At Wildwoods, we believe that nature's lessons can be applied across multiple disciplines.
Wildwoods has been providing outdoor environmental literacy programs to Los Angeles students for over 20 years. Our nature-based programs integrate outdoor education, science, and social-emotional learning and can be done on-campus or online, interactive and in real-time.
We believe that nature’s lessons can be applied across multiple disciplines. From science to visual arts to social studies, our programs span K-12 and offer a range of options to meet specific learning objectives.
Our Programs
Full Circle Program
Full Circle is a 8-part weekly program that features a combination of outdoor exploration with team building, technology, visual arts and community service. There is a strong focus on communication skills and social-emotional development. Options include a ropes course, clan shields and First Peoples skills. Grades 4 – 6.
Full Circle is the 2012 recipient of the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award for Environmental Education.
More Programs for Schools
Eco-Games: These physical activities engage children’s minds as much as their bodies. Constructed as “games,” they illustrate scientific concepts like echo-location, bio-accumulation, interdependence, cause-and-effect, as well as introduce themes of ecological balance, conservation, and preservation. Can be conducted indoors or outdoors. Grades 4 – 12.
Virtual Field Trips: Using interactive digital technology, we stream high-definition video and audio to the classroom. Select one of our eight destinations (including the LA River, the Santa Monica Mountains, and coastal tide pools in Malibu) or choose one of your own. Students can engage directly with the field instructor and even choose where the instructor goes and what they look at and touch. Grades 4-12
Common Ground: A full-day on-campus, human relations retreat that uses ecology as the framework for a discussion about diversity in our society and in the classroom. Focused on social emotional learning, this trauma-informed program provides a safe forum for students as they work through Covid recovery. Grades 4 – 12
Systems Thinking Workshop: This full-day workshop introduces students to the concepts and principles of systems thinking, including interdependence, cause & effect, feedback loops, and others. Takes a deep dive into the Crosscutting Concepts of the Next Generation Science Standards. Grades 4 – 12.
Service Learning Project Coordination: This multi-session program works with students to conduct a needs assessment in the community, helps teachers to identify learning objectives for the project, and then connects the class with the resources necessary to execute their project. Grades 4 – 12.
Teambuilding: These activities provide students the opportunity to develop trust among their group and to use innovative thinking to approach physical challenges and group problem-solving. Grade 4 – 12.
First Peoples Skills: The First People Skills activities include an introduction to tracking, fire-making with a wooden hand drill, and cordage: making rope from plant fibers. Students learn how to read dirt for clues, build a fire and make a camp-bread introduced by Scottish trappers in the 1600s, and turn a leaf of a Yucca plant into a rope bracelet.
The post-activity classroom discussion (comparing life today to that of native Californians 300 years ago) helps students understand that everything we use and consume in our daily lives begins as a natural resource. They learn about the surprising amount of resources it takes to create simple, everyday items. Grades 4 – 6.
Eco-Literacy and Systems Thinking: A professional development program that help teachers apply ecological principles to academic inquiry and classroom management. 4 classroom sessions + 2 optional field trips.