Outdoor Enrichment

Green Gables has been building a NEW program aimed at Kindergarten – 4th grade children.  The afternoon enrichment course is a home school program for students and families seeking an exclusively outdoor learning experience. 

Students will enjoy the freedom of play, while also integrating into building, gardening, harvesting, planting, animal care, circus skills, insect exploration and other “passive/active” learning experiences. The most important aspect of the afternoon enrichment program is that all students must come prepared with appropriate clothing for all potential weather.  We send out a complete list of recommended and required clothing and layers for students to have ready for each season.  In the afternoon enrichment program, we find fun and frolic in every type of weather.  Sometimes this means that we make a fire to keep warm, or seek outdoor shelter for a down pour, or use proper shading to stay cool and out of the heat during unusually hot sun. 

Green Gables Enrichment has no indoor time, other than use of the restroom.  Children will always be kept warm and secure through appropriate clothing and use of outdoor shelters, a contained fire pit, staying dry, and respect for nature.  Spending the afternoon outdoors throughout the entire year gives children a new layer of resilience for all weather, an appreciation for the outdoors, and the experience, skills and knowledge of how we can be outside despite the changing elements.

The Green Gables Enrichment Program will expose children to all the fun that comes with working in the outdoors and playing with the elements in nature.  We build and sculpt snow, rake leaf piles, create sledding hills, jump in puddles, make mud and cob structures, lean-tos, plant seeds, harvest veggies, and so much more.  The outdoors is where we become healthy in mind, body and spirit.  Being outdoors in this way promotes health and happiness in a way that you will see in your child when they come home each day smiling, contented, fatigued, and full of stories of their experiences.

Mr. Nathan is a master guide of children in the outdoors.  He is facilitating happy play, guiding activities, introducing new experiences, and demonstrating new skills like lighting a fire from scratch, seeking and creating shelter from wind and rain, molding snow, digging holes, and seeing the seasons in all their complexity.  Children in this program become a family and team, as the seasons weave them through newness, and Mr. Nathan gently guides their play and togetherness, offering them social skills, newfound courage and a developing ability to communicate, express and function amongst their peers.   

The Afternoon Enrichment Program is currently enrolling, and has open spots throughout the year.  Sign up by clicking here: Afternoon Enrichment Link.  Call to set up a tour and get questions answered at 303.278.1380.