Wildflower Forest and Nature School

🌷🌞 Spring is here and that means we all have summer on our minds and camp registration on our to-do list!

We're anxious to share our summer camp info and get registration up and running. However, we are still waiting on a few things that are out of our control. -- Thank you all for being so patient and we hope to have things rolling in the coming weeks!

**SUMMER CAMP UPDATE📣

We know how excited everyone is to register for summer camp, and SO ARE WE!!☀️🎉
While our plan was to start registering in March, we've had a couple setbacks and are waiting on a couple of important things to be confirmed before we go ahead and start registering.

There is no concrete date set just yet, however, we're hoping for mid-April!🤞 -- Stay posted to our page for updates! and thank you all for your patience 😄

What better way to celebrate International Women's Day than at an event celebrating local women in business 🎉💪. -- Come visit us at the WINE & WANDER event happening at 4pm at the Best Western Parkway Inn & Conference Centre ♀️

What is your comfort level with risk?! Is your motto "play as safe as possible"?

Risk can be a tricky, and sometimes stressful, aspect of children's play for parents and educators. Of course, we don't want children getting hurt, but are we imposing limits on their learning when we don't allow them to explore something out of our own fear?

Studies are showing the amazing benefits to children's development when we allow them to engage in risky play;
🌲RISK MANAGEMENT SKILLS - children become better equipped to understand risk and what their bodies are capable or not capable of doing. Children with good risk management skills actually have lower chances of serious injury in play.
🌲CONFIDENCE BUILDING - risky play teaches children their boundaries and allows them to better understand what they are capable of handling in uncertain situations.
🌲EMOTIONAL REGULATION - when children are faced with risk, they have to face uncomfortable emotions like fear and anger. The more they deal with these emotions, the better they become at managing them without lashing out.
🌲RESILIENCE - children learn that even if they fall, they know they can get back up and try again. A skill that will benefit them long into adulthood.
🌲PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT - when children participate in big play, their muscular capabilities grow. The more they understand their physical capabilities, the less likely they are to injure themselves or engage in dangerous activities they aren't equipped to handle.

Sometimes as parents, it can be difficult for us to allow our babies to engage in an activity where we know there is a risk of getting hurt. At Wildflower, we are trained to provide your children with a safe space to explore those risks that are so important to their development. Let's start playing "as safe as necessary" instead of "as safe as possible"💪

Spring is just around the corner!🌿🌷

We still have a few spots left for our spring session starting this March!! Have your child join us in the forest for unique learning in the great outdoors. Visit our website at www.wildflowerfns.ca to register today!

Excited about summer camp?!! SO ARE WE 😍
Registration is set to open in March!🌞

We'll be sharing information about our camp schedule, pricing, and more in the coming weeks. STAY TUNED!!

OUR TEAM IS GROWING!!🎉🌲

Do you love working with children? Are you passionate about the outdoors? Do you have knowledge about play based learning?

Check out our current Forest School Educator opening here ---> https://www.wildflowerfns.ca/job-opportunities

Looking to enrich your child's learning?! Check out what Wildflower Forest and Nature School has to offer!🌲

We reconnect children with the great outdoors through child-led, emergent learning. We offer hands-on learning experiences that support positive social-emotional development, risk assessment, communication, and independence.

Join us this spring!! We have a few spots left🎉
Visit www.wildflowerfns.ca to register today.

Did you register your child for one of our spring sessions?!

✉️ Make sure to check your emails because we've sent out all confirmations. Get back to us in order to secure your child's spot! 😄

Spring registration has been BOOMING! So much that we've had to open 2 more session days to accommodate everyone!!!!😍🎉

🌲If you've been wanting to sign your child up, the time is now! We've had a couple spots open up so register now through our website at www.wildflowerfns.ca!🌲

Appreciation post🥰 ~ We wanted to give a special shout-out to an amazing member of the Wildflower family. Stephanie from Sixth Sense Imagery has been with us from day one helping out and capturing some amazing shots of our adventures in the forest.

We're so lucky to have you!!

Check out her website at www.sixthsenseimagery.com to see how she can help you create keepsakes for any special moment of life!

🌲SPRING REGISTRATION🌲

If you've put your child's name on our spring list, keep an eye on your emails next week! We will be reaching out to confirm our spring 2023 registrations 😄

If you're interested in signing your child up to join us this March, make sure to go to our website and submit a registration/interest form ASAP so they can be added to our list. Spots are filling up VERY quickly!

What a fantastic end of 2022 we had 😍. We feel so lucky that we were able to open our doors and offer our Forest School program to this great community!
Programming went on without a hitch, we met so many great families and friends, made some great community contacts and learned so much. But best of all, we have memories that will last a life time 🥰

We can't wait to see what 2023 brings! ...And here's to our class of 2022🎓🌲🎉

The first snow at forest school made for some really exciting finds 🐾🦌

The kids put their identification skills to the test and found deer, racoon, cat, squirrel and fox tracks!! Now to put a trail cam so we can see our furry friends in action 😍

Boredom breeds creativity! ✨😍. Give them time and they'll amaze you!

💛 via Backwoods Mama

A hands on activity that was fully initiated by our students🔨

They wanted to get across the "river" so they could build a fort on the "deserted island" 🏝️ As a team, they problem solved and figured out through trial and error the materials that were strong enough to hold all of their friends (big or small). Without adult intervention, they were able to successfully build something amazing that has become a permanent structure at our pond area!

They may not be in a classroom, but their child directed play led them to work on the following Ontario curriculum skills;

🌲 Critical thinking
🌲 Problem solving
🌲 Collaboration
🌲 Innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship
🌲 Reflection

With the cold ❄️ weather looming closer and closer, we thought we'd share an amazing Canadian company that sells reusable♻️ hand, foot and body warmers🔥

Made from sustainably harvested beaver pelt 🦫, they make great Christmas gifts for the little nature lover in your life!!

AND the company is run by an amazing team of Indigenous women👏

Stay warm and comfortable this winter season with our all-natural fur hand, foot, and body warmers. Each pair is uniquely handcrafted by local artisans in the Northwest Territories, Canada!

Come visit us at the 13th Annual Trunk Sale happening this Saturday and Sunday!!😍

The “before” shot! 🤩 We are so excited for the Trunk Sale this weekend! There will be over 120 vendors in our greenhouse showcasing their products! This is an amazing fundraising event organized by W3G & Co., and it’s so nice to see the community come together! Proceeds this year are in support of Beyond 21

Date: October 29 & 30
Time: 10 am - 4 pm
Cost: $8 day pass or $15 weekend pass (tickets can be purchased at the door or on the Beyond 21 website. 100% of ticket sale proceeds go to Beyond 21).

If you are a vendor attending this weekend, tag your business in the comments below! We’d love to have a sneak peek!👇

What a fabulous activity 😍

Have you been getting outside and enjoying this gorgeous fall weather we're having?!🍂

Join us for a fun Halloween kids craft at Cornerstone Organics Halloween bazaar and night market happening TODAY!!🎃

We can't wait to see all you ghouls and goblins👻

👻🎃Come spend a spook-tacular evening at Cornerstone Organics this Saturday October 22nd!!👻🎃

We'll be set up during the children's hour from 5pm to 6pm offering a fun monster craft along with Blue Sky: An Acton Academy who has planned something very exciting for the kids to do!😍🌋

For a fee, you can also enjoy tarot card readings, sound healing, reiki sessions and shop unique vendors! Entry is FREE and the children's activities are FREE so come on out!!