As a program that offers adventure-based learning for 5-11 year olds, School of Wonder restructured our offerings last summer by separating the Wonder Kids into two groups: Wonderers (grades K-2) & Adventurers (grades 3-5).

Now arriving at the end of our first full-calendar year of split age group offerings (and our first graduation!), here are some reflections on how we made the decision and what we’ve learned along the way.

You are a Wonder Kid. Your mom drops you off at 9am, and you find a cozy spot on the “living room” (a picnic blanket) to keep your snacks and backpack. Chill music is playing in the background, and you decide to start the day with watercolors. You paint what you see — some kids are climbing trees, others playing Elemental Tag, others building a fort out of sticks.

Madi Zins has been an immersive leader in our Wonder Adventures in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, and at Dance Beyond and other festivals Upstate. Immersive storytelling is a key element of our wonder approach.

“Something that I've learned from this opportunity has been that social emotional growth can happen and it's way faster than I would have thought” - Nicole (5th grade teacher)

Everyone runs over to the Temple and starts to envision what the space could look like. The most immediate realization is that there are no flowers in the Temple. With paint brushes and watercolor palettes, the Wonder Kids decide to bring the Temple of Flowers to life on paper.

Your kid’s desk is the atelier of wonder, where all the creativity and inspiration happens. Here are some basic conditions to create an inspiring space, and some key supplies good to have them handy when they want to express themselves creatively.

Our outdoor after school program takes place in the “Wonder Village” - a whimsical forest in Prospect Park where kids go on missions that lead them to play together and build relationships.

The design of all our work is based on the Wonder Compass — a learning framework composed of four main areas of knowledge: community, creativity, autonomy, and earth stewardship.

This week at the School of Wonder we are celebrating that our Executive Director and Founder Marta Pascual Barea has been awarded with the GFEL prize for her role shaping the future of Education and Learning.

A (Success, Erfolg) = X (Work, Arbeit) + Y (Fun, Muße)+ Z (Silence, Mund zu Halten) is the formula of creativty that Einstein left us. Also painters Francisco de Goya y Pablo Picasso explored about how they got the inspiration to create.

A (Success, Erfolg) = X (Work, Arbeit) + Y (Fun, Muße)+ Z (Silence, Mund zu Halten) is the formula of creativty that Einstein left us. Also painters Francisco de Goya y Pablo Picasso explored about how they got the inspiration to create.

Wonder opens the door to some of our most magical skills, such as curiosity, ingenuity and initiative. It awakens us, and becomes the first step on the journey of new discoveries, resolved mysteries and innovative solutions that will help bring about human progress.

Environmental education, social emotional learning, experiential learning, outdoor education, creativity, sustainability, mindfulness, community engagement… isn’t it all we’ve been talking about in the last years? We’re making it happen in Fort Greene Park

Maps invoke our imaginations while creating geographical awareness.

Want to bring your classroom to the park? Today we share 5 tips for teachers and schools bringing their classrooms outdoors. You don’t need to bring the desks! Nature is a great natural classroom - here are some ideas for transforming your lessons into experiential learning ones.

Autonomous children are not only a blessing for their parents! It’s also a key learning element for the children to build their self-confidence, find purpose and walk their own paths. The world needs children who rule the art of living and thinking with independence.

Design thinking requires developing a visual and systemic mind and being versed in Math and Physics to learn the techniques and mechanisms for action. That said, it also needs a great relationship with curiosity, empathy, and wonder to really understand the needs and possibilities.

Today I followed my curiosity and ended up in a viewpoint with some of the best views of the Pyrenees. It is called Mirador de Santa María and is located in Panticosa, Valle de Tena, on the Aragonese side of the Pyrenees. This magical pathway was irresistible.

It’s time to take Wonder seriously! This is not about unicorns in a swimming pool, but rather about the inner ability to keep our curiosity alive and in service of finding the path towards what we hope.

Our children are the future. And we need to prepare them to lead the regeneration of our planet and the reconnection of humankind. What fundamental skills do they need to fulfill this mission?