This is a true nature camp experience. I could tell our camp counselor was well-trained and the real deal from the beginning and I felt comfortable leaving my daughter with her. After camp, my daughter would come home singing songs, talking about new friends, howling like a wolf, skilled at a new craft, and having learned about some plant or animal.
We are so thankful that our son has been able to participate in Wilderness Youth Project's outdoor preschool program. It has been a magical experience for both him and us. He comes home singing songs and telling stories of his time spent in the meadow with his wonderful teachers and friends. The teachers are attentive, caring and supportive of exactly where each child is in their development. Gratitude, observation skills, and respect for the natural world are all cultivated while having FUN. The kids participate in open ended imaginative play, climbing, running, digging, and routines such as morning circle. Families are invited to participate as well, which has been such a special experience for us.
Wilderness Youth Project has been an amazing experience for our family. Children deserve the opportunity to feel welcome, included and fall in love with nature and WYP has offered this and more to our child. It is great to hear the wonderful stories from our daughter after a day of exploring the beauty of nature with WYP when she comes home. She is always excited to go back each day and enjoy more adventures.
Our daughter has also benefited from gaining more self confidence and learn through exploration and play in a way that she cherish and embraces. We love WYP!
WYP has been a transformative experience for my child. WYP programs foster independence, creativity, a respect and love for Mother Earth, and kindness. My child looks forward to going to WYP every week and has made lasting and beautiful relationships with his teachers and peers. We recommend WYP to everyone!
Wilderness Youth Project is an exceptional organization providing Santa Barbara youth with meaningful, inclusive access to nature. The research is clear- spending time outside is incredibly helpful for mitigating stress. This is especially important for kids today as they face the ups and downs of the pandemic. However, families may face barriers to spending time in nature. WYP provides the bridge to facilitate rich, impactful outdoor opportunities filled with learning, mentoring, and the freedom to run wild and play! I'm so grateful to be a friend of WYP and to know that my support is helping children in our community access the beauty and possibilities of the outdoors!
Wilderness Youth Project has incredible mentors who provide a safe environment for children to allow the magic of the natural world to be explored. Coming together in diverse groups in nature provides for impactful life experience in which they are inspired to be stewards of the earth.
Wilderness Youth Project provides a much needed resource for the community. Embracing nature, building awareness and stewardship for our earth by teaching our young people, while sharing the joy of the outdoors is truly a gift to all.
Simply Put: As a parent, You KNOW it’s a good day when your child comes running to you with a smile, a feather in his hat, mud caked on the shoes, covered in dust and dirt with stories to tell about the adventures. Thank you WYP!
Our son had the most amazing experience with Wilderness Youth Project. Every time we picked him up, he would come running with joy all over his face and share stories of his adventures out in nature. He learned so much about himself, our lovely world and connecting with others. The group leaders were amazing and we couldn’t love them more. WYP is a special organization and offers an amazing gift to kids in our community.
Our experiences with WYP have been nothing short of incredible. The staff is very in tune with the kids needs and create a warm and welcoming environment for each child. Their daily activities are intentional and focus on social and emotional growth as well as creating a deep respect for nature. My children have had the privilege of being a part of both their summer camp programs as well as the after school programs. The summer camps are by far my children's favorite weeks of the summer. We are so grateful for this program!!
Jessica Clark
Top notch wilderness education for youth. My son looks forward to spending time in nature with friends in the "meadow". He brings home new songs daily and surprises us by singing them all the way through. I would recommend WYP to anyone!
Wilderness Youth Project is such a wonderful program - our kids have been lucky enough to participate many of their incredible outdoor programs! They always return home, excited to share stories of their adventures in nature, fun with friends, and great counselors. WYP is definitely a top non-profit.
The absolute best outdoor program for kids. We are so lucky to have this for our community in Santa Barbara!
I can't imagine a nonprofit doing more to positively impact our community by directly addressing the needs of kids. As a parent of two WYP participants (with a combined program tenure of nearly 20 years), a donor, a board member, and a director of a local foundation, I have had many lenses from which to view the work of Wilderness Youth Project. From its incredibly effective and longstanding professional leadership, to the front line field staff and volunteers, WYP is led by the most capable, committed, and caring individuals and is well deserving of its reputation as the place where schools, families and other youth serving organizations want to send their kids. It's no secret that getting children outside and connecting with the natural world is a good thing. My kids are happier, less anxious, more skilled at navigating friendships and school pressures, and more likely to get us ALL outside and on adventures on the weekends as a result of the mentoring and outdoor experiences they have had with WYP. My husband and I support WYP and recommend them to everyone we know because we want to ensure that all kids have this opportunity.
WYP is amazing! My 3 kids have done WYP’s various after school, homeschool and summer programs over the years and they have always had the best experience. The counselors are great - so friendly, easy going, and super knowledgeable. The kids get dirty, wet, muddy and overall exhausted from climbing, playing, and learning about their environment and the ecosystem. We love WYP!
Wilderness Youth Project is the backbone for any outdoor immersion activities involving kids in Santa Barbara. With deep dedication to Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, WYP is influencing the hearts and minds of underserved community members that never saw themselves fitting into or passionate about the natural world.
WYP also works closely with other nonprofits, government agencies, and private businesses to enhance our community and not work in isolation. The result is a more abundant, collaborative effort to create resiliency against worsening mental and physical health conditions that so many youth are experiencing in our county. They are responsible for a lot smiling faces, both young and old.
I'm sincerely honored to participate on their board and partner as an organization. The process has been nothing short of life fulfilling - so much gratitude, love, and respect for Wilderness Youth Project!
Our family loves WYP! Our daughter has joined the Carpinteria Bluffs Summer camp for 2 years now, and it's always her favorite camp of the Summer. Each day is planned with such thought - activities are based on the kids' interest, field trips were exciting and educational, and the instructors went above and beyond to ensure each child enjoyed every second of each day. WYP allows kids to just be kids in nature, which is so important these days. My daughter came home raving about all of the fun adventures, crafts, songs, challenges, and things she'd learned about nature each day. I highly recommend WYP. .
My kids love going to Wilderness Youth Project! All of the staff is present, attentive, knowledgable and fun! They take advantage of so many teaching moments that come up in these outdoor settings, which seem to especially sink in since the kids are happy and relaxed. I love the energy of my kids when I pick them up from the program -- a calm, relaxed, joyful state that is so refreshing. We are so lucky to have this amazing program in Santa Barbara!
We love WYP and feel grateful for what WYP has brought for my children and family in many ways for years. With WYP, my kids can be themselves and feel free from the pressure in school. They appreciate the time being out there with their wonderful staff, getting dirty and crazy and making friends. It is a relief for us to see them coming home with happiness brightening on her face, sleeping well. Spending time outdoor is helping them making friend. Some become very close, they write and send letters, and draw about what happened at their school often, not texting or emailing. WYP has been offering them happiness, friendship, and feeling belonging to a group. It is such a good balance for them.
We have been with WYP for almost 7 years, many things have been grown from it, friendship, community, supports, well-being...
My daughter has done WYP Summer Program 3 summers in a row. She loves the comradery with her peers and the outdoor adventures equally. I would HIGHLY recommend this program to any parent who wants their child to experience the outdoors in a caring and supportive environment.
Wilderness Youth Project is an organization built on self esteem, a love of learning, independent growth and community. There is no better place for your children if you want them to learn compassion, empathy, kindness and what community really means. Not to mention the adventures your children will experience and how those experiences with nature, friends and incredible mentors will allow them to grow, learn, explore and master the natural universe with ease and confidence.
What an incredible organization instilling in our children and the next generation a great love for the outdoors, skills for survival and respecting nature. I am so glad my daughter has been able to be a part of WYP's camps and after school programming - Cant wait for more!
Our two boys have had the great fortuneof participating in WYP summer and school year programs since 2020. It has been amazing to see their genuine love and curiosity of all things nature flourish. We are so thankful to WYP for providing families like myself with scholarships so that our boys can experience the magic of nature that WYP has to offer.
We found WYP camps a few years ago for our daughter and she absolutely loves them. We value the educational programs on natural science and the environment. The camps are adventurous, full of learning and consistently have had amazing counselors! We love WYP.
This program is so special and enriching!! The teachers are committed and inspired and my daughter had so much fun. We will sign up again next summer.
I worked with Wilderness Youth Project for 12 years when I was the principal of La Cuesta Continuation High School.
I personally witnessed so many amazing transformations of young (supposedly hardened) teens when given the opportunity to experience nature. I observed young women who were particular about make up, hair and clothing return from a field trip to the front country water slides/pools totally drenched and laughing joyously after having jumped in fully clothed, inhibitions cast aside.
I observed young people returning from day trips and overnights with new found confidence and skills.
WYP is an amazing place for young people to grow and expand their wings; a blessing for many students over 12 years.
My 12 year old had a wonderful time, he came back with so many fun tales of friendships and experiences. In a time when children have been starved of company and the outdoors, wilderness youth saves the day!!
We love you and are so grateful for your care and attention.
Wilderness Youth is a top notch organization from start to finish. The programs allow my child to spend significant amounts of quality time in the great outdoors, but perhaps more importantly, teach him to be a good human being. The staff of the organization are excellent. It is well run, well-organized, and the staff are responsive, thoughtful, and put care into everything they do. 10 out of 10!
Wilderness Youth Project is a treasure for Santa Barbara children and their families. It exposes children to the beauty of our Santa Barbara oceans, beaches and forests.
With the support of talented caring educators, children learn about nature and become life long learners, more independent, self-confident and self-sufficient.
The last 18 months have been especially stressful for children and their parents. Time exploring the wonders of a tidal pool help children of all ages to heal.Their experiences in nature also help them to succeed in school.
The world needs more Wilderness Youth Projects!
Wilderness Youth Project is a fabulous program. My kids have been doing it for years and have grown a lot because of it. They know so much about nature and plants around here -- far more than I do. I love how they come home tired and dirty and full of stories of their adventures and challenges overcome. I see how it helps them bravely take on new challenges. Picking them up after a fun afternoon with WYP is often the best part of our day, as we get to bask in it all a bit too and enjoy some time outside in the gloaming. I cannot recommend WYP more highly.
My son, Asher is 13 and been doing Wilderness Youth Project since he was about 3. He is a kinder, gentler soul because of WYP. He has reverence for Mother Nature, is able to identify local medicinal plants and could survive in the wilderness if he needed to.
The counselors/teachers he has had along the way have been some of the most amazing humans I've ever met. I would recommend Wilderness Youth Project to any parent that wants your child to have an incredible outdoor experience.
The WYP staff go above and beyond to reach out and connect with parents before each camp/session begins so that they can meet the needs of each child. They do an amazing job of allowing the kids to really interact with nature in an unstructured way while encouraging learning and growth. My son loves every WYP session - he has so much fun and has grown in confidence as a result.
Wilderness Youth Project has been such a gift for our children. The obvious, immersing kids in nature and providing experiences in the wilderness being one gift. But even more than that, Wilderness Youth Project (WYP) serves the whole child. They use the nature experience to cultivate problem solving, inter personal relationships and conflict resolution, confidence building and awareness of personal action’s effects on others and the environment around them. I wish every child could experience WYP and all of it’s wonder.