Photograph Courtesy of family+footprints.
No big secret. We love outdoor play groups - in the woods, free-play, exploration kind of play groups. The one we joined this year has been a most enriching, ongoing experience for our young family. It’s a fun, adventurous, creative and empowering time, filled with unexpected learning.
These are play groups worth sharing. When we started Forest School For All, we did so for many reasons. In part, lots of families asked how they could create something similar near them. But largely, we thought it would be beautiful to have a world full of outdoor play communities dotted all over the map. Wherever people lived, they could seek out and connect with like-minded families and enjoy all the benefits outdoor play has to offer.
As my family currently sets off on a four month cross-country road trip, this is something very much so on our minds. We’re going to explore this great, big country, while our forest play group + co-op continues back home. While we’ll miss them dearly, we’re excited about these upcoming adventures. The experiences we’ll have. The people we’ll meet. The parts of the world we’ll see.
I imagine how lovely it would be if we could do an outdoor play group crawl of sorts, along the way. Hopping from play group to play group, as we travel from coast to coast, from north to south, from mountains to deserts. Of course, Forest School For All has just begun, so most groups are located in and around the greater NYC region for now. But, let’s imagine all the possibilities of a network of forest play groups, with open exploration days available wherever you find yourself.
The thought is an exciting prospect. Like-minded play groups in natural settings, available for joining anytime, offering formative, developmental experiences, even in their free play alone. The concept itself reminds me of a term I was introduced to by Lainie Liberti of Project World School: temporary learning communities. Their organization creates informal learning groups that come together for short, but powerful experiences. Friendships can continue on, takeaways can grow over time, but their time together is brief.
Forest play groups can have a similar effect. Although the time is not always short - some play groups will last for years or with co-ops continuing every season - there is always the option for someone to join in for a brief, but powerful experience. So if you are traveling - not even just long-term - but on a vacation, to visit friends or family or for any reason you might be away from home you could connect. You could join their outdoor play group, free play in the natural space they’ve selected, and engage, create and collaborate with kids in the wild. Similarly, you could seek a group out, even from home, for any length of time. We have forest play groups now in many counties around our own. Connecting with these families is an exciting opportunity to explore new places, meet new people and learn from each other, in short or longer spurts.
Around the world, there are schools in seemingly endless towns, formal brick and mortar schools. But those experiences are largely inaccessible to anyone outside of the neighborhood. Forest play groups don’t have to work in the same way. They can be open for anyone to join at anytime, and the experience can be just as powerful whether you have familiar faces around or not. It’s almost as though everyone is one forest play group away from becoming friends or from connecting with each other in some way in the forest.
This vision is the dream of parents who love being in the outdoors with their children and who love the learning opportunities that come out of the experience. There is much that can happen just by spending time in nature on our own, but there is equal benefit which comes out of connecting with communities in that space.
So, if you are part of an outdoor play group along our route, let me know. Our family would love to stop by play. And if your group would like to be listed on the Forest School For All map for others to connect with, let’s talk. We’d love to expand your reach.
Communities are wonderful. Outdoor play is wonderful. Here’s to bringing them all together.