Forest Saturdays!
Forest Saturdays is a drop-in style program, where you can choose which themed weeks you’d like to attend!
Each 3-hour session offers a unique nature-based experience for children ages 8-12, packed with outdoor survival skills, environmental literacy, and fun exploration.
Ages 8-12, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm (LIMITED SPACES AVAILABLE!)
This program takes place at our 130 Main Street, Grimsby, ON location. We access local parks and forests in addition to our on site naturalized playground.
We are very excited to offer this program that provides continued access to a wooded area, promoting good physical, mental, social and emotional health, while developing a connection with the environment. The students build life skills such as resilience while being outdoors in all kinds of weather, spatial awareness while negotiating forest trails, social competency while working as a team, and self-confidence while assessing and taking risks in the physical environment.
By revisiting the same location in the woods, children develop a stronger relationship with nature, while also being able to observe the changing of the seasons and how this affects nature and all of its inhabitants.
“What’s important is that children have an opportunity to bond with the natural world, to learn to love it and feel comfortable in it, before being asked to heal its wounds.”- David Sobel
Upcoming Themes
October 17
Where in the Forest? Orienteering and Navigation
How do you read a map? Where is north, and why does that matter? What does YOUR Greenbelt forest experience look like?
Join us as we learn basic navigation and orienteering skills on the beautiful Niagara escarpment! Students will create their own maps as we explore our forests, discover new areas, forge new paths, revisit old favourite spaces, and spend time in nature together.
November 7
Burn, Fire, Burn
Back by popular demand, we will be learning some of the many methods of traditional fire starting and exploring how this ancient skill has allowed humans to thrive for millenia. In addition to learning the principles of safe fire making, we will try our hand at using a bow drill to create fire by friction and building tinder bundles to see if they can catch a spark using the flint and steel method. We will share some traditional stories from around the world about the origins of fire as well as play the stealth based game “Firekeeper”. Sure to be an engaging morning to keep the cold at bay, forge new connections, and learn something new in the natural world.
December 12
Story, Song, and Celebration
Join us for a cozy day of celebrating our forest in the winter. Students will spend the morning exploring the land, experiencing all that the forest has to offer, and taking note of how the denizens of the forest are preparing for the winter season ahead. Students can flex their storytelling skills by creating a story about what they have observed in the forest that morning. We will end the session with hot chocolate, storytelling, and song!
