The Wild Ones Forest School

05/30/2023

It's not too late to sign up for our bushcraft workshops that are just around the corner! Although many of these courses are geared towards adults, we've also lowered the age to 10+ as we had many parents reach out whose kiddos were interested as well. Check out the website for full descriptions of each workshop! https://www.thewildonesforestschool.org/bushcraft

* Sat., 6/10/23, 9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.: Transformative Learning for Outdoor Practice (Geared towards outdoor practitioners & parents/caregivers)
* Sat., 6/10/23, 1 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.: Shelter Building, Woodland Furniture, & Rope Skills (Geared towards adults & children 10+)
* Fri., 6/16/23: 9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.: Front Range Wild Crafts (Geared towards adults & children 10+)
* Fri., 6/16, 1 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.: Sloyd Carving
* Sat., 6/17/23,10 a.m. - 5 p.m.: Place Responsive Practice (Geared toward outdoor practice)

Join Paul, Erin, and Cassie for half or full day workshops this summer! Whether you are looking for a novel experience, to strengthen a skill, or delve into deeper topics that will enhance your outdoor practice, we've got something for you!

04/28/2023

We are excited to announce several bushcraft courses coming up this summer! There are some for adults and children 13+ as well as workshops geared specifically towards outdoor practitioners. Check them out and we hope to see you there!
https://www.thewildonesforestschool.org/bushcraft

04/11/2023

Just heard a child shout, "WE CONSENT TO WAAAAR!!!" So now the money clan and gaming clan are negotiating terms of war. 😆

02/24/2023

Fantastic webinar from Paul Moseley at Explore Our Nature!

This is the recording of the February 2023 Wednesday Webinar for Forest School. Paul Moseley (www.paulmoseley.org ) poses some interesting questions about na...

02/21/2023

This is one of the myriad of reasons we do what we do. We had a kiddo at forest school today who kept wanting to carve out time away from everyone so we found ways to accommodate some quiet moments throughout the day for her. It was INCREDIBLY windy all day and with some ongoing risk management for hung up branches and debris, we were able to stay outside and enjoy the sunshine and the sound of the wind whipping through the trees. At the end of the day, this kiddo came up to me and explained that the wind in the trees sounded like a melody and she had been working on this song and asked if she could sing it for me. We walked to the spot where she first began working on it and with a grand sweeping gesture, she explained this was the scenery and the sounds that inspired her to write this song. With her (and her parents!) permission, here is a beautiful perspective on a day in the life of a wild one. Dave Jeary (Julie asked me to tag you!).

01/19/2023

What beautiful nature art!

Highly recommend zooming in on Hannah Bullen-Ryner's creations. Holy moly.

01/17/2023

Erin and I have teamed up with Paul Moseley at Explore Our Nature to bring a Level 3 Forest School Practitioner training to Evergreen, Colorado this summer! We would love to support you in enhancing your outdoor practitioner journey and connect you with like-minded professionals who value community and collaboration. Check out our webpage for details! https://www.thewildonesforestschool.org/practitioner-training

12/14/2022

Our Tuesday class decided to make a memorial for all the birds who have passed, including the 3 from this weekend. There was so much thoughtfulness and planning put into how the wanted to honor their feathery friends.

12/13/2022

Over the weekend, a skunk got 3 of Erin's chickens. The kiddos were sad, but more than that they were determined to help fortify the chicken run. Some of the suggestions they threw out were:
*Train 26 tigers to protect the chickens and turkey.
*Arm the chickens with spears.
*Provide night vision goggles for the birds.
*Sign the birds up for karate class.
*Traps. Lots and lots of traps and deterrents.

Many of them worked almost the entire day coming up with ideas and excitedly helping one another create and test them out. 🐔 ❤️

12/13/2022

We have a couple of drop in days over break if you are interested in checking out our program!

There are so many wonderful indoor and outdoor camp options in Colorado! The Wild Ones offers the unique experience of tailoring each camp to the participants in it. Often this includes collaborative & competitive games, shelter building, animal tracking, plant identification, bushcraft skills, coo...

12/10/2022

The kids love camp fire days and this time some of them were experimenting with what creates the most smoke and why while others were pretending it was mysical fog they were running through. Good thing we always call the fire department so they are aware of what is going on up here!

11/27/2022

Well, well, well! I know it's been a minute... or a couple semesters. Last year around this time, we were experiencing some harassment on various FB groups for continuing to require masks outdoors after Jeffco lifted their mask restrictions. We had several families with medically fragile children who hadn't been able to participate in any other programs and some with medically fragile family members. We had committed a certain level of precaution and felt it was important to follow through on that commitment. Ultimately, we had some beautiful conversations with our families on showing up in community and took anonymous votes to see if people were comfortable masking or not and adjusted accordingly. This entire pandemic has been a huge practice in having open, honest communication and meeting people where they are at. I opted to take a break from posting on social media because I felt very protective about our community and didn't want my posts to become politicized and have the heart of our program lost in the noise. All that to say, we had a beautiful summer and fall semester with The Wild Ones. I am looking forward to sharing some of our beautiful moments.