Vilda Nature Days for Ages 4.5-6.5

OUTDOOR SKILLS & NATURE AWARENESS

Come join our pack as we spend our day outdoors exploring the magic of nature, creating games and training our senses with kingfishers and foxes as our companions. We'll get to know the plants and animals of our extended backyard and make arts and crafts out of the natural treasures we find. We'll enter a timeless space of imaginative play, transforming into a tribe of hunters and gatherers. We'll track the elusive bobcats up their hillsides, hide where the rabbits hide, and rest where the deer sleep. It’s simple, wonderful, experience and play-based learning in some of the most gorgeous spots Marin has to offer.

In addition to our core curriculum, this program may include:

• Nature awareness skills
• Wilderness safety and knowledge of hazards
• Local flora and fauna
• Natural dyes
• Animal tracking
• Scout games and practices
• Fire by friction and fire tending
• Bird language
• Shelter building and survival skills
• Wild edibles
• and more…

Program Details:

• Ages: 4½-6½ years old   

• Location: Rusty Hinges Ranch, Petaluma, CA

• Schedule: 9:30am - 3:30pm, Tuesdays, August 25th, 2026 - June 1st, 2027.

Days off: November 24th, December 22nd & 29th, February 16th, and April 6th.

• Tuition:

$100 non-refundable deposit plus 9 monthly payments of:

Rate A: $638

Rate B: $530

Rate C: $449

Our school-year programs run continuously from September through June. We encourage students to stay for the whole year, however we do have a policy that you can cancel with a 30-day notice.

Nature Days is part of Vilda, which is dedicated to facilitating meaningful connections with the natural world. Vilda started in Fairfax, California in 2008 and has been running programs since then, now serving over 1000 kids a year in Marin, Sonoma, and Tahoe. The organization is a 501c(3) non-profit and provides nature education, youth programs, homeschool programs, and summer camps in several Bay Area communities and in Tahoe and Truckee. The program is led by Vilda’s founder, Mia Andler, and uses a badge system for the attainment of skills badges.

One parent of a 7-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl describes the camp as a unique and positive nature experience of exploring and learning, speaking highly of the counselors. Another parent of two 7-year-old girls reports seeing changes in how their children notice nature, and a parent of a 9-year-old boy asserts that Vilda is their son’s favorite camp.

Vilda states that families in the Bay Area have differing abilities to pay and that it wants its programs to serve as many children as possible regardless of financial situation. Scholarships are available.