Malibu / Santa Monica Mountains, CA
Learning to Be Human Happens in Relationship.
Wild Village is a nature-based, relational learning environment for children and families.
Not a school. Not a program. A village.
Children and parents gather in rhythm with the land, the seasons, and one another. Development happens through real life, real relationships, play, and meaningful experience — not through curriculum delivered to passive recipients, but through living, moving, wondering, and belonging.
Regulation happens here.
Belonging happens here.
Identity takes shape here.
The Environment
A Developmental Environment — Not Just Activities
Wild Village creates conditions for whole-human development. We are not delivering a program to children — we are building a living environment where development unfolds naturally.
Unstructured nature play, guided experiences, seasonal and place-based learning, parent presence, curiosity, collaboration, and belonging are not extras. They are the curriculum.
Our Approach
Rooted in Science. Lived in Practice.
The science of interpersonal neurobiology, attachment research, play theory, and nature-based education all point in the same direction: children develop best in the context of safe relationships, embodied experience, and the natural world.
For children, this doesn't look like a lesson plan. It looks like climbing, exploring, wondering, creating, building, moving, and connecting — with the land, with each other, and with the adults who love them.
Programs
Where Learning Lives
Santa Monica Mountains
Forest
Weekly gatherings in the mountains where children follow the seasons, explore the land, build with natural materials, and develop deep ecological literacy through play, inquiry, and emergent curriculum.
Explore Forest
MALIBU
Beach
Ocean-based learning through waves, tidal pools, marine life, and coastal ecosystems. Children observe, explore, and develop a living relationship with the sea.
Explore BeachDevelopmental Stages
Growing Up Wild
From first explorations to growing independence, Wild Village meets children where they are developmentally — and creates room for what comes next.
For Parents
You Are Part of the Village, Too.
Wild Village is not only for children. Parents spend meaningful time outdoors — slowing down, observing their children differently, developing deeper trust in their children's capacities.
You build real relationships with other parents. You experience genuine community. You are not a spectator, and you are not an unpaid classroom aide. You belong to the village too.
Wild Village for ParentsA Different Kind of Education
The world our children are growing into is unpredictable.
Instead of preparing them for a fixed path, we support the development of capacities that allow them to adapt, relate, create, collaborate, and thrive.
We are not only asking:
"What should children know?"
We are also asking:
"Who are they becoming?"
Looking Forward
This Is Just the Beginning
Wild Village is growing toward nature-based learning communities, charter and educational partnerships, land stewardship, community experiences, and a nonprofit supporting whole-human development. We are building something that lasts — rooted in place, in relationship, and in the land.
Come Find Your Place in the Village.
Whether you are a family seeking something different, an educator who believes in this work, or a community partner ready to build alongside us — there is a place for you here.