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Nature Time

@naturetimeoakland

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Strengthening our connection to the natural world. Supporting Black families in raising healthy and joyful children.

POSTS STORIES REELS

Golden spiders on golden flowers, baby juncos with mama bird, tiny hands and feet, warm soil, wild grasses, and working together to find nature’s treasures by @naturetimeoakland

In preparation for the new school year, we are offering school tours as well as opportunities to drop in and play. So many flowers and wildlife emerging during this Spring season. We welcome families and their children to spend some time, ask questions, and come learn with us! by @naturetimeoakland

A few of the tiniest findings and beings that we are able to experience when we slow down and move at the pace of the children. by @naturetimeoakland

The sun has been shining and we are embracing the shift in seasons. We’re welcoming families who would like to spend some time outside to learn about Nature Time Oakland and our current offerings. We love meeting new families and your children. We’re also looking forward to reconnecting with former campers and students. We have more information regarding forest school enrollment, camps, and how to connect with us on our new website naturetimeoakland.org by @naturetimeoakland

We appreciate everyone who has shared their support for our school and for the children. Our small little community has moved through the winter season peacefully, meeting the coldest days with movement, beautiful songs, and campfires to warm body and spirit.
Our knowledge of native plants and birds continues to grow, as does our trust in the landscape and trails. On our daily walks, the children know where they are. They notice new green life emerging around them, blossoming each day, and they move forward with confidence, aware of their surroundings, each other, and the direction they are going. by @naturetimeoakland

💫SAAF Fall Family Retreat💫

Here’s a sweet recap of our young people enjoying the beautiful retreat grounds, having fun, playing, and resting. Collectively, they created a 10 Point Vision for Youth Justice inspired by the Black Panthers that highlighted more access to nature, food and shelter for all, and called for more trusted adults to support them.

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We couldn’t do this work without our amazing P4L facilitators and Ashley from @naturetimeoakland!

💫💫💫 by @naturetimeoakland

We love welcoming families and sharing collective knowledge about children, parenting,community, nature and education with you. Please bring your children so they can experience a little forest play date. Bring questions and join us online. Please feel free to share with friends and neighbors. #naturetimeoakland by @naturetimeoakland

Nature Time Oakland forest school from winter to spring. Watching the seasons change as the children grow— deepening in play, sense of self and community, knowing their environment and guiding us through the day with their interests and curiosities.

As we round out our second school year it’s been exciting to reflect on the collaborative nature of our school day. Bringing in structure and guidance that is filled with the children’s play and spirit, we’ve been able to witness their transformations throughout the seasons. Their communication is strengthening— asking each other questions, learning to name their needs, to take action to care for themselves (“am i hot? too cold? hungry? tired?”). Their friendships and sense of community has flourished; learning to play together, to create and build and imagine for hours, learning the language to help connect with each other, to share and give freely. Their knowledge of their environment and natural world around them is a reminder of how important is to connect with land. It enriches their learning and sense of self, to know who they are and where they are, who they share the space with and how to treat our neighbors (both human and beyond) with respect and kindness.

So much gratitude for the changing seasons, the growing babies, the sun, the rain, the land and this community. Our families, our children, the teachers— we make this possible together, by believing in this work, by pouring into it everyday.

Looking forward to summer and next fall, growing growing growing everyday. by @naturetimeoakland

Registration is now open for Summer Nature Time camp sessions. If there is a kiddo in your life who feels ready for climbing and moving, resting and thinking, open-ended art explorations, singing out loud, and learning as we go—please connect us. We anticipate a need for smaller groups this summer. We hope to welcome each family gently and move at a pace of each child. We are honored to support your children and to have your ongoing support. Tuition assistance is always available. #naturetimeoakland #forestschool #summercamp #natureplay #outdooreducation #natureconnection by @naturetimeoakland

Our children have been playing in larger circles, diving into imaginative games, and sharing poems, rhymes, and songs. Their laughter and movement keep us warm through the cold season.

Winter has brought opportunities for discovery and change. We notice the texture of the earth and mud, and how nature’s colors deepen after a storm.

We have been observing amphibians and even scorpions, moving slowly in the cold and hiding in the damp earth. They live underground, protecting and restoring themselves. Conversations have circled around hibernation, habitats, and how animals coexist and thrive beneath decomposing logs, soil, and spores.

Our winter curriculum is about care. We notice how the group checks in with their energy, stays warm, and recognizes when they need rest or movement. We model asking for help, and responding to an ask for help.

We see this reflected in small moments—offering a steady hand, changing little socks, or sharing words of encouragement on the trails.

We notice blooming flowers and the return of hummingbirds. We still have some time to say thank you to winter. #naturetimeoakland by @naturetimeoakland

Thank you for sharing our fundraiser and offerings with your community. Nature Time Oakland still feels like a seedling, requiring continual tending,and I’m grateful for all the networks of support coming our way.

Through your sharing, we’ve also met so many new families, and I’m excited to welcome you all. We’re closing out the year with beautiful observations. During the winter season, our forest school theme and practices are centered on cultivating warmth—both physical and emotional. We’ve been pouring warm tea, We are moving and climbing to circulate warmth within our bodies and providing moments of stillness to help us rest and conserve energy. We are encouraging one another with love and patience.

Our children are playing in close collaboration with each other, showing care for one another and the wildlife around them.

We appreciate all of the ways that our community sees and engages with our work. All of the love received has immediately and directly supported our families, co teachers, their families and our ability to sustain ourselves in the seasons to come. #outdooreducation #forestschool #childledlearning by @naturetimeoakland

Today we celebrate making two years of Nature Time Oakland with our first ever fundraiser! This dream began at my kitchen table, with a vision to create a space where Black youth and families could feel seen and supported in their efforts towards healthy and joyous living. This vision was amplified by the Parenting for Liberation Black Parent Innovators Fellowship, and now we are completing our second year of offerings! We’re doing it!
We’ve supported over 130 families from across the Bay Area with year-round opportunities for connection, play, and outdoor learning. Our co-teachers are educators with family systems that mirror the communities we serve. We are caregivers, and we are humans who love all of your children . We consider them to be our children when they are in our care. We are striving to create and model a community with impact that extends beyond our work in the forest. Please continue to share and amplify Nature Time Oakland offerings with your greater community. Please contribute if you have capacity to do so. Our dream is to continue offering care for your children, without compromise, while also honoring livelihood and the needs of all families, ours included. #forestschool #playoutside #forestkindergarten #outdoorsforall by @naturetimeoakland