Across three-acres of farmland in Issaquah—featuring endless muddy puddles, trails, and towering trees—children ages 2-6 attending Forest Friends Preschool (FFP) learn about the boundless world around them through outside, imaginative play, featuring cows, sheep, and even alpacas.
At FFP on Infinity Farm, children have access to a range of activities. From tending to a garden, to learning where eggs come from in the chicken coop.
These children participate in one of about 20 Outdoor Nature-Based (ONB) child care programs licensed by the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF). Outdoor Nature-Based child care offers early learning programming year round—rain or shine—to children in outdoor, natural spaces using a nature-based curriculum.
On May 8, DCYF celebrates Outdoor Classroom Day, a day dedicated to the wonderful outdoor nature-based curriculum and experiences offered to children of all abilities.
“One of our biggest goals at Forest Friends Preschool is to be a fully accessible program to all kids who want to learn outside,” said FFP’s Co-Director Corrah Gonzales Shay. “We have grown into supporting a large range of complex care needs and work hard to create a space where children learn acceptance, tolerance, flexibility, resilience, empathy, kindness, curiosity, no matter how their brains learn it.”
Grace Andritsch, FFP’s assistant director, said some children who attend FFP are sensory seeking, while others are sensory avoiding. She said children learn how to be resilient and solve problems.
For example, if they suddenly find that their hands are muddy, they’ve learned the solution is to wash their hands, and they do that independently. Or, if their hands are cold, they know that wearing gloves will keep their hands warm.
“Our teachers take the time to learn about the needs and interests of all our students in order to set them up best for success in our classrooms,” said Shay. “We strive for an inclusive, neuro-affirming, anti-biased environment with richly diverse and fully integrated tiny communities.”
During the 2024-25 school year, FFP has served 124 students, ages 2-6, which includes enrollment at its Lakemont Park ONB program in Bellevue. Nearly a third of those enrolled have complex needs.
To learn more about outdoor nature-based child care, visit the DCYF website and watch the ONB video highlighting ONB programs across Washington state. To find a program near you, visit Child Care Check.