Welcome to Way of the Wild (WOW), where nature is our guide to healthy development!

Our Focus is on Fun!

WOW is an organization dedicated to helping children develop into strong, clear, grounded, intuitive, self determining, aware, compassionate leaders. We are also interested in helping adults accomplish their personal development goals. We accomplish this with the help of nature. Our kids have fun playing on a stunning farm in north Boulder where they get to swim, fish, play capture the flag, scout games, make bows, shoot arrows, learn interpersonal skills, learn survival skills and natural history. We pride ourselves on getting to know each student as an individual and collaborating with parents in their efforts to promote their child’s well being. We run summer, after school, school day off programs, and custom programs on week days and weekends.

View our Summer 2024 Programs here.

WOW is also available for people who want custom programs whether for home school or for their kids to get outside in late August, September and throughout the fall. Kids can come for nature connection, archery, fishing, and primitive skills, or custom project-based programs that support what they are studying in school. That can be anything from weather journals to tracking journals, to the math and physics behind bow and arrow operation and more. Hours can vary. Contact me for more information.

What is WOW?  

1. WOW is collaborative.
We work with parents to promote their child’s development.

2. WOW is interested in individuals.
We are interested in who YOUR child is and how to help each child grow.

3. WOW is complementary.
We know children live in a modern, technological world that they need to navigate. We want to compliment that world not reject it. We endeavor to expand kid’s senses and hone their awareness so they may develop a sense of balance, agency and control in their lives.

4. WOW values choice.
We want our children to learn to make free and healthy choices so they have a part in determining their experience.

5. WOW values nature. Nature is an elder that teaches and who always strives for balance. A multi-sensory relationship with nature carries wisdom for how to live life and answers to life’s challenges.

6. WOW works with everyone, youth, adults and families.

 WOW is a school that endeavors to teach ever expanding awareness.

“Don’t be bored, don’t be lazy, don’t be trivial, and don’t be proud. The slightest loss of attention leads to death.”
— Frank O’Hara, 1964

Way of the Wild is a Colorado non-profit that runs educational programs and not camps. We have insurance and a permit to work on Boulder City Open Space, which is our current general program location. I have permission to cross and visit some private land spaces. I have an average of 8 children a class, who are generally at least 7 up to 17 years of age. We generally run weekday programs from 9 to 3 teaching survival skills for the purpose of fostering nature relationship, self awareness, social awareness and nature awareness, all of which is our mission. I and my staff have credentials appropriate to the work we do including Wilderness First Responder. Our daily activities all point back to learning a specific survival skill useful in any environment. A typical day includes plant and animal identification, outdoor games that develop a survival skill such as capture the flag, making primitive archery tools, fishing skills, fire making skills, safety near and in water, safe canoeing, tracking, primitive arts and crafts.