Outdoor Classrooms: Nature-Based Teaching and Learning for Educators and Parents

Episode 220: Winter Friends: Cultivating Wonder Through Nature with Peter Dargatz

What happens when we slow down, step outside, and give children time to truly notice the natural world around them?
In this episode of The Outdoor Classrooms Podcast, I’m joined by educator, nature kindergarten teacher, and author Peter Dargatz to celebrate his new children’s book, Winter Friends.

Peter is also the author of Teaching Off Trail and has spent years helping children learn through play, exploration, curiosity, and connection with nature. We talk about how those experiences inspired Winter Friends and what it means for Peter to fulfill a longtime dream of becoming a children’s book author.

We also explore the power of slowing down and noticing, the unique opportunities winter offers for outdoor learning, and how children’s literature can become a bridge between reading about nature and actually experiencing it.

In this episode, we explore:
• The inspiration behind Winter Friends
• Peter’s journey from nature kindergarten teacher to children’s book author
• Helping children notice, wonder, and connect with nature
• Why winter is rich with opportunities for outdoor learning
• Using children’s books as a springboard for outdoor exploration
• Giving educators permission to start small

This conversation is a beautiful reminder that cultivating wonder doesn’t require a perfect outdoor space or an elaborate lesson.

Sometimes it simply begins when we open the door, step outside, and notice what’s already there.

Dream Big. Start Small. Cultivate Change.

Meet Peter:
Peter Dargatz is a nature-loving kindergarten teacher and retired racing sausage. In 2016, he created an outdoor classroom at his public school in Wisconsins and has since further developed it into a school-wide collaboration with a local nature center and a district-wide family nature club. He has written two books so far. TEACHING OFF TRAIL focuses on his unique teaching style and his debut picture book, WINTER FRIENDS, will be released Tuesday, October 27th. When he's not writing, he is enjoying time on his family farm with his wife, kids, cats, and chickens.

Learn more about Peter Dargatz at PeterDargatz.com and look for Winter Friends wherever books are sold.

Outdoor Classroom Resources & Links:
🌿 Our Children's Library: 4 Types of Teaching Gardens Booklist (PDF) (halfway down the page)
🎓 Outdoor Classrooms Teacher Certification Program
🌸 CIRCLE Membership Community

Connect with Victoria:
Website: www.outdoor-classrooms.com
Email: Victoria@outdoor-classrooms.com
Instagram
Facebook

Sponsorship Opportunities:
If you believe in the power of outdoor learning and nature-based education, we'd love to partner with you. Sponsoring the Outdoor Classrooms Podcast helps support educators while connecting your organization with a passionate community of teachers, school leaders, and families.
Contact Victoria at victoria@outdoor-classrooms.com to learn more.

Subscribe to the Outdoor Classrooms Podcast
If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast, leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and share this conversation with a fellow educator or parent. Your support helps more people discover the transformative power of nature-based education.

Please take a moment to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, and rate or comment on Spotify. Your support makes a big difference in helping the show reach more educators!

Episode 219: What Becomes Possible:
Celebrating Our Outdoor Classrooms Teacher Certification Graduates

What happens when educators are given a framework, a community, and permission to see their outdoor spaces through a different lens?

In this special episode of The Outdoor Classrooms Podcast, we’re celebrating the newest graduates of the Outdoor Classrooms Teacher Certification Program and the incredible work that grew from their journey.

Beginning with the 5 Phases of Teaching Outdoors and Four Types of Teaching Gardens, educators learned to look at their existing outdoor spaces differently. Through the Seasonal Masterclasses, they dug deeper into teaching and learning outdoors. And finally, in the Teaching Beyond Walls Capstone, they chose a project they were passionate about and brought it to life.

The results were as unique as the educators themselves—from creating a new business and writing a children’s book to developing a Protecting Play toolkit, growing a Garden that Feeds, transforming outdoor spaces, and bringing a community together to create an outdoor classroom.
Different projects. Different paths. One common thread: more meaningful time outside for children.
Along the way, these educators discovered new confidence, new ways of seeing possibilities, and a community of people who share their WHY.

As one graduate beautifully put it:
“Less prep, more presence.”
Join me as we celebrate what happens when educators take what they learn, make it their own, and begin creating ripples of change.
Dream Big. Start Small. Cultivate Change.

Outdoor Classroom Resources & Links:
🌿 Our Children's Library: 4 Types of Teaching Gardens Booklist (PDF) (halfway down the page)
🎓 Outdoor Classrooms Teacher Certification Program
🌸 CIRCLE Membership Community

Connect with Victoria:
Website: www.outdoor-classrooms.com
Email: Victoria@outdoor-classrooms.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outdoor_classrooms/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OutdoorClassrooms1

Sponsorship Opportunities:
If you believe in the power of outdoor learning and nature-based education, we'd love to partner with you. Sponsoring the Outdoor Classrooms Podcast helps support educators while connecting your organization with a passionate community of teachers, school leaders, and families.
Contact Victoria at victoria@outdoor-classrooms.com to learn more.

Subscribe to the Outdoor Classrooms Podcast
If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast, leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and share this conversation with a fellow educator or parent. Your support helps more people discover the transformative power of nature-based education.

Please take a moment to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, and rate or comment on Spotify. Your support makes a big difference in helping the show reach more educators!

From Overgrown Land to Outdoor Learning: Inside W.I.S.E. Forest School in Japan

What happens when you look at an overgrown piece of land and see possibility?
In this special Tour & Talk episode of The Outdoor Classrooms Podcast, I’m joined by Robert from W.I.S.E. Forest School in Wakayama, Japan, for a conversation about creating a place where children can learn, explore, take risks, and build a relationship with the natural world.
Through photographs of the W.I.S.E. environment, Robert takes us behind the scenes of the space—sharing how it began, how it has evolved, and how the children themselves continue to shape it.
We talk about child-led learning, Forest School philosophy, sustainability, appropriate risk, learning through the seasons, and the intersection of Robert’s British roots with his work in Japan.

Most importantly, we explore a question at the heart of every outdoor classroom:
How do we create spaces that aren't simply made for children—but can truly become theirs?
Whether you have access to a forest, a playground, a courtyard, or one small patch of green, Robert's story is a beautiful reminder that outdoor learning doesn't begin with having the perfect space.
It begins with seeing possibility.

W.I.S.E. Forest School
W.I.S.E. (Wakayama International School of English) Forest School opened in spring 2024 in Kimiidera, Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture, as Japan's first and only all-English "British International Forest School" incorporating a British curriculum.
Based on W.I.S.E.'s philosophy of "high-quality English education at an affordable price," we go beyond the boundaries of an English school to learn English not just by learning English itself, but by broadening our perspective globally and learning many things practically through English.
In a nature-immersed environment, you can be free and true to yourself. We aim to be a "one-of-a-kind" presence that nurtures not only English proficiency but also individuality, confidence, the ability to survive in modern society, and independence.

Meet Rob Sensei
Rob is from England, the UK, and has travelled the world extensively since 2009. He has taught English and Geography in UK primary schools and various other countries.
He majored in BA Geography with honors at university and earned a Master's degree in Environmental Science from graduate school in England.
From childhood to now, Rob has loved nature through fishing, camping, mountain climbing, conservation and education. He chose "Forest School" as a place to pass on his extensive knowledge and experience to the next generation.

Connect with Robert & W.I.S.E.
Website: W.I.S.E. Forest School
Instagram: @w.i.s.e._english_wakayama


Outdoor Classroom Resources & Links:
🌿 Our Children's Library: 4 Types of Teaching Gardens Booklist (PDF) (halfway down the page)
🎓 Outdoor Classrooms Teacher Certification Program
🌸 CIRCLE Membership Community

Connect with Victoria:
Website: www.outdoor-classrooms.com
Email: Victoria@outdoor-classrooms.com
Instagram
Facebook

Sponsorship Opportunities:
If you believe in the power of outdoor learning and nature-based education, we'd love to partner with you. Sponsoring the Outdoor Classrooms Podcast helps support educators while connecting your organization with a passionate community of teachers, school leaders, and families.
Contact Victoria at victoria@outdoor-classrooms.com to learn more.

Subscribe to the Outdoor Classrooms Podcast
If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast, leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and share this conversation with a fellow educator or parent. Your support helps more people discover the transformative power of nature-based education.

Please take a moment to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, and rate or comment on Spotify. Your support makes a big difference in helping the show reach more educators!

September in the Outdoor Classroom: Notice, Adjust, Simplify, Repeat

September is full of new routines, new children, and plans that don’t always work quite the way we imagined.
But what if that doesn’t mean something is going wrong? What if September is simply giving us information?
In this episode of the Outdoor Classrooms Podcast, Victoria explores how small systems can make teaching outdoors easier, more sustainable, and more child-centered. From transitions and clothing to materials, boundaries, and the role of the adult, you’ll be encouraged to look at what’s really happening before adding another rule, activity, or solution.

You’ll also hear one important question to bring into your outdoor classroom:
Is this a child problem—or could it be a systems problem?

Your September invitation is simple:
Notice. Adjust. Simplify. Repeat.
Small steps. A little each day.

Outdoor Classroom Resources & Links:
🎓 Outdoor Classrooms Teacher Certification Program
🌸 CIRCLE Membership Community

Connect with Victoria:
Website: www.outdoor-classrooms.com
Email: Victoria@outdoor-classrooms.com
Instagram
Facebook

Sponsorship Opportunities:
If you believe in the power of outdoor learning and nature-based education, we'd love to partner with you. Sponsoring the Outdoor Classrooms Podcast helps support educators while connecting your organization with a passionate community of teachers, school leaders, and families.
Contact Victoria at victoria@outdoor-classrooms.com to learn more.

Subscribe to the Outdoor Classrooms Podcast
If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast, leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and share this conversation with a fellow educator or parent. Your support helps more people discover the transformative power of nature-based education.

Please take a moment to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, and rate or comment on Spotify. Your support makes a big difference in helping the show reach more educators!

The Seasons of an Outdoor Classroom: How to Adapt, Grow & Teach Through Change
What happens when you plan the perfect first day in your outdoor classroom…and then it rains?
In this episode, I’m taking you into the Secret Gardens Outdoor Classroom, where our first day back became a lesson in pivoting, noticing, and embracing what the season gives us.
We’ll explore how changing weather, falling leaves, messy gardens, and shifting seasons can become part of the curriculum—and why an outdoor classroom is never truly finished.

In this episode:
Turning unexpected weather into learning
Finding curriculum in seasonal change
Embracing the “messy middle”
Seeing your space through an Educator’s Lens
Growing your outdoor classroom through small steps

And one question to take with you:
What is this season asking of your outdoor classroom?

Start where you are. Notice what’s changing. Take one small step.
A little each day.

Outdoor Classroom Resources & Links:
🌿 Our Children's Library: 4 Types of Teaching Gardens Booklist (PDF) (halfway down the page)
🎓 Outdoor Classrooms Teacher Certification Program
🌸 CIRCLE Membership Community

Connect with Victoria:
Website: www.outdoor-classrooms.com
Email: Victoria@outdoor-classrooms.com
Instagram
Facebook

Sponsorship Opportunities:
If you believe in the power of outdoor learning and nature-based education, we'd love to partner with you. Sponsoring the Outdoor Classrooms Podcast helps support educators while connecting your organization with a passionate community of teachers, school leaders, and families.
Contact Victoria at victoria@outdoor-classrooms.com to learn more.

Subscribe to the Outdoor Classrooms Podcast
If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast, leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and share this conversation with a fellow educator or parent. Your support helps more people discover the transformative power of nature-based education.

Please take a moment to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, and rate or comment on Spotify. Your support makes a big difference in helping the show reach more educators!