Natural Creativity Center

🎉 Exciting News! 🎉

We still have spaces available for young people aged 4-8 and 13+ at Natural Creativity in Germantown this fall! 🌟 Our unique programs foster creativity, exploration, and growth in a supportive community environment. Don’t miss out on this opportunity for your young people to thrive and make lifelong friends.

🗓️ Program Dates: September 9 - June 5
🗓️ Program Options: 1-4 days per week available

Secure your spot now and join us for an unforgettable fall season! 🍂

“🌟 We are thrilled to be featured in 🌟 Discover how Natural Creativity is making a difference in our community and empowering young minds to explore their creativity. 🎨✨

Read the full article to learn more about our mission, programs, and the incredible impact we’re having on families in Germantown. [Link in bio]

🌟 Exciting News! 🌟

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our exclusive Natural Creativity T-shirts, designed by our talented facilitator, John! 🎨✨

Choose from two amazing designs, available in both youth and adult sizes. A portion of the proceeds will go directly to supporting Natural Creativity and our mission.

Show your support, sport some awesome art, and help us continue providing a space where young people can learn, explore, and thrive! 🌱❤️

🛒 Get yours now: [T-Shirt Fundraiser Bio]

In follow up to the GoFundMe appeal shared yesterday, we were recently featured in a local paper (yes, they do still exist!) and I have to say, this reporter really gets us!

Shout out to The Chestnut Hill Local

Homeschooled kids explore their own interests at Natural Creativity - The Chestnut Hill Local This isn’t a Montessori or Waldorf school and it’s not a daycare. This is a nonprofit learning community,

🌟 Support Natural Creativity! 🌟

Natural Creativity is a sanctuary where young people learn, explore, and thrive through creativity and collaboration. Our close-knit community in Germantown, Philadelphia, helps youth make lasting friendships and receive support from dedicated facilitators. For many families, NC has been a transformative experience, providing a nurturing environment free from traditional school stresses.

We believe every young person deserves access to this enriching environment, regardless of their socio-economic situation. We proudly offer sliding scale fees to ensure accessibility for all families in need.

The post-COVID funding landscape has shifted, prompting us to develop a new financial model to become more self-sustaining. We need your help to bridge the gap and keep our doors open for every young person who needs us.

Every contribution makes a difference. Please donate to our GoFundMe campaign and support the invaluable services we provide. Together, we can ensure that Natural Creativity continues to be a place where young people thrive.

🙏 Donate now and help us keep the magic alive! [link in bio]

🎇 Hey Philly unschooling teens!!
Looking to join a community of curious, caring, and interesting teens? Check us out!

• Natural Creativity has spots available in our 2024-25 teen unschool program, the Narwhals!
• Our program is designed for 13-18 year olds and takes place Tues/Thurs, 9am-3pm at our location in Germantown.
• Who are we looking for? Self-directed teens who are looking to learn and grow in vibrant, inclusive community.
• All of our participants are registered as homeschoolers and pursue an eclectic and self-designed "curriculum" outside of NC: Independent study, online classes, local sports and arts classes, jobs, CCP classes...
• Joining the Narwhals means engaging with our community, materials, compassionate facilitators, trips, visiting specialists, and unique lifeskills program (aka the FLOPs) dedicated to preparing young people for their next steps after high school.
• Our group has 10-15 participants each year and is led by two co-facilitators, Tess and Red, who have a combined 25 years of youth development experience. We love co-creating the program with each year's distinct crop of Narwhals!

Interested? Check out www.naturalcreativity.org/narwhals or email [email protected] to learn more.

Pics are from trips and fun times over the last few years.

What a trip!!! Teens from have returned from in Paonia, CO, and we are still recovering from our adventures. We all survived and learned and grew along the way.

Pic 1: Finally got a welcome sign pic on the last day
Pic 2: In Denver airport, heading back to "moist Philadelphia"
Pic 3: Our artistic contribution to HDC's wild bus
Pic 4: Dev telling campfire tales of hopping trains
Pic 5: Quick challenge in Paonia Town Park
Pic 6: Exclamation Point (!) in Black Canyon
Pic 7: Pepper varietals at
Pic 8: Blindfold Challenge: Blindfolded duos and trios were dropped off in the area and had to get back to town in 2 hours. All succeeded! (They took the blindfolds off to walk)
Pic 9: Mountains make every pose majestic
Pic 10: Tess and Red, co-leaders and teen-wranglers extraordonaires!

NC teens are halfway through their Colorado trip! We have hit our stride: Hiking, cooking, adventuring, farming, living, laughing, barely showering! The air is dry but the vibes are GOOD 😎

Our teen Narwhals made it to Colorado! We are living at for 10 days: Having adventures, seeing stars, climbing mountains, going deep, and eating pickles in parking lots (no further explanation). This is just the beginning!

Welcome to Germantown ! We are looking forward to a growing partnership based in collaboration and community care.

Want to learn about NC's unique approach to self-directed education? Come to a workshop! Co-director Chris Steinmeier will be sharing about our philosophy, practices, language, and more.

Designed for new-to-self-directed-ed parents, homeschooling parents wanting a refresher, curious, educators, skeptical folks...

Thursday, 5/23, 3:35-5:30
Saturday, 6/8, 12-2pm
@ Natural Creativity, 5534 Pulaski Ave Suite 202

Link in bio / Tickets on Eventbrite - $10/family

Calling curious young people (aka "all young people" 😉) - is hosting a whole bunch of summer camps and you're invited! Some camps are full but we have a few camps left!

Sign up by 6/1 to reserve your spot. $300/week.

Sign up at link in bio or at www.naturalcreativity.org/summercamp.

We are excited to share that Natural Creativity Center has been selected to be honored among the 2024 Best for Families! Natural Creativity Center, Philadelphia Family 2024 LOVE Award Winner - Homeschool Resource. Thank you to all who were able to nominate and vote for us!

*Summer Camp Spotlight*
In search of teens who would rather be READING right now...Sign up for NC's Readers and Writers Summer Camp!

5 days of reading books, writing stories, discussing words, and exploring/being inspired by the city.

June 17-21, 2024
Ages 13-18
Location: Throughout the city (we'll travel as a group)
$300, transportation included

Inquire to [email protected] or see link in bio

Share with a bookish teen you know!

Calling all teens! is hosting a terrific event on Sat 4/20, 10a-2p in Germantown, and you are invited! Free & open to anyone 14+, regardless of school or drug/alcohol experience.

"Making Better Choices about Drugs and Alcohol" is an informative and FREE workshop for teens who want to learn real information about substances and prevent addiction.

Prevention Ed is a nationally recognized provider of affirming education that uses scientific info and real stories - It's not DARE, nor is it abstinence-only education. It's real and "The most open, honest, and informative conversation I have ever had with an adult about alcohol and other drugs" (said one 11th grader who attended).

The event will be held at the Pink Palace event space, 5612 Germantown Ave. Bonus: It's taking place during the Arts Festival, so you can head over there after!

You do NOT have to be affiliated with Natural Creativity or homeschooling - we want to get this info out to everyone! Please pass around and share. Spots are limited, so please sign up at the link in bio or at www.naturalcreativity.org/events.

Today we harvested our lettuce 🥬 from the fall. I was reminded that in self-directed education we aren’t waiting for life to start or practicing for some unknown future. We are living NOW!

Taking in the eclipse in Germantown 😎 In good company with plenty of our neighbors.

Not too late to sign up for one session or a full series of creative Saturday classes for young people! Make April and May naturally creative ❤️ sign up available in bio

Calling on LGBTQ+ parents of all backgrounds and family structures to invite you to our Q***r Parent Convenings(QPCs), an extension of a larger project, Blood Baby!
We want to be in fellowship and creative reflection with you around the daily realities of being a q***r parent. This Philadelphia chapter will be the first cohort of 2024 beginning April 1st, 2024 and will continue on the following Mondays : April 1, April 8, and May 6,13,20, and 27th at Natural Creativity in Germantown.
We will have onsite childcare and each adult participant will receive a $200 stipend.

From the interior “The words of these parents are the backbone of the project” and “an ongoing reinforcement of Blood Baby’s critical orientation and need for these conversations”. And while this is true, Personal information and specifics will stay in the room. The Q***r Parent Convenings are not a study, nor will people’s personal information be represented in the Blood Baby performance project.

Read more at http://www.megfoley.org/convenings.html or at the link in our bio. Registration forms are also at the link in our bio. We look forward to being in community with you !

Calling on LGBTQ+ parents of all backgrounds and family structures to invite you to our Q***r Parent Convenings(QPCs), an extension of a larger project, Blood Baby!
We want to be in fellowship and creative reflection with you around the daily realities of being a q***r parent. This Philadelphia chapter will be the first cohort of 2024 beginning April 1st, 2024 and will continue on the following Mondays : April 1, April 8, and May 6,13,20, and 27th at Natural Creativity in Germantown.
We will have onsite childcare and each adult participant will receive a $200 stipend.

From the interior "The words of these parents are the backbone of the project" and "an ongoing reinforcement of Blood Baby's critical orientation and need for these conversations". And while this is true, Personal information and specifics will stay in the room. The Q***r Parent Convenings are not a study, nor will people’s personal information be represented in the Blood Baby performance project.

Read more at http://www.megfoley.org/convenings.html or at the link in our bio. Registration forms are also at the link in our bio. We look forward to being in community with you !

Everybody POOPS! We are so excited to welcome Shawn Shafner of The P**p Project to NC on Fri, April 5. He's leading 2 environmental ed workshops - 1 for teens and 1 for 4-12 year olds. These workshops are open to the public - sign up in the link in bio. Note: Philly School District has a 3 hr early dismissal on 4/5 - join us!

Upcoming parent workshop, open to the public!

How to Talk to Kids about Body Image will be presented by on Tuesday, March 12, 6-7:30 at NC in Germantown.

$10/family (free for NC families), childcare available.

RSVP at link in bio or www.naturalcreativity.org/faqa

Recent snapshots of Natural Creativity: 

4-Square in the little alley outside our building

Watching cookies bake (surprisingly riveting!)

Polymer clay study with Art Specialist Martha

Behind-the-scenes teen trip to the bird/wet preservation department 

Annie Wilson, Visiting Specialist/death doula, leading a thought-provoking activity about vigils and funerals with the teens

Madde Moran, Visiting Specialist/intersex educator from 

Grateful to have hosted Kerry McDonald at Natural Creativity Center! I’m thrilled to be part of a movement offering alternatives to the many young people and families who need it especially here in the city of Philadelphia. As I was reminded this week talking to a potential funder, there is no one size fits all when you are dealing with humans. The more options for families, the better. Our focus on self-direction, community and problem solving in a consent based, nurturing environment continues to feel like a natural progression to my own educational philosophy. I’m grateful to do this work.

A Surge of Parents Seeking Child-Centered Schooling Alternatives in Philadelphia The birthplace of American liberty has also emerged as a pioneering community for embracing greater independence & freedom in young people’s learning.

Interested in learning more about ? RSVP for our upcoming open house to lean more about us.