Our holistic curriculum is facilitated by experienced and highly qualified educators with a focus on supporting the whole child and fostering a love of nature.
Forest School days are never the same! Our programs are guided by children’s interests, their age, the weather, the seasons, and the location.

A typical day will see us engaging in free play, nature and inquiry exploration, storytelling, music, loose parts, crafting, mindfulness, tool use and lots of age-appropriate opportunities for risk-taking and confidence-building. We will also have guest community artists and mentors regularly visiting our program to create a deeply personalized experience for the children that further sparks creativity and curiosity in our participants.

Some typical Forest School activities include:

• Sharing circles
• Story telling
• Loose part exploration
• Songs and music
• Nature journaling
• Arts and crafts
• Visits from community artists
• Knot tying
• Sit spots/quiet time
• Mud kitchens
• Orienteering
• Whittling
• Shelter building
• Bird watching
• Flora and fauna identification
• Soil studies
• Wildflower and mushroom hunts
• Outdoor cooking
• Free play
• And much more!

• lunch and snacks
• water
• weather appropriate clothing (hats, gloves, rain gear, etc)
• extra change of clothes
• sunscreen, bug spray

Sites will have washroom access available. We will also have luggable-loos that we carry with us into the forest for children to use.

WildHearts programs run in Prince Edward County, Ontario. We are currently situated at Edwin County Farms. Accessibility is important to us and we look forward to building community connections in other locations throughout Prince Edward County, Ontario.

Safety is our #1 priority. All of our educators hold valid first aid/CPR certification, and undergo a vulnerable sector check. Our educators have experience working with children and/or bring skills in outdoor experiential learning. We choose our locations based on their proximity to emergency services and each site undergoes a risk benefit assessment prior to each program.

We like to keep our groups small. We believe that small is beautiful. Ratios for preschool-aged children are 5:1, and school-aged children are 8:1.

We operate in all seasons, rain or shine. However, we don’t operate in extreme weather conditions (extreme heat, high winds, thunderstorms) and if schools are cancelled, so are our sessions. Please see our parent/educator handbook for more information.

If sessions are cancelled due to weather, we will do our best to accommodate a make-up session. If a make-up session can not happen, a refund will be offered. If your child needs to miss a session, please reach out to us.

One of the benefits of Forest School is that it promotes learning! Studies show that children who spend more time outdoors are better equipped when they return to their regular endeavours. Participant experiences from other Forest School programs show that forest school is complementary to both conventional learning and homeschooling.

Payments can be made by e-transfer to wildheartspec@gmail.com. We are working on setting up a payment option through the website.

We can accommodate payment plans. Please reach out to us to set up a payment schedule that best suits your family.

Creating an equitable and inclusive program is important to us. We are committed to addressing barriers that would hinder access to our programs. Please reach out if cost is a barrier as we may be able to access some sliding scale spaces.

We are a new program, but have many steps outlined to further address gaps in accessibility as we grow. For example, through future fundraising efforts we hope to create a “Forest School for All” fund that will allow us to set registration fees on a sliding scale based on need, to offer scholarships, and to establish a “gear bank” or “lending library” of outerwear

There are some community resources in Hastings and Prince Edward that will provide financial support for children to participate in Forest and Nature School programming.

The Children’s Foundation offers funding that can support PA day camps and Summer day camps.

The Children’s Foundation Grants – Camps of Hope
https://www.thechildrensfoundation.ca/camps-of-hope
The Camps of Hope program pays the registration fees for families in need. We strive to give all children and youth the opportunity to experience the fun of being a child and to not be excluded from the activities their friends are enjoying. The experience of going to camp, whether an outdoor camp, day camp, arts, sports camp.

Indigenous Tuition Commitment
Our programming is land-based and this land is indigenous land. As a way to recognize past and present systems that create barriers to access, Indigenous people are welcome to attend Wildhearts day school programs free of charge, if desired. We are committed to co-creating a space with indigenous communities that feels safe, and committed to reciprocity and reconciliation. Please contact us for enrolment details.

Work Exchange/Barter System
Wildhearts is willing and able to offer creative options for work trade, bartering and other payments in non-financial capital. We would love to consider skills and services that would support our programming and accessibility for all. We look forward to accepting your proposal. Please get in touch if you have any questions.

Used Gear Depot/ Lending Library
Getting suited up for the outdoors, particularly for each season, is expensive. One of the often neglected pieces of the inclusion and equity equation in the outdoors is a hard look at economic access. We are constantly building up our gear depot/lending library for outdoor clothing and gear in hopes of overcoming this obstacle. If your child needs anything, please check with us first. If your child has outgrown something we would gratefully accept!

Forest School for all bursaries and sliding scale options
We are looking at ways to create options for families to decrease and eliminate barriers to access related to socioeconomic status. We rely on community support and fundraising efforts to create full and partially funded spaces. Please reach out if you would like to learn more.

Our vision is for all children to be able to play and learn in a safe and inclusive environment. We strive to create a program where children are free to be themselves, to explore without walls, take risks and learn at their own pace. 

At Wildhearts: A PEC FNS we believe that every child matters, black lives matter, love is love, no human is illegal, feminism is for everyone, and kindness is everything.