About Us
Our 3 Pillars
Education
Down To Earth’s first pillar is education. Why? We believe that connection begins with understanding and caring. That’s why we create lessons with the idea of sparking curiosity in every student. Curiosity to know more, explore more, and experience more. No matter their age or experience in the outdoors, our students are guaranteed to come away from a day of class with a deeper knowledge of the world around them.
Learning at Down To Earth doesn’t look quite like your typical classroom! We might learn about plants by hiking around the park with ID guides in hand, practice navigation skills by embarking on a treasure hunt, or dive into fire skills by creating and working with our own bow drill kit.
Connection
How do you connect a child to nature? There are so many ways! At Down To Earth, we focus on creating long lasting memories centered around experiences in the outdoors. If they’re not having fun, they’re not as likely to make memories! Playing games with friends, exploring on and off the trails, indulging in imaginative time in the forest, and practicing hands-on outdoors skills are all proven ways to strengthen that connection.
Action
Don’t tell the kids… but Down To Earth is about more than just playing outside and learning cool skills. Each school year, our students and staff will show their appreciation to nature by partnering with a local outdoors space for a service project and give back in a meaningful way. Our goal at Down To Earth is not to have students carve an incredible spoon or consistently make a fire in under a minute. It doesn’t matter to us if they can identify every edible plant in the state or tell the difference between fox scat and coyote scat in just a glance. If the nature connection that we provide is for any purpose, it is so that children can truly realize how incredible nature is and grow a lifelong respect for it. Hopefully, giving back to the planet helps in the growth of this respect. Every year, our service project will be different.
More information will be given to families during the school year!
What do students learn?
Making a fire through friction, using a compass to complete a treasure hunt, identifying edible and medicinal plants, carving a spoon from the wood of a nearby tree, or following the tracks of a fox through the mud near a small creek... On any given day at Down To Earth, your child might be doing any of these activities. The place-based skills that we teach are all designed with fun as a top priority and the added benefit of connecting our students to the natural world.
At Down To Earth, we want to be the spark that ignites every child’s love for the outdoors.
Where do
we teach?
Crestwood Park is home to our programs. The park provides everything we need, from hiking trails to open fields, bathrooms, a fire grill, and even a creek. On a lucky day, we might spot a fox, a red-tailed hawk, pocket gophers, and more!
1673 E, Siesta Dr, Cottonwood Heights, UT 84093
Why should I enroll my child in Down to Earth?
At Down to Earth, we know that the benefits of outdoor school are endless. Not only does outdoor play promote happier and healthier children, it makes learning much more fun and effective! In the outdoors, we have the potential to learn in a way that is simply impossible in a traditional classroom setting.
Learning about bugs means getting our faces inches from the ground to explore the land of the insects. A lesson on birds means sitting still and listening to their songs, and then getting out the binoculars to see them for ourselves. Water quality can be seen clearly with test kits and doing our own science experiments.
We believe that education and exposure to nature breeds a connection that will shape your child's life. If you also believe in that connection, we invite you to join us.
“We just wrapped up our second year with Down to Earth. Our son raves about how amazing his day was after each week’s class! He is always so excited to tell us what they learned about, what nature mysteries they discovered, and what his favorite part of the day was. He has grown so much in curiosity, critical thinking, and courage over the course of our two school years! We look forward to many more years with Down to Earth!”
— Ashley