The Forest Box for Kids

02/18/2024

Homeschooling Parents: Your child is going to look back on this experience as a formative event in their lives, where they encountered the power of self expression, found their voice and formed friendships with other students and mentors. They will explore the wild places at Hawk Circle, a wilderness camp, and enjoy great meals, warm cabins and learn some wilderness skills as well.

Space is limited, so now is the time to check out our website, pin down the dates and register because April is coming up soon, and this program will fill up in the next few weeks.

No poetry, or previous mythological experience necessary, and it's open to all who hear the call of the Sirens on distant shores, or desire to learn how to defeat the Minotaur.

www.HawkCircle.com/bards-and-demigods-youth-retreat

Please message with any questions.
Also, thank you for sharing this if you know of children or families for whom this would be an excellent fit! I really appreciate it!

08/10/2023

Tracking is an amazing skill to discover for children, which I get into in this episode! On all major podcast platforms!

08/10/2023

Most of my earliest memories in nature are from finding a really special tree or rocky ledge or a tiny meadow, and making a place there where I felt clear and safe. (Not that I didn’t feel safe generally, really but I felt like my creativity needed these spots in the forest to really expand.)
Giving children today that kind of access and support has long ranging benefits that are critical for all of us.

07/06/2023

My NINTH episode landed today, featuring the wonderful Erica Hermsen. She’s the founder and Director of the EverWild Forest School in the Treasure Valley in Boise Idaho, and she’s got a LOT to share! There’s too much to unpack here but give this a listen! Available on Apple Podcasts and all the platforms!

06/19/2023

Okay, just to catch everyone up: Episode 4 just landed today, and here are Episodes 2 and 3 as well!

My 'Origin Story' is a little different than some versions I have shared in the past, due to my 'Forest Educator' focus, but it's something I thought would be really helpful, so listeners who don't know me at all can get an idea of where I am coming from and my background, etc.

The Jude Vinton conversation was REALLY important to me, and introduced themes of nature based education and modern public schooling that has since been reflected by almost every other guest I have interviewed. Her work is phenomenal and those children as so lucky to have her! Check it out.

Let me know what you think, and stay tuned for Episode 5, with Erik Rassmussen, coming up on Thursday!

(Available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Pandora and Spotify!)

06/18/2023

My first episode is an exploration of the vast spectrum of Forest Educators, in all their shapes and sizes! Forest Educators are more than just wilderness skills instructors, bushcraft instructors or forest school leaders, and we are all supported by myriad other resourceful groups and advocates, too!

Check it out wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Google, Amazon, Audible, Stitcher or Pandora!

Let me know if I missed any important groups, too! I appreciate learning and adding to an ever growing list as we expand and adapt to an ever changing world... Thanks!

06/16/2023

The power of Campfire is one of the strongest ‘elements’ that can pull in anyone who is a little reluctant to get outside. There’s a magnetic, probably genetic fascination that campfires have in our ancestral memory and the fact that it has a full sensory effect on us as we feel the heat and warmth, listen to the crackling wood and smell the fragrant campfire smoke, all while enjoying the dancing flames and glowing embers. We can’t all have fires in our work environments so I really feel for you if you’re in that situation.
It’s almost time for summer camping season, too!

06/16/2023

I am pleased to announce the launch of my Forest Educator Podcast!

It's been a goal of mine ever since my 'Wolverine Way' summit on Nature Connection seven years ago, which is a collection of interviews I had with all kinds of different 'nature educators and advocates' about what they were excited about, what they were seeing, what successes they were having and where the challenges and barriers were to connecting our culture to nature.

My mission is still the same, and I am excited to begin sharing some of the amazing people I have been talking with who are working in the trenches on the front lines in this effort to create meaningful change in our world.

I'm also weaving in some 'Forest Spotlight' episodes on various nature based skills, activities and topics that can help add insight and support to parents, homeschoolers, teachers, camp counselors and nature therapists (and lots of other forest educators!).

If podcasts are something you listen to, and you like the sound of this kind of show, please join us on the platform that you prefer!

It's on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music/Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Audible, Pandora and Stitcher, and you can download any episodes to listen at your convenience...

I'd love to hear your feedback, either in a direct message, or in a podcast review, too, because I really want this to be something that is actually helpful to forest educators (and reviews REALLY help my podcast be ranked higher and become more visible.)

If you want to share it with your network, that might help too, so thanks in advance if that's the case!

Let me know if you have any suggestions for upcoming guests or topics you'd like to see covered, too!

Thanks for all of your support for the last few years while I've been putting this 'Forest Educator Initiative' together, including the Forest Educator Trainings, the Forest Box for Kids and now this podcast. I really appreciate your good comments, encouragement and your 'clicks and likes'! Thank you, sincerely.

05/29/2023

Next training begins next month! All the details are on the website, but please message me with any questions!

05/21/2023

One thing I noticed early in my nature and wilderness studies is that I responded very quickly to the normal, relaxed, territorial bird calls, in a way that let ME relax and feel 'safe'. However, when the forest is silent, it's almost always due to the presence of an immanent threat, like an approaching predator. This tension was something I could feel viscerally inside my own body, even if I didn't consciously realize that it was happening.

Bird alarm calls are the same way, but a little different because in those instances, the birds feel safe enough to call out the location of the predator and even attack it, so I felt more 'active' in my response, instead of just freezing and waiting in silence.

I think that when we live our lives without the constant flow of birdsong in our environment, we lose that part of ourselves that feels connected to a greater reality, and in that disconnect, we feel the tension of a 'silent' possibility of a slightly ominous presence. This current research seems to confirm this, which is pretty interesting to me, and probably why so many children and teens have responded positively to our nature programs here at Hawk Circle and have powerful memories of that 'good feeling' in their bodies, too.

It will be interesting to see where this research goes in the coming years but it's confirming so many different things that I have been seeing in the past 35 years of my life spent working with students in nature.

Check it out!

Birds are a way to connect with nature, which is associated with better body and brain health, research shows.

04/11/2023

I kinda wanna hear what happened!

03/25/2023

A testimonial for one of our Forest Boxes! Get outside and make stuff in nature, everyone!!!