Established in 2012, Nature’s Calling Environmental Education is a charitable organization. We operate the first-ever forest school in southwestern Ontario, south of the 401. We are certified by Forest School Canada and operated as a Ministry of Education certified private school program.   Our mission is to connect youth and families with nature and the outdoors, to raise awareness and appreciation for our natural world, and to foster a strong environmental ethic through community-based education and engagement.

We are community-focused and dedicated to addressing and correcting nature deficit disorder, a term developed by Richard Louv, and addressed in his seminal book, Last Child in the Woods, used to describe the lack of nature in the lives of today’s wired generation.

We strongly believe that direct connections with nature cultivates an understanding and awareness in youth that is vital for healthy children and, ultimately, a healthy world.

We operate 2 forest schools for ages 4 to 16 – one in Norfolk County and one in Brant County. The Norfolk location also hosts an unlicensed daycare/forest pre-school for 3-year-olds. Our forest school philosophy centers on child-led, enquiry- and play-based learning in nature, fostering holistic development, confidence, and a connection to the natural world through regular, long-term, hands-on experiences.

In addition to our Forest Schools, Nature’s Calling also:

• Hosts a March Break Camp and Summer Camps;
• Operates our Lessons in a Backpack curriculum based outdoor programming for local schools;
• Coordinates the annual Rooted in Nature Outdoor Family Festival
• Offers our community other events like family nature walks, presentations to local community clubs;
• Coordinates occasional wildlife habitat projects working with local scout groups and rural landowners,
• Make available, free-of-charge, our publication, “Take a Hike: A Family Activity Guide to Nature Trails and Paddling Routes in the Long Point Watershed”.

Photo by Robert Irvine

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Indigenous Land Acknowledgement

“We acknowledge that we have gathered on the traditional territories of the Attawandaron, Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples who, for thousands of years, have walked and lived on this land. We also recognize the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and we wish to show respect for reconciliation through peace and friendship.”

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For more information on Nature's Calling please email info@naturescalling.ca or call us at 519-410-7376.

Click here to donate to Nature's Calling Environmental Education.