Heartwood encourages people of all ages to get curious – to connect, to experiment, and to create something beautiful.
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Welcome to the Heartwood community where our time together is more than just about making things; it’s about making connections. Whether you’re looking to hone your skills, find a meaningful afterschool activity for your kids, or join a vibrant crafting community here in the heart of the Sierras, we have a spot just for you!
Join the club!
- Offerings for kids include afterschool and school breaks outdoor adventure camps and STEAM-powered craft clubs, and super fun, joyfully creative birthday parties
- Teens and adults can enjoy mindful time in nature creating your own nature journal or work in the studio learning new skills with local artisans
- Mix it up for your book club or date night with Make & Sip events
- Plan your next company or corporate retreat day out with Heartwood and reconnect with your team after prolonged remote work conditions
- Gather with your homeschool group and let me deliver child-centered, inquiry based science and art curriculum
Meet your guide
Play is FUNdemental
The Power of Play
Our curriculum is all about joyful exploration and creative experimentation. In other words, we play with purpose! When children are playing, they are assessing their surroundings, developing and testing hypotheses, making choices and taking thoughtful risks. They are strengthening their motor, social, and communication skills. They are learning about the world and their place in it. The Heartwood curriculum is designed to reinforce and nurture those skills and has been developed by a master teacher with 20 years experience in the classroom.
Meet Makers, Make Friends
For the Grown-ups
We offer a chance to deepen your connection to your creative self and to the world around you. Heartwood provides a roadmap to discovery with a guide that was trained in forest therapy with Cascadia Forest Therapy in Seattle and as a mindfulness mentor with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach at their Banyan Sangha.
So much of our experience is what we pay attention to and by paying deep attention to the natural world, a portal opens to pay closer attention to our inner worlds as well. In the field, we develop our skills as naturalists by learning to name the things around us, sketching and journaling, and examining the work of other naturalists, artists, and activists.
The studio provides an opportunity to try out a new craft, further develop and hone your skills, or simply a space to connect with like-minded folks who like to make beautiful things.
Meet your guide
Artsy Nature Lovers Unite!
Mindful time in nature and joyful creativity has the power to transform lives.
Meet the Mindful Naturalist
With more than 20 years of experience as a Science Teacher and many more as an arts and crafts maven, Brooke Krolick is a master learning facilitator. Over the years, she has honed her flagship outdoor course called The Mindful Naturalist and now offers it to a range of learners here in the Sierra Nevada. This interdisciplinary curriculum borrows from nature journaling, forest therapy, mindful movement, field identification, and natural history all while building in opportunities for exploration and collaborative play.