Our Play in the Wild! Initiations into Nonviolence (2006-2019) offered a nature-based full-immersion education in the principles and practices of nonviolence. We define nonviolence as a lifelong commitment to seeing beyond differences, respecting all living things, and being of service to ourselves and others.
Play in the Wild! offered Wilderness Quests and Revolutions Retreats for teens, Community Camps and Wild! Kids Day Camps for families, and Animator Trainings for educators. In all Play in the Wild! programs, students learned practical and effective skills for living interdependently with all forms of life while developing knowledge of self and others. These skills and knowledge form the basis for peaceful, harmonious, and productive communities, not just at Play in the Wild!, but in the circles of relationships that students create after they leave our program.
"For me, I got a lot from here last year and this year. And one day, I want to speak this to all nations."
– Tsimba Tsatsa, Play in the Wild! student and translator
"A place for children to play and explore in a safe respectful, multi-cultural environment with guidance and support that is affirming of their humanity."
– Parent of an 11 year old Wild! Kids Day Camp student
Youth who attended Play in the Wild! came from all corners of the Earth. In past years, youth came from families in Australia, Bhutan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Iraq, Morocco, Nepal, Tanzania, Canada, the U.S., Japan, England, Venezuela, Wales, El Salvador, Guatemala, Brazil, Mexico, Palestine, and St. Vincent. With this diversity of voices, curiosity, understanding, and mutual appreciation happened quite naturally at Play in the Wild!. At Play in the Wild!, we didn’t teach empathy or celebration of differences. Instead, we created the conditions for empathy and celebration of differences to occur.