Play for a Day
Experience Nature School... for a day!
Play for a Day
Who?
Think of Play for a Day as an opportunity to experience our popular Wander & Root Nature School... for a day! This is a dynamic, inspiring, play-based, nature immersion program designed for children ages 4 to 8.
We welcome families who traditionally school, homeschool, wildschool, unschool and everything in between. All children benefit from their time here in nature. We look forward to being a part of their journey!
We offer a 10% sibling discount on all programs. Enter "sibling" in the discount code box on the final booking page.
Please note: Families who have previously or are currently enrolled in a Wander & Root program (including Play for a Day) have priority enrollment in our Summer Adventures camps and Nature School.
Where?
Year-round learning takes place on a 50-acre private homestead in rural Jackson Springs, NC. When you arrive, you will see our basecamp and outdoor classroom, a place for us to store our personal items, fill our water bottles, and prepare for the day’s adventures. Beyond basecamp, lies the forested cove, with splashing stream, mud kitchen, trail system, nature ninja course, fort-building area, rolling hill, campfire circle, and more. Every day, our nature walks take us even further throughout the property to enjoy fields of young longleaf pines, the orchard, the garden, chicken coop, makerspace, and our renovated antique one-room school house turned process art studio. This, and more, is our classroom. Learning has never been so fun!
All Wander & Root programs occur outside, in all safe weather, rain or shine. During severe weather, we take shelter inside our basecamp or in our art studio barn.
When?
2024 dates include:
Friday, January 26, 2024 from 9 am to 1 pm ($50) FULL
Monday, February 26, 2024 from 9 am to 1 pm ($50) FULL
Saturday, March 23, 2024 from 9 am to 1 pm ($50) FULL
Friday, April 26, 2024 from 9 am to 1 pm ($50)
Friday, May 10, 2024 from 9 am to 1 pm ($50)
How do I register?
To complete the registration process:
Please read our parent handbook.
Click here to submit student information. Annual re-submission required. If you have already completed this form for nature school this year, skip this step.
Click here to electronically sign release agreements and permission forms. Annual re-submission required. If you have already completed this form for nature school this year, skip this step.
*Limited scholarships are available. Please reach out to Brittney at britt@wanderandroot.com for more information.
Our Model
Our program follows the principles of the forest kindergarten movement, and is heavily influenced by The Cedarsong Way methodology:
Low teacher to student ratios: We maintain a 1:6 (or lower) ratio of staff to students. This is 1/3 the number of children in a typical classroom!
All-weather nature immersion time every day: We find joy and opportunities for learning in all (safe) weather conditions. When it is unsafe to be outside, students will play and learn in our school barn.
Child-inspired emergent curriculum: Deep learning takes place when children are engaged in something that interests them and is relevant to them. There is no whole-room, one-size-fits-all instruction here!
Inquiry-based teaching: Educators support and guide learners to make conclusions on their own. As a result, children build their resilience, confidence, and problem-solving skills.
Place-based education: We foster learning in a natural environment that connects children to local flora, fauna, people, places, and culture.
Compassion-scaffolding: Educators guide and coach children toward being respectful, mindful, aware of and empathetic towards all of nature’s living beings.
Daily Rhythm
Our days are child-led, nature-immersed, engaging, brain-boosting, and FUN. Mother Nature always has the final say, but generally, our days will follow this routine:
Morning circle with songs, mindfulness practice, and a lesson based on weekly themes covering a variety of topics including nature appreciation, species identification, full moons, gardening, and wilderness survival skills
Nature walk
Small group work
Lunch with friends
Forest free play
Nature journals
Goodbye drum circle
Child Development
Wander & Root Nature School is designed to build a variety of target skills and appeal to different learning styles. By constantly providing a menu of options for engaging our students, everyone finds something that they excel at and something at which they can strive to do better.
Practical Skills: Caring for chickens, using gardening tools, harvesting crops, preserving food, nature stewardship
Gross Motor Skills: Running games, hiking, dancing, digging, fort building
Fine Motor Skills: Drawing, tracing, measuring, seed planting
Social-Emotional Awareness: Group/partner activities, animal care, practicing listening, kindness and respect, sharing
Literacy and Language: Stories, imaginative play, rhyming, singing
Reasoning and Science: Experiments, exploration, gardening, species identification, reflection
Creative Thinking: Creating art and music, nature journaling, dramatic play, free-play