Family Lab
Weekly outdoor science adventures designed for curious kids and the grown-ups exploring beside them.
Science is better when your boots are muddy.
Family Lab is our weekly family science class for children ages 3 to 10 and the grown-ups who love learning alongside them. While the curriculum is designed with that age group in mind, siblings of all ages are always welcome. Every 2-hour class blends science, nature, and adventure into an experience that feels more like exploring than attending a lesson. Our curriculum is created in-house and follows the changing seasons, using nature in real time as both the classroom and the subject of study. One registration covers your entire immediate family, so siblings are always welcome to explore together. No two classes are exactly alike because nature never is.
What a typical class looks like
Every Family Lab follows a relaxed rhythm that gives children plenty of freedom to wonder, discover, and play.
We begin with free exploration while families settle in. Then we gather around the campfire for a group discussion where the instructor introduces the month's theme and shares what we'll be discovering together.
From there, families participate in a teacher-guided activity connected to the topic. Depending on the theme, that might be a science experiment, an art project, a nature investigation, or another hands-on experience.
Then it's time to hit the trail.
We'll hike together to a location that helps bring the lesson to life, stopping often to ask questions, examine interesting discoveries, smell flowers, investigate animal signs, and follow the curiosity of the group. Once we arrive, families may continue exploring the day's topic or simply enjoy unstructured play in nature.
There is no pressure to sit still or memorize facts. We believe children learn best when they are free to move, ask questions, and experience the natural world with all of their senses.
Enrollment Options
One registration covers your entire immediate family. Join us for the entire school year or simply try a monthly drop-in class.
Flexible monthly and semester payment plans are available.
Choose the class time that works best for your family
Monday: 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Tuesday: 4:15 PM to 6:15 PM
Wednesday: 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Thursday: 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
The Logistics
Ready for more info? Current tuition, program updates, and calendars can be found here!
FAQs
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Our curriculum is specially designed to include animals, plants or fungi that can really be found in your backyard or local forest in the season our class is hosted. This type of hands-on science learning enables students to be active participants in their own learning, which helps them retain information and understand important scientific concepts.
Each month of family lab has an overarching monthly theme that breaks down into 4 weekly topics.
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The true forest school experience includes spending time outdoors in all weather each season. This continuous interaction with nature helps children develop confidence, independence, and a lifelong appreciation for the environment. If you miss a season of Forest School, you miss a lot of benefits. That's why families who purchase a year-long family pass get the best deal, only $110 per month (or 32 weeks of family lab for $880).
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This program will meet at our private forest school site in Mokena, IL with access to our heated schoolhouse building during inclement weather.
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Families can commit to the full school year for a 9% discounted rate. Or commit for the whole semester for a 4% discounted rate. Families who enroll monthly are not guaranteed a spot in the same class each month. If you enroll at the beginning of the school year, before September, you’ll have the option to enroll in the same class all year. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait for a monthly spot to open each month.
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Pay the full school year, or the whole semester for the best rates. Our monthly rate is $120 per family. Check out our rate sheet under “tuition + fees” above.
