A YEAR LONG PROGRAM FOR YOUTH AGES 9-12

Outdoor Odyssey is a year-long program for children to deeply experience and engage in place-based nature connection to receive the plethora of gifts all of our seasons have to offer, while being away from the city and immersed in a magical landscape. Each month the group will retreat (capped at 12 children 9-12 years old) to the Saint Croix River Valley at Wilderness Awakening’s rural campus called Samsara Ridge, just north of St. Croix Falls, WI. For eight of the twelve months, we will camp out together in our Lotus Belle Tent, which is equipped with a wood burning stove and insulate layer. During the coldest months of December - March, we will have a day-long retreat to experience the heart of winter in the woods. We have a beautiful year-round tiny home built on the property which will serve as a shelter in case of weather emergencies.

Each month will feature a different focus, always relating back to naturalist studies, the healing arts, and team building. Naturalist topics include: prairie restoration, forest bathing, animal tracking and shelter building (see below)… This program uniquely provides a chance to know a place throughout the course of a full cycle around the sun. This timeline is proposed to ensure a holistic perspective, and newfound intimate knowing, of a magical nature-scape.

Outdoor Odyssey fosters connection to the natural world, and thus a newfound sense of belonging and self discovery. These twelve retreats provide a gateway for your child to explore their strengths outside the home and classroom environment, to empower resiliency, critical thinking, community belonging, and care for the environment.