Little Forest Explorers

Little Forest Explorers is a program where children spend their time in an outdoor classroom setting that uses nature as the main learning environment. The program includes unstructured play and mixed age groups, and families on some days trek through the park to reach the program. Children come home dirty every day, and parents are asked to pack extra clothes for their child.

Little Forest Explorers is led by founder Laura Engel. The program’s mission states that it combines cutting-edge neuroscience with nature and play, backed by research, with teachers committed to creating a continuous learning environment around the child. The mission also states that the outdoor classroom enhances cognitive function, reduces stress, and improves emotional well-being, and that the program operates like a startup that is innovative, flexible, and sometimes unconventional. The program is described as taking early childhood education back to its roots and harnessing the power of nature to cultivate self-regulated, confident, and adaptable young minds. Little Forest Explorers LLC is noted as ©2023.

One parent, Emeline B., wrote that the program made her a better mother and that she can leave her child in the morning knowing he will be having a wonderful day. The same parent described Little Forest Explorers as, of all the local forest schools, the closest to European standards for outdoor schooling. She also stated that she has volunteered many times and has seen the care taken of children and how Laura takes every opportunity to improve her own and the teachers’ practices.

Last updated March 7, 2026.