Building community and engaging with nature.

Mission Statement

How Natural Connections was Born

Natural Connections CT was born from a love of nature, and a bit of jealousy over how much my kids got to enjoy it without me. My children started attending a local nature school five years ago. I would drop them off with smiling, excited faces and come back hours later to mud, sweat, river-soaked, and even bigger smiling faces. I knew how much fun they were having not just by the look on their faces, their blissful exhaustion at the end of the day, or the requests for one more climb up the tree at pickup. I knew because they would share things with me throughout our everyday lives together that were simply enchanting. A comment about a cooling float in the river or ninja-jump off a rock, pointing out wild edible leaves and berries or an antidote for poison ivy, whittling a perfect birchwood spear, sharing tales from shelter building on the hill, all told me of the greatness they were experiencing. And while, as a stay-at-home and homeschooling mom, I appreciated the few hours of solitude while they were out exploring, a big part of me wished I was exploring with them.

So, I decided to do just that. I found like minded families who wanted to get down and dirty and explore with their kiddos. I found moms who took off their shoes and squished in the mud alongside their toddlers. Dads who held the outstretched little hand of a child teetering on a log over the river, sloshing along without complaint as their own boots filled with water. My kids connected with kids of all ages who also enjoyed ninja-jumping off rocks, building boats out of tree bark and climbing to the highest branch of a tree. And I got to connect with people who didn’t give me a side eye when I played with sticks and rocks and mud, side by side with my kids. Not only did they not look at me like I was a weirdo, they gladly shared their own children with me and joined in on the play with us. 

That’s right, I said play. I have so much fun playing with my kids. Adults often forget how to play and I feel really lucky that I’ve never been one of those adults. Even when I was teaching in a classroom, I enjoyed engaging with the kids as they imagined, created and fantasized. I finally found a space to do all of this with others who enjoy it just as much. The wonder of seeing a prickly little skunk cabbage seedpod for the first time, the taste of fresh ramps plucked from the riverside, the smell of onion grass on the children’s breath, the sting of nettle as your arm brushes by, the sound of children squealing with delight as they rush down a snow covered hill. Being able to observe all of these things can’t help but rekindle a love of play in adults. My kid’s confidence gave me confidence. We made connections with the earth, connections with friends, connections with each other and connections with ourselves. The nature meetups I coordinated became a respite for us. The millions of neurons connecting simply by being in nature help to ground us, regulate our bodies and minds and give us a renewed sense of tranquility in our often busy lives. 

These are all things I want to offer to families because it’s something everyone deserves to have, but not everyone makes the time to receive. My Family Nature Programs promise to bring families together through not only connecting with the natural world, but by bringing adults the connection to their inner child as well as to their actual children. Improve and grow your sense of self, strengthen your bond with your family and in turn, you will bring a peaceful presence into your everyday life whether you’re outside or not (but I also promise to encourage you to be out as much as you can;)