploration
- Observational walks and care-centered inquiry using tools such as binoculars and field guides
- Space for children to make their own choices, share their voices, and build trusting relationships with themselves, each other, playworkers and the land
At Brave Nature School, we believe that children deserve dignity, autonomy, and access to joyful, liberatory learning and play spaces. Our summer camp is a celebration of that belief — a place where all beings are treated with care and respect, and where children can grow their confidence, curiosity, and connection to the natural world.
register now
about the playworkers
goals & rhythm
what to expect
GARDENS SUMMER CAMP
GARDENS After school
Join us in the vibrant, living classroom of the Edgerton Park Community Garden for a deeply intentional outdoor after school experience with Brave Nature School — a consent-based, anti-racist micro-school rooted in justice, care, and connection.
Designed for children ages 3–8, Gardens After School invites children to unwind for the afternoon in the expansive Edgerton Park. As the seasons unfold over the course of the year, children will engage in open-ended play, collaborative art, storytelling, kinship building with nature, and sensory exploration — all guided by community care principles and an abolitionist, land-honoring approach.
- Open play stations with water, soil, art, clay, and books
- Invitations for storytelling, movement, and imaginative exploration
- Observational walks and care-centered inquiry using tools such as binoculars and field guides
- Space for children to make their own choices, share their voices, and build trusting relationships with themselves, each other, playworkers and the land
At Brave Nature School, we believe that children deserve dignity, autonomy, and access to joyful, liberatory learning and play spaces. Gardens After School is a celebration of that belief — a place where all beings are treated with care and respect, and where children can grow their confidence, curiosity, and connection to the natural world.
register now
about the playworkers
goals & rhythm
what to expect
GARDENS SUMMER CAMP
GARDENS After school
Early Elementary Program
Monday - Friday year-round
Ages 7-11
Journeys
join
our
waitlist
Coming Soon
In Journeys, learning deepens through inquiry, collaboration, and care. Children ages 7 to 11 engage with the world through project-based exploration, storytelling, ecological study, and creative expression—learning not only about nature, but with it.
Curiosity leads the way as academic skills in literacy, numeracy, science, and the arts emerge through meaningful, real-world experiences. Transdisciplinary workshops will offer children the space to seek out and make connections between diverse knowledge systems through storytelling and the arts. They will balance their time in self-directed learning while working collaboratively with their peers and playworkers in a year-long family heritage project.
Journeys is more than a school program. It’s a living ecosystem—a place where learning grows from curiosity into purpose, and where every child is invited to take their next steps in relationship with the land and one another.
Program goals
sample rhythm
Digital and civic literacy
Identity, diversity, justice and action standards
Noticing, studying, answering to and rebuilding relationships that exist in nature and societies
And so much more!
Students will develop skills at their own pace in the following areas:
Coming Soon
Program goals
sample rhythm
9:00 - 9:15 Drop-off
9:15 - 9:45 Play Exploration
9:45 - 10:00 Morning Circle
10:00 - 10:30 Snack
10:30 - 11:45 Environmental Exploration/Safety Skills/Garden Time
11:45 - 12:15 Lunch
12:15 - 1:30 Story/Handwork/Art
1:30 - 2:30 Play Exploration
2:30 - 2:45 Closing Circle
2:45 - 3:00 Pick-up
*LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE
Coming Soon
Program goals
sample rhythm
Sample Rhythm:
Professional Development Trainings
Brave Nature School offers trainings in consent-based practice upon request. As a part of our commitment to education equity and economic justice, our Equity Model ensures our trainings are accessible to all at different price points.
for nature schools, daycares, early learning programs
inquire now
