Vilda Nature Afternoons - Sebastopol

Outdoor Play and Nature Connection

Our after-school programs provide children with an essential sense of freedom and adventure. Their natural curiosities are gently guided into a deeper relationship to the world around them by experienced guides who balance instruction with play. Physically active and creatively inspired, Nature Afternoons are a great balance to the typical school day spent focused indoors.

Vilda’s award-winning programs are play-based, hands-on, and engage all the senses encouraging competence and social-emotional growth as well as environmental stewardship through challenge and adventure.

In addition to our core curriculum and attainment of badges from our badge system, 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
• Carving and knife certification
• Fire by friction and fire tending
• Bird language
• Shelter building and survival skills
• Mapping
• Wild edibles
• and more…

Program Details:

• Ages: 6½ - 11 years old

• Location: Ragle Ranch Park, Sebastopol, CA

• Schedule: 2:45pm - 5:30pm on Wednesdays, September 30th, 2026 - June 2nd, 2027. Drop-off window: 2:45pm-3:15pm. Days off: November 11th & 25th, December 23rd & 30th, February 17th, April 7th.

• Tuition - (Special Early Bird Discount Until September 23rd!)

$100 non-refundable deposit plus 8 monthly payments of:

Rate A: $298 – ($264 with Early Bird Discount)

Rate B: $256 – ($231 with Early Bird Discount)

Rate C: $216 – ($194 with Early Bird Discount)

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 Afternoons 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.