Learning with Nature through Play
Every Child Outdoors (ECO) expands access to play and learning with nature. Through our programs and partnerships, more children experience joyful learning outdoors.
Programs
Nature Preschool
A nature preschool and summer program outdoors on the grounds of the beautiful Arnold Arboretum.
Forest Days
Weekly nature-play and learning adventures for public schools and childcare programs.
Consulting
Customized consulting to help schools and organizations design, launch, or strengthen nature-based education.
What We Believe
Play Is Serious Work
At ECO, play is serious work through which children test ideas about fairness, inclusion, and leadership. They negotiate rules, challenge one another, revise plans, and experience the consequences of their decisions. We resist the urge to hurry them, protecting uninterrupted time for sustained engagement.
Nature Is Foundational
Nature immersion is not enrichment; it is foundational. Weather, uneven ground, living ecosystems, and seasonal change introduce complexity that cannot be replicated indoors.
Children return to the same outdoor places throughout the year, building familiarity and a sense of place. They care for shared spaces, notice change over time, and recognize that their actions affect the land as well as the people around them.
Children’s Thinking Matters
We listen closely, reflect, and adjust the environment accordingly. Rather than controlling outcomes, we design spaces that invite collaboration, risk-taking, and sustained investigation.
Community Is Built Together
Belonging grows through shared work. Children help establish agreements, learn to resolve conflicts, and take responsibility for materials and shared spaces.
Children grow within social systems shaped by inequity. We examine our own assumptions and support children in noticing unfairness and imagining alternatives. Together, we practice the habits of democracy each day.
