About Grow Outside Nature Play

Our mission is to nurture joyful childhoods by providing opportunities for kids to engage with nature in all four seasons. Through child-led, nature-based play, we help children build essential life skills—like resilience, creativity, and confidence—while fostering meaningful friendships among children and the adults in our community.

Our programming's initial inspiration is the thoughtfully-designed Tinkergarten curriculum, and our offerings have expanded to include a variety of ways for families to get outside and PLAY!

Tinkergarten Classes: Tinkergarten classes are nature-based play classes focused on developing an essential life skill through outdoor play. Classes are for children ages 1-8 with a caring adult and meet weekly for 6-9 weeks, depending on the season. Each class includes an opening circle featuring song, movement, and community building; an exciting invitation to inspire play during our time together; a closing circle including gratitude and a story; and opportunities for adult learning and community building.

Little Acorns Playgroup: Little Acorns is designed for our littlest explorers, up to about 18 months of age. It’s a gentle, welcoming space where little ones can explore the world around them while grownups find connection and community. The rhythm of playgroup includes songs and movement, stories, and sensory-rich, developmentally-appropriate invitations to play.

Mighty Oaks Playgroup: Mighty Oaks is designed for explorers ages 1.5-8 years, but all ages are welcome. We provide an exciting invitation for nature-based play and the tools and materials to engage with it. While the play invitations are similar to a Tinkergarten class, the time is unstructured and almost entirely child-led.

Check out our registration page to see what is coming up this season.

See Current Options

Why Outdoor Play Matters

Time outdoors is essential for kids’ well-being—and for ours, as well. When kids get outdoors, they enjoy reduced anxiety and enhanced mood. The same goes for us adults. Outdoor settings also provide kids’ sensory systems with an ideal mix for learning, because the outdoors is both stimulating and calming at the same time.

Kids who spend more time outdoors are more physically active, and physical activity drives positive health outcomes.
Daily doses of fresh air and sunlight increase circulation, vitamin D, boost immune systems, and promote overall wellness.
Time spent in natural settings also contributes to healthy sleep patterns in babies, toddlers and kids. And proper sleep drives all kinds of beneficial health outcomes.
Kids who spend time outdoors get sick less often.
Nature and play lower stress. Time spent in natural settings is restorative and reduces anxiety for kids and for adults. Plus, if you can join your kids, your stress will reduce too!
Play in nature brings joy. Learning to find and experience the joy that nature and play provide is another way to provide children with enriching, positive emotional experiences in the short term. If we can engrain that joy practice for them, they can carry forward this powerfully positive way of being in the world.
Rain and snow build resilience. Playing in inclement weather can even give kids the opportunity to learn that they can manage when life gets a little challenging.

Excerpted from Tinkergarten: How Time Outside Makes Kids (and us) Healthier, Happier and Ready to Learn

Other Programming

Seasonal Events

Grow Outside Nature Play offers seasonal family events throughout the year. These events are open to all, including families who have not participated in regular programming.

Walks, Hikes, and Storytime

We also host walks, hikes, and storytime to provide additional opportunities to get outside. Check our registration page for upcoming events!

Schools and Organizations

Grow Outside Nature Play is happy to partner with schools or organizations to expand opportunities for outdoor play! Programming can be customized to meet your individual needs. If you're interested in bringing outdoor play to your school or organization, please contact us!

Special Events

Grow Outside Nature Play can also offer programming for special events. If you are planning a birthday party, looking for an activity for a parent/child class, need additional programming for a school event, or have a different idea where we can help, please get in touch!

Meet Caitlin

Caitlin Teplicky is the owner and outdoor educator at Grow Outside Nature Play. Caitlin has 12 years of experience in education as a teacher, school leader, outdoor educator, and mama of three little explorers. After her second child was born, Caitlin was looking for outdoor play classes but couldn’t find anything in her area. She decided to start her own and became a certified Tinkergarten teacher in 2022. Caitlin led Tinkergarten classes in Memphis, TN, before relocating with her family to the Salt Lake City area in the summer of 2023 and founding Grow Outside Nature Play. She has loved the opportunity to build a community of kids and adults through outdoor learning here in Utah.

Caitlin has a Master of Education from Christian Brothers University. She has a BBA in Finance and Economics and a BA in Ethics & Public Policy from the University of Iowa. She is originally from Iowa and spent ten years living in Memphis, TN before moving to Salt Lake City. Caitlin loves helping kids learn and grow up to be good humans. She is also passionate about adult learning and thinks it is important that grown-ups have spaces to build knowledge and connect with one another. Caitlin believes we can all benefit from more time outside.