School Age Programs
Cumberland · Courtenay · Comox · Campbell River · Black Creek · Quadra Island
5 – 18 Year Old Forest Friends
Join our Hand-in-Hand Nature Educators for nature connection, awareness and play! These programs will combine the child-led exploration and unstructured play typical of Hand-In-Hand programs with guided activities geared towards nature connection and awareness. Forest friends can expect an imaginative learning journey informed by the natural environment, changing seasons and local flora and fauna, where they will have an opportunity to adventure into our “Outdoor Classroom’s” large spaces to play, get muddy and build caring relationships with the land and forest friends. There will also be opportunities to recharge, relax, listen and watch the world around us. Through changing seasons and weather, we will return to the forest on a weekly basis to gather together and explore. These programs’ small group sizes allow for increased social and emotional interaction and to deepen connections to the land and each other.
PLEASE NOTE:
- Payment plans are offered and we accept payment through PIE, Ascend, Self Design, Heritage Christian Online School and other Distance Learning Programs.
- For our Forest Buds Program, we welcome public/private school attending forest friends to either end their school day early and join us on time or end their school day on time and join us after we have started our adventure.
Cumberland
COAL CREEK HISTORIC PARK
To register for our 2026/27 Forest Buds Program and/or our After School Adventures, please click the “REGISTER YOUR CHILD” button below.
FOREST BUDS (School Year Program)
Dates: Mondays, September 14 – June 14 (30 sessions)
Time: 10am – 3pm
Location: Japanese Historic Town
Ages: Kindergarten – Grade 4
Cost: 3 seasonal payments (fall, winter & spring) of $686
Ocean Crest Academy (OCA): Grades 8 – 12
FOR MORE INFORMATION & REGISTRATION: Please log onto OCA’s website by clicking HERE!
Courtenay
COMOX VALLEY EXHIBITION GROUNDS
To register for our 2026/27 Forest Buds Program (Winter Session), please click the “REGISTER YOUR CHILD” button, which will be available mid-fall.
FOREST BUDS (Winter Session)
Dates: TBA
Time: TBA
Location: Tsolum River through CV Exhibition Grounds
Ages: 5 – 9 year old forest friends
Cost: TBA
Comox
FILBERG, MACK LAING NATURE & BAYBROOK NATURE PARKS
To register for our 2026/27 Forest Buds Program (Winter Session), please click the “REGISTER YOUR CHILD” button, which will be available mid-fall.
FRANCOPHONE-ish FOREST BUDS (Winter Session)
- In this program, we will be focusing on learning nature words in French and simple conversations.
Dates: TBA
Time: TBA
Location: Filberg, Mack Laing Nature & Baybrook Nature Parks
Ages: 5 – 9 year old forest friends
Cost: TBA
Campbell River
SPORTSPLEX & WILLOW POINT PARK
To register for our 2026/27 Forest Buds Program and/or our Forest Friends Program, please click the “REGISTER YOUR CHILD” button below.
FOREST BUDS (Fall Session)
Dates: Mondays, September 14 – December 14 (closed October 12 for Thanksgiving)
Time: 1pm – 4pm
Location: Sportsplex
Ages: 5 – 9 year old forest friends
Cost: $540
Black Creek
COTTONWOOD ROSE FARM
To register for the 2025/26 school year, please click the link below.
Cottonwood Rose Learning Community: K – 9
Our Cottonwood Rose Learning Community is a collaborative effort made possible by the Heartwood Learning Community (a program offered through Navigate NIDES), the Cottonwood Rose Farm, and Hand-In-Hand Nature Education. Our school is offered Tuesday to Thursday (morning and afternoon), where half of the day is spent inside and taught by a BC Certified Teachers who deliver the BC Curriculum, and the other half of the day is spent outside and facilitated by Hand-In-Hand Nature Educators who will deliver Outdoor Learning.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please contact our Cottonwood Rose Learning Community by clicking HERE!
FOR REGISTRATION: Please complete our Enrollment Application by clicking HERE!
Quadra Island
HERIOT BAY
To register for our 2026/27 Forest Buds Program, please click the “REGISTER YOUR CHILD” button below.
BLUE HERON FOREST PROGRAM (Fall Session)
Dates: Wednesdays, September 16 – December 2 (closed September 30 for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and November 11 for Remembrance Day)
Time: 10am – 2pm
Location: 1393 Schooner Road
Ages: 5 – 9 year old forest friends
Cost: $375
Support the Forest
The Cumberland Forest is part of an interconnected system of forests, salmon-bearing creeks, wetlands and riparian areas adjacent to the Village of Cumberland on Vancouver Island in the traditional territory of the K’omoks Nation.
