Kids’ Nature Connection Programs
Nelson BC
All camps are full but Coyote Camp (age 9-12)!
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The Forest Path Summer Camps connects kids to our beautiful natural playground – our birthright to smell, taste, feel and hear the living land around us. In a playful way, we deepen our nature skills, which will also deepen our community skills and our relationship with our own self. The camps are all outdoors for age 3 – 12. The Forest Path has offered camps since 2017 and we have an experienced team this summer. We believe nature is the best teacher that models values such as belonging, quiet mind, generosity, resilience and vitality. Qualities that are most likely to be very much needed for the unknown future.
LOCATIONS
The City of Nelson is working on a permit process for using City Parks, so we will let you know final locations when the City has made their plans, probably close to the Rails to Trails. We are also excited to offer some camps at our friends’ lands on the North Shore, a few km from Nelson (10-15 mins).
OUR SUMMER TEAM
Jess McIntyre has a teacher’s degree, worked with kids for a long time and has been with Forest School since last spring.
Megan Jamison is also a certified teacher, leads hikes and paddle tours and is passionate about kids and nature.
Glenda Newsted is an early childhood education assistant (soon to be ECE) and has worked with kids and the outdoors for many years. Both Glenda and Megan are completing their forest school certification this year
Malin is the Forest path owner, hauling from Sweden where she taught university sustainability courses and now about to do a 10 day intensive in Wilderness Mentoring at Twin Eagles in Idaho.
Hope to see you in the forest!
Otter Camp June 17 -18-19$144.00 + GSTAge 5 - 10. 9 am to 3 pm. Location Water reservoir, Nelson. We will learn from otter - playful, quick and social. Like otter, we will play lots of games, make water slides, help each other and create toys and art from what we find in nature. And perhaps they can help us shapeshift, as in old Japanese tales about otters turning into humans... (Note that most of SD8 schools are still going but this camp can fit for Waldorf and homeschooling kids).
Fox Camp June 24-25-26$144.00 + GSTAge 5 - 11. 9 am to 3 pm. Location - 7 mile, 12 min north of Nelson. We will learn from fox - from walking with soundless, mindful paws, to climbing trees! Yes, they do. As they are not particularly fast runners, nor do they have the endurance for a long chase, they relying instead on their keen intelligence to make a living. Foxes are known to be friendly and curious. They play among themselves, as well as with other animals, like cats and dogs do. They love balls, which they will steal from backyards and golf courses. But what does the fox say?
Bear Camp. July 2-3-4$144.00 + GSTAge 5-10. 9 am to 3 pm. In this camp, we will learn from our friend Bear. Bear has a lot of skills - from finding food in the wild, climbing trees, running fast, finding a nice den and taking time to relax and have a good scratch! Mama Bear is very alert and aware and takes good care of her cubs. We will learn stories about bears and of course how to be Bear Smart and safe in bear country.
Robin Camp. July 8-9-10$144.00 + GSTAge 3 -5. From 9 am to 3 pm. In this camp, we will learn from our friend Robin. Robin has very good eyes and ears and is great at hide-and-seek and treasure hunt. She is strong and fast when she explores the forest and like to practice flying by jumping from rocks. Robin is very wise and knows when a rock is too high, or how to help a friend who is feeling sad. Robin likes beautiful things like her blue-green eggs.
Squirrel Camp. July 15-16-17$144.00 + GSTAge 5 -8. From 9 am to 3 pm. Location: around the Cemetery in Nelson (Changed from 9 mile). In this camp, we will learn from our friend Squirrel. Squirrel likes to be fast, climb trees, hide nuts and find nuts. They like to chase each other and be silly and sing squirrely songs. When they are tired, they get snuggly under their cozy tail.
Chickadee Camp. July 15 – 17$80.00 + GSTAge 3 - 5. From 9 am to noon. In this camp, we will learn from our friend Chickadee. He has good eyes to find treats and fun places to play. She has sharp ears to listen for danger and can fly away so fast. Chickadee is a good friend that likes to sing with other birds, play games and do art.
Deer Camp: July 22-23-24-25$192.00 + GSTAge 5 - 10. Monday - Thursday. From 9 am to 3 pm.In this camp, we will learn from our friend Deer. Deer has large ears and is a great listener - knowing how the different calls of the birds can warn him for danger, listening to friends, to the wind. She loves running and jumping and recognizes which plants are edible or poisonous. Deer is also great at finding nice places to hide.
Coyote Camp July 29-30-31-Aug 1$192.00 + GSTAge 9 - 12. 9 am to 3 pm. Location - 9 mile, 15 min north of Nelson. This camp will learn from Coyotes on how to protect our pack. How can we be the eyes and ears of the tribe, masters of stealth, camouflage, and invisibility, travelling unseen and unheard amongst the shadows? Why is the Coyote a trickster? In the Wolf and Coyote camps for age 9 - 12, we will practice skills such as Stealth, invisibility and natural, silent movement; How bird language can warn us of danger; Aidless navigation, lostproofing, mapping; Tracking wild animals and Making natural containers.
Cougar Camp. August 6-7-8$144.00 + GSTAge 5 - 11. From 9 am to 3 pm.In this camp, we will learn from our friend Cougar. We will run fast and far as well as practice walking very quiet and hiding well. Cougar really pays attention and always finds his way home. She is very flexible and strong and can even climb trees. Cougar also likes to soak up the sun and listen to a good story. Even big cats love to be playful and creative!
ABOUT
The Forest Path aims to create full-body experiences of feeling alive and connected, to the wild, to within, with each other. the un-ceded We offer outdoor education programs and camps in Nelson BC Canada for children to get outside, learn nature skills and be mentored to grow wholesomely.
In a time of the 6th large extinction of species in the history of the Earth, with widening gaps between rich and poor, climate change and only half of the forests than before humans, there is a need for mindful loving connection to nature and learning from the native people’s ways. We acknowledge that this is unceded homeland, xaʔxáʔ tumxʷulaʔxʷ, of the Sinixt, and that the Ktunaxa and Syilx peoples also lived on this land.
In a safe container of sharing circle, empathetic listening, mentoring and a balance of action and silence, we give children an opportunity to just be in nature. Let nature connect to us, let curiosity and creativity flow. We do crafts, games, yoga, make fire, build forts, look for seasonal signs. We learn about plants and animals and the cycles in nature, about outdoor skills and about our own gifts and how we can relate to others.
The Forest Path began at spring break 2017 by Malin Christensson, who as a child went to the Swedish outdoor education program called ‘Skogs Mulle’, that was started in the 1950:s. She worked many years with sustainability education at the Centre for Environment and Development Studies at Uppsala University, Sweden. Malin is also a kids yoga and mindfulness teacher. She has an updated first aid training and insurance. She loves trees, to sing and make a fire.
Read more about all our teachers.
OUR INSPIRATION
We are inspired by nature and the wonder and happiness and aliveness we experience when being outdoors. We are influenced by other wild kids camps and groups, like the 8 shields and Art of Mentoring of Jon Young, Wisdom of the Earth at Saltspring Island and the forest kindergartens in Canada (for example in Victoria and Vancouver) as well where they originated in the 1950s in Sweden and 1960s in Germany. There are now over 1000 forest kindergartens in Germany. We are also drawing on wisdom of Awaken the Dreamer, deep ecology and Joanna Macy, of mindfulness, and traditional First Nations and shaman knowledge.
Our ambition is to nurture deeper relations between parents, children and our surroundings.
Every program balances free nature play and facilitated games, art and crafts, adjusted to the age and interests of the kids. We playfully add mindfulness, yoga, and music into the day. Kindness and community are our other key values, including a deep awe and respect for the natural world. The children learn to watch for hazards and try basic bushcraft skills on how to survive in the wild.