Nature
School
Outside is in session.
Rain or shine, every day at Linden Wood takes place outside on 11 acres of private woodland. A fully outdoor nature school for children ages 3 to 6, rooted in how children actually learn.
Ages
Children ages 3 to 6
Sessions
Morning 9am to noon / Afternoon 1pm to 4pm
Nature Certified
Every educator is certified in nature-based early childhood education
Schedule
Part and full time spots available
Group Size
Maximum 12 children per session
Every Weather
We go outside in every season—rain, snow, mud and all.
A Day at Linden Wood
Every day starts outside and ends outside. In between, there's guided discovery, hands-on learning, and plenty of time to simply be a kid.
Activity
AM Session
PM Session
Drop Off & Arrival
9:00 – 9:15am
Welcome Circle
9:15 – 9:30am
Children arrive and settle in, easing into the day before the adventure begins.
We come together as a group to greet one another, share a little gratitude, sing songs, move our bodies, and get ready for the day ahead.
Experience
On the nature playground, children follow their curiosity through sensory play, building, art, and movement, choosing what calls to them each day.
Every day brings a new lesson. Our educators lead hands-on, nature-rooted learning inspired by the land, the season, and the kids in front of them.
Each day we hike the Discovery Trail through 11 acres of private woodland, where the sights, sounds, and seasons become part of the lesson.
Stories, snacks, and a little stillness. Children gather for story time and an organic snack provided by the school.
We gather to share what we discovered, reflect on the day, and send everyone off with a smile. Until tomorrow, adventurers.
Free Roam
9:30 – 10am
Nature Lab
2:00 – 2:30pm
10:00 – 10:30am
Books & Bites
2:30 – 3pm
10:30 – 11am
Group Hike
Closing Circle
1:00 – 1:15pm
1:15 – 1:30pm
1:30 – 2pm
11:00 – 11:45am
11:45 – 12pm
3:00 – 3:45pm
3:45 – 4pm
5 ways they grow
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Outside is where bodies come alive. At Linden Wood, children spend their days hiking, climbing, running, jumping, and exploring, building strength, coordination, and endurance through movement that never feels like exercise. Fine motor skills develop naturally too, through working with tools, natural materials, and the small wonders the land has to offer.
Nature engages the full sensory system — balance, body awareness, and the internal signals that help children regulate their emotions and adapt to their surroundings. And the health benefits go further than movement. Fresh air, natural sunlight, and time in the soil all support immune function, stress resilience, and overall wellbeing. The outdoors, it turns out, is good medicine.
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Nature gives children something most classrooms can't — time and space to direct their own learning. At Linden Wood, unstructured outdoor play builds real friendships, independent thinking, and the quiet confidence that comes from figuring things out on your own terms.
Children learn to persevere, negotiate, and adapt to an ever-changing natural environment. The seasons themselves become teachers of resilience and flexibility. And our 11 acres provide a calm, unhurried setting where children can regroup, reset, and simply breathe.
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Language grows naturally when children have rich experiences to talk about. At Linden Wood, every trail walk, seasonal discovery, and shared story becomes an opportunity to build vocabulary, develop comprehension, and find the words for what they're seeing and feeling.
Daily story time, Welcome Circle, and access to our curated library of seasonal books and field guides build early reading foundations that feel less like lessons and more like exploration. Children keep nature journals, draw maps of the land, and express themselves through hands-on creative making. And music and song run through the entire day, connecting birdsong, wind, and the tapping of a woodpecker to the building blocks of language itself.
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Young minds thrive outside. Research consistently shows that children in nature-based programs build stronger executive functioning skills, including problem solving, self-regulation, and working memory, than those in traditional academic settings, and that those gains last longer.
Open-ended natural materials invite children to think creatively, reason independently, and approach challenges in unexpected ways. When the classroom is alive and ever-changing, learning becomes something children seek out rather than sit through.
Children in nature-based learning environments also show measurably higher engagement, greater enthusiasm across subject areas, and reduced symptoms of ADHD. Curiosity, it turns out, is a powerful teacher.
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Outside, creativity has no ceiling. Natural loose parts, open-ended materials, and the ever-changing landscape give children an endlessly rich environment to make, build, and express themselves freely.
At Linden Wood, art isn't a scheduled activity. It's woven into everything. Children print with leaves, sculpt with mud, weave with grasses, build with sticks and stones, and document their discoveries in nature journals. The land itself is the art supply.
And when children are free to create without a predetermined outcome, they develop confidence, learn to problem solve, and discover that their ideas have value. Out here, creativity is always in season.
Good questions. Here are the answers.
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Linden Wood Nature School is open to children ages 3 to 6, including homeschool families.
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Every family starts with a tour of the property. Request a tour and we'll be in touch to schedule your visit. Enrollment opens fall 2026 for winter 2027.
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We offer morning and afternoon sessions, both 3 hours long. Part time and full time options are available.
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Outdoor clothing appropriate for the weather and sturdy closed-toe shoes. Rain gear and extra layers are encouraged. If it's wet or cold outside, we're still outside.
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Rain, snow, mud — we go outside in every Michigan season. In the case of lightning, extreme cold/heat, or hazardous air quality, we move indoors to the Lodge.
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Every session follows a gentle rhythm of guided discovery, outdoor exploration, story time, snack, a trail hike, and closing circle. See the full daily schedule on this page.
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We keep groups small with a maximum of 12 children per session and a ratio of 1 educator per 6 children.
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Yes. We provide an organic snack daily. Please note any allergies in the enrollment packet.
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Yes. Linden Wood Nature School is open to homeschool families as well as traditionally enrolled children.
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If your child is between 3 and 6 and curious about the world around them, they're ready. No prior outdoor experience required.
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No, if your child is not potty trained just let us know and we will happily work together.
From daily schedules to what to pack for a Michigan winter, here's everything you need to know before your first tour. Still have questions? We'd love to chat.