Welcome! Thank you for your interest in Learning Outside!
Learning Outside connects children with the natural world through programs held entirely outdoors, year-round. We offer Forest Kindergarten programs, After School Nature Clubs, week-long summer camps, and more. Our programs provide the experiences research confirms all children need; unhurried time spent outdoors playing, learning, exploring, and connecting with nature and with one another.
Our nonprofit serves children in North Carolina’s Orange, Chatham, Durham, Alamance, and Wake Counties. All programs are held on Triangle Land Conservancy’s Irvin Nature Preserve; 269 acres of pasture, forest, and wetlands, and they are led by experienced naturalists and educators.
Our Programs
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Forest Kindergarten
Set entirely outdoors in the natural world, Forest Kindergarten offers a play-based environment for both preschoolers and kindergartners.
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After School Nature Clubs
Our After School Nature Clubs offer children what they really need; time spent outside, actively learning and exploring in the natural world.
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Summer Camps
Each camp is led by experienced, knowledgeable naturalists, artists and educators, and offers a low camper-to-instructor ratio of 5 to 1.
Our Mission
Learning Outside is committed to giving children experiences in the outdoors that enhance their current lives and learning and that instill in them a love of the natural world and a lifelong commitment to stewardship. Essential to our mission is serving individuals who do not have ready access to quality outdoor learning experiences.
Our Vision
Learning Outside’s vision is of a community where all children have access to time in wild spaces playing, exploring and learning so that they can thrive as children, can develop their love for nature and can grow into adults committed to using, caring for and preserving our natural world lifelong.
Our Values
Respect
Play
Collaboration
Making Choices
Make a difference.
Become a Learning Outside donor!
You can make a difference! Each and every donation connects more children to the natural world now and helps ensure Learning Outside remains available to all children, for many years ahead.
Fees and grants do not cover all of the costs of delivering our quality outdoor learning programs. Learning Outside’s positive impact on children’s lives continues to happen because of donors like you!