WEEKDAYS West Seattle Half Day Outdoor Preschool

West Seattle's Pioneering Forest School! We offer small classes and personalized learning for each child through a world of exploration and curiosity, and wonder--all outdoors.

Program Details

Program Description

*Currently have openings for morning half day and afternoons half day. Children must be potty trained for this program.

Welcome to Explorers Outdoor Preschool! We are a half day license exempt program. We are a nature based learning program with all the "pre-skills" from art, science, math and social emotional learning happening in in our outdoor classroom. This program takes place in Schmitz Park and Alki Playfield in beautiful West Seattle and offers more than the traditional classroom with daily adventures.

We believe that children are intrinsically motivated to learn by exploring the world around them. We help foster a sense of wonder, to guide rather than compel, and to provide room for possibility with a personalized curriculum (we believe in supporting each child's interests versus standardized classes). We allow the space and support for 3-6 year olds to grow into citizens of the world, with a respect for the world and their friends.

ABOUT OUR TEACHERS This program has an outdoor educator lead, a support aide and two backup educators with experience in early childhood education.

CDC Guidelines Safety and following all CDC guidelines is important to this micro-school and at all times, we follow all state and federal safety guidelines for COVID and closely monitor health and safety.

Clothing List: All Seasons How do we stay outside for class? We make sure to dress for the weather and then we have a blast learning outdoors. Here's a quick recap of how we think about dressing for Forest School, in three easy layers:

1. Insulation: Natural fabrics such as wool or silk work well as an inner layer, as does fleece. The key for this layer is to wick moisture away from the skin and insulate it with a breathable layer.

2. Middle Layer: This is another insulation layer that creates ‘dead-air space’ between skin and the elements. This airspace helps in keeping warm. Wool sweaters (Merino wool is exceptionally warm and soft on sensitive skin) and fleece tend to work well.

3. Outer Shell: This layer should be waterproof and windproof, as well as breathable.

In terms of boots, we recommend boots that are one size larger than your child’s foot. This creates dead-air space to assist in insulation.

Hours