Volunteer

If you enjoy the outdoors and engaging with children in a fun, supportive environment, this could be your happy place!

Your help enables us provide safe, supportive, drop-off groups for some amazing children. Our groups are thoughtfully integrated, which means we include mainstream kids and kids with support needs.

Many hands make light work, and ordinary people who help in simple ways can make an extraordinary difference!

The nature of our programming makes this an ideal opportunity for:

  • Students who want to add meaningful experiences to their resume (We’re happy to write a summary and recommendation based on your time volunteering!), especially those majoring in 
    • Occupational therapy
    • Physical therapy
    • Speech therapy 
    • Psychology
    • Elementary education 
    • Special education
    • Environmental sciences (We love a good info dump and contagious enthusiasm!)
  • Paraprofessionals 
  • Experienced empty-nesters 
  • Other nature-loving folks looking for a purposeful way to invest some time

You’d be a great candidate if you meet these criteria:

  • work well with others
  • genuinely enjoy working with children
  • enjoy the outdoors in all sorts of weather (a nature based setting isn’t for everyone!) or, for the indoor clubs, enjoy the activity of the club (e.g. Lego or art)
  • can communicate well
  • are eager and able to learn how to meet a variety of support needs
  • have reliable transportation
  • can commit to a set schedule of at least 2 hours per week during the school year (hours would typically be within the windows of 11:30 am – 4:30 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 12:00 pm – 2:30 pm on Fridays)
  • are age 16 or older (those under 18 will need to provide written consent from their parent/guardian)
  • have a clean background check

Tasks & Responsibilities

The tasks and responsibilities you might take on as a volunteer will vary, depending on what groups and activities you volunteer to help with and what is needed at the time. Some things you might do include:

  • Assisting with daily program logistics, including setup, cleanup, organization of materials, and transitions between activities. This assistance may sometimes take the form of physically setting up/cleaning up and sometimes take the form of actively “holding space” for the children while the Lead Guide and/or parent volunteers perform the physical tasks.
  • Supervising and engaging with students during both structured and unstructured learning times, including outdoor play, exploration, and group activities.
  • Participating in child-led, nature-based, and project-based activities while supporting students’ curiosity, independence, and collaboration.
  • Actively observing students’ play, engagement, and well-being in order to support safety, inclusion, positive group dynamics, and growth.
  • Providing one-on-one support to students as needed, including assisting children who benefit from additional support with regulation, participation, or social interaction. 
  • Communicating effectively with all children, parents, caregivers, volunteers, and staff
  • Ensure a supportive environment – including cultivating an overall culture of inclusion, recognizing when children need support and meeting their needs, recognizing and responding to self-advocacy from the children, and teaching/modeling disability etiquette and inclusive language and behavior
  • Ensure a healthy outdoor classroom environment – including conducting safety checks and risk assessments, and maintaining appropriate hygiene and cleanliness standards.
  • Modeling curiosity, kindness, flexibility, and sound judgment. Striving to uphold the program’s philosophy and values.
  • Assisting with other reasonable tasks that support the safety, care, and smooth operation of the program, as needed.

If you’re interested in volunteering your time, skills and/or services, please email Jenni at nourishedoaks@gmail.com