Vilda School Year Programs

Vilda School Year Programs offers small group outdoor nature connection programs where kids plant trees, clear brush, look for frogs, eat wild plants, and learn earth skills. Participants may make a fire by friction, dye a shirt with berries, create natural dyes with berries, make a meal out of wild plants, and turn a piece of wood into an instrument. Activities also include archery, gardening, carpentry, hiking, singing, playing, and backpacking trips, with programs described as active, hands on, and place-based, and instructor to student ratios described as very intimate.

• Ages: 4–13 years old

Vilda School Year Programs has been connecting kids with nature since 2008 and has been running programs since starting in Fairfax, California in 2008. The organization offers homeschool, after-school, school-break and other programs, as well as nature day camps in the hills, lakes, forests and bays of Marin, Sonoma and Tahoe. Vilda is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is locally grown and grass-roots, and is named for the boat Vildanden, Finnish for wild duck. The mission of Vilda is: “At Vilda, we are dedicated to facilitating meaningful connection to the natural world.” Founder leadership is identified as Mia. Community offerings include Nature Education, Youth Programs, Homeschool Programs and Summer Camps in Fairfax, San Anselmo, San Rafael, Point Reyes, Novato, Petaluma, Tahoe, Truckee, Sonoma and Marin County. Parent feedback includes: “What a gift. I see changes and expansion in my children that can only be experienced. They are wide open and noticing nature so much more.” from Katie, parent of two 7 year-old girls, and “Vilda is officially my son’s favorite camp ever!” from Ethan, parent of a 9-year old boy.

Last updated May 11, 2026.