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FAQ

Registration for Fall Nature School opens in early June. Registration for Winter/Spring Nature School opens in early October. Registration for March Break Camp opens in early December. Registration for Summer Camps opens in early March.

To support long-term mentoring relationships, we offer pre-registration privileges to participants who were registered for the same program in the previous semester (ex: those who were registered in Fall Nature School 2022 will be offered pre-registration for Winter/Spring Nature School 2023, those who were registered for Summer Camps 2022 will be offered pre-registration for Summer Camps 2023, etc.). Registration instructions will be emailed to all who qualify for pre-registration one week before registration opens to the public.

If you need to cancel your enrolment in the program, we can issue a full refund minus an administrative fee up until 3 weeks before the program start date. Between 3 weeks and 1 week before the program starts, we can issue a 50% refund. Regrettably, cancellations made later than 1 week before the program start date cannot be refunded. 

If a program is canceled by Earth Path due to unforseen circumstances such as illness or weather, we will offer a full prorated refund per day missed to be assessed and credited at the end of the session. 

Please email programs@earthpath.ca and request a copy of our Information for Teachers resource. This resource outlines how nature education is beneficial for childhood development, and how our programs relate to the Ontario curriculum. 

If you have a child who you feel would benefit from being with a different age group, please email us at programs@earthpath.ca. Depending on the situation, we may be able to accommodate your request. 

Yes! We offer payment plans, bursaries, free programs, and PWYC programs. 

Please visit our Affordability page for more information.

We will only cancel a program if: a) travelling to and from the program program location is unsafe, or b) if Environment Canada issues a severe weather warning in our area (ice storms, tornados, etc.). 

Yes! However, we do have an indoor heated space we use for emergencies, or for activities that require an extra layer of protection from the elements if necessary.

We see inclement weather as a fantastic opportunity for growth and learning. It can provide participants with natural consequences that encourage them to learn from our mistakes and better prepare for future outdoor conditions. It can also teach participants how to be more adaptable, resilient, positive, and creative when facing the challenges of everyday life.

Our Nature Educators are trained to carefully assess the risks associated with the weather for each day and make safety their number one priority when planning and running a program. These are some of the ways we keep participants safe in different conditions:

  • Planning activities that require us to move our bodies to generate core heat (e.g. games, exploring the landscape, etc.).

  • Gathering around campfires for external heat.

  • Planning activities that keep us cool and hydrated (e.g. water play, low-energy crafts, frequent water breaks, etc.).

  • Physical check-ins (e.g. asking how a participant feels, monitoring for physical symptoms of heat or cold-related illness, etc.).

  • Having conversations with participants about how to keep themselves safe.

  • Encouraging wearing weather-appropriate clothing and/or gear (e.g.hats, sunscreen, hand/foot warmers, raincoats, proper layers, proper footwear, etc.)

  • Moving locations (i.e. indoors, into the shade, under cover of the forest canopy, lower areas of the landscape, areas with less wind, etc.).

  • Changing into a spare change of clothing.

  • Sending participants home if we feel that their safety is at risk.
While we are able to mitigate risks and provide a high-level of safety for our participants during inclement weather, discomfort is almost always unavoidable. It is in this discomfort that our greatest growth emerges. Our Nature Educators do their best to keep our participants spirits high, validate their feelings, gather and clarify important lessons, and role-model positivity in the face of adversity. When the participants get picked up, we ask that their caregivers do the same. 

Everything you need to send with your child will be listed in your welcome package. The welcome package is sent via email 2-3 weeks prior to the program start date.

Please screen your child for symptoms of viral illness before sending them to program. Do not send them if they are showing symptoms.

For youth programs, we keep a 1:6 staff to participant ratio.

For youth programs, we limit the number of participants to 12.

Please check out our Approach page for a comprehensive outline of our curriculum.