​WPDS - Fundraiser! ​

Wildwood Adventure Van

Some of our favorite preschool memories are made beyond our front door. Whether we're heading across the street to Wildwood Park, exploring local nature spaces, visiting community destinations, or setting out on seasonal adventures, safe and reliable transportation helps us extend our classroom into the world around us.

For several years, our school van has faithfully served our Wildwood families. Unfortunately, it has become increasingly unreliable due to ongoing mechanical problems, including issues with the doors, battery, electrical system, fuses, and inconsistent starting.

The safety of the children in our care will always be our highest priority. While we continue maintaining the van as best we can, we no longer feel confident relying on it for the adventures that are an important part of our nature-based program.

A newer, dependable school van would allow us to safely continue nature outings, community experiences, and seasonal learning adventures that create lasting childhood memories.

Every donation brings us closer to providing safe, reliable transportation so our students can continue exploring, discovering, and learning beyond the classroom. Thank you for investing in the adventures and experiences that make Wildwood Park Discovery School so special.

​Outdoor Play & Learning Equipment

At Wildwood Park Discovery School, play is more than fun—it’s one of the most important ways children learn. Every climb, pedal, splash, scoop, build, and imaginative adventure develops confidence, creativity, problem-solving skills, coordination, and meaningful friendships.

As our school grows, so does our need for outdoor learning materials and play equipment. We hope to expand our spaces with new slides, playhouses, climbing equipment, mud kitchens, water tables, balance and exploration toys, bicycles, helmets, and other materials that encourage active, imaginative play.

These additions will give children more opportunities to move their bodies, strengthen gross motor skills, play cooperatively, and explore through open-ended experiences that inspire curiosity and wonder. A greater variety of equipment also allows more children to comfortably play and discover together.

Every gift helps us continue building a magical outdoor classroom where childhood is celebrated, imaginations flourish, and learning happens naturally through play.

Thank you for helping us create a place where children can climb higher, explore farther, laugh louder, and make memories that last a lifetime.​

Family Gathering Couch

Our couch has been a special part of Wildwood since the very beginning. It was lovingly gifted to us through our local Buy Nothing community when we first moved here, and it has become one of the most cherished gathering spaces in our school.

It's where children curl up with a favorite book, enjoy quiet conversations with friends, listen to stories, and find a cozy place to rest and recharge throughout the day. Over the years, it has been well loved by many families.

Unfortunately, after many years of use before it came to us—and several more years of daily use at Wildwood—the couch has reached the end of its life. The frame has broken in multiple places, most of the cushions sink deeply when sat on, and the pull-out seating section no longer safely supports weight, causing part of the couch to collapse when extended.

Replacing our couch isn't simply about having new furniture—it's about providing a safe, comfortable place where children can gather, connect, read, and feel at home. We hope to replace it with another durable couch that will continue serving Wildwood families for many years to come.

Thank you for helping us create a warm, welcoming space where every child can learn, grow, and belong.

​Nature Education Tools & Learning Materials

One of the things that makes Wildwood Park Discovery School unique is our belief that children learn best when they can explore nature with their own hands. Every leaf, feather, flower, insect, puddle, and pinecone becomes an opportunity to ask questions, make discoveries, and develop a lifelong love for the natural world.

As Wildwood grows, we hope to expand our collection of high-quality nature education tools. Our goals include digital magnifying glasses for close-up discoveries, PlantWave technology that transforms plant rhythms into music, creature observation containers for safely studying and releasing small woodland visitors, and durable educational toys that encourage curiosity and hands-on learning.

These materials invite children to slow down, observe, ask questions, and connect with the world around them while supporting science, sensory exploration, language development, creativity, and problem-solving.

Every contribution helps place meaningful learning opportunities directly into little hands, nurturing curious explorers who appreciate nature, care for living things, and feel confident discovering their world.

Thank you for helping us create magical moments of discovery that inspire a lifelong love of learning.

Healthier & More Durable Flooring

Our indoor play space serves as an important secondary play and learning space at Wildwood. While the outdoors is our primary classroom, our indoor environment gives children a warm, comfortable place to gather, create, read, enjoy imaginative play, and continue learning throughout the day.

With so much daily activity, our carpet has experienced significant wear. It is beginning to deteriorate and requires frequent deep cleaning and maintenance. Between little shoes, art projects, meals, sensory activities, and everyday play, carpet simply isn’t the most practical long-term flooring for a busy preschool.

One of our fundraising goals is to replace the aging carpet with durable, easy-to-clean laminate flooring. This improvement is especially meaningful because Amber’s doctors have also recommended removing carpeting to reduce exposure related to a severe dust mite allergy.

New flooring would provide a surface that can be easily swept, sanitized, and maintained while standing up to years of busy little feet. We could still incorporate washable rugs and soft play materials without permanent carpeting underneath.

Your support will help us create a cleaner, healthier, safer, and more durable indoor environment designed for all the wonderfully messy learning, creating, exploring, and growing that happens at Wildwood.

​Animal Habitat Enhancements

Caring for animals is a cherished part of life at Wildwood Park Discovery School. Through daily interactions with our chickens and other animal friends, children learn responsibility, compassion, patience, and respect for living things while developing a meaningful connection to nature.

As our school grows, we hope to improve our animal enclosures with stronger fencing, upgraded shelters, enrichment features, and other improvements that provide safe, comfortable habitats while allowing children to participate in their care.

One of our biggest goals is replacing our aging chicken coop with a safer, more functional chicken house. An improved coop will better protect our flock throughout every season, provide a healthier environment, and make feeding, cleaning, and egg collection easier. It will also give children more opportunities to safely participate in these routines while learning where food comes from and how to care for animals with kindness.

Every donation helps create a healthier home for the animals that are such an important part of our Wildwood family while supporting countless lessons in compassion, stewardship, and wonder.

Thank you for helping us create a place where children grow alongside nature and learn that caring for our world begins with caring for its smallest members.

​Heating & Cooling ​​

Creating a comfortable environment helps children feel safe, happy, and ready to learn. Our furnace was installed in 1990 and, after decades of service, now struggles to consistently regulate the temperature throughout our school.

During colder months, keeping every area comfortably warm can be difficult. In the summer, the lack of air conditioning makes warmer days challenging, particularly during indoor activities and afternoon rest times.

Replacing our aging furnace with a modern, energy-efficient heating and cooling system would provide reliable year-round comfort, improve energy efficiency, and create a healthier indoor environment where children can comfortably learn, play, rest, and grow in every season.

Your support helps us continue providing a warm and welcoming home away from home where children can focus on making memories, building friendships, and discovering the joy of learning.

Dishwasher

In July, our dishwasher stopped working, leaving us to handwash every dish, cup, bowl, and utensil used throughout the school day.

While we’ve happily done what’s needed to keep things running, handwashing takes valuable time away from lesson preparation, classroom organization, and creating learning experiences for the children. It also makes efficiently sanitizing dishes after meals and snacks more challenging.

A new dishwasher would help us properly sanitize dishes while giving us back time to focus on what matters most—engaging with the children, preparing enriching activities, and maintaining a clean, welcoming environment.

Your generosity supports the everyday routines that often go unseen but are essential to keeping Wildwood running smoothly.

Refrigerator & Freezer

At the beginning of August, our main refrigerator and freezer unexpectedly stopped working. Since then, we’ve been relying on our garage units, which are normally used for extra supplies and backup food.

While we’re grateful to have a temporary solution, it has made preparing meals and snacks much more challenging. Frequent trips between the house and garage make food preparation less efficient while caring for the children.

A new refrigerator and freezer would allow us to safely store fresh ingredients, stay organized, and simplify daily meal preparation. Most importantly, it would keep the nutritious meals and snacks we provide safely stored and easily accessible, allowing us to spend less time managing food storage and more time with the children.

Every contribution helps us create a smoother, safer, and more organized environment for our Wildwood community.

Toys & Imaginative Play

Children learn through play, and at Wildwood Park Discovery School, toys are much more than entertainment. They help children build friendships, solve problems, practice communication, and bring their imaginations to life.

Over the years, our toys have been loved by hundreds of little hands—building block castles, hosting pretend tea parties, and inspiring countless adventures. With daily use, many have reached the end of their lifespan, becoming broken, worn, or incomplete.

One of our goals is to thoughtfully refresh our outdoor classroom with high-quality, durable learning materials designed to withstand years of play. These resources encourage creativity, cooperation, imaginative play, and independent thinking while complementing our nature-based environment.

Our goal isn’t simply more toys, but better toys—carefully chosen materials built to last, inspire meaningful play, and grow alongside the children who use them.

Brands We Love

At Wildwood Park Discovery School, we believe the best toys are those that can be loved by hundreds of children—not just one. We prioritize trusted brands known for durability, safety, thoughtful design, and materials that withstand years of climbing, digging, building, riding, and imaginative play.

Some of our favorites include Green Toys®, Fisher-Price®, Step2®, Hape®, and Little Tikes®. Each offers something we value—from sturdy outdoor equipment and classic imaginative toys to thoughtfully designed wooden and open-ended learning materials.

We especially appreciate Green Toys for transforming recycled materials, including post-consumer plastic, into durable toys with sustainability in mind. Fisher-Price, Step2, and Little Tikes have earned our trust with equipment built for energetic childhood play, while Hape offers thoughtfully designed toys that encourage creativity, problem-solving, and hands-on exploration.

While inexpensive toys may cost less initially, they often crack, fade, lose pieces, or break under daily preschool use. Investing in quality means fewer replacements, less waste, and toys that can serve Wildwood children year after year.

Our goal isn’t simply to have more toys—it’s to invest in better ones. Every donation helps us choose safe, engaging, long-lasting materials that inspire creativity, support development, and create joyful childhood memories.

Thank you for helping us build a classroom filled with durable, thoughtfully chosen toys that reflect Wildwood’s values.