Team Sarah

Welcome to our community of outdoor learners!

My name is Sarah Marshall, and I’m an Early Childhood Educator and certified Forest and Nature School Practitioner through Forest School Canada and the Child and Nature Alliance of Canada. I’m also a proud facilitator of play! My family day home, licensed and approved through BGC Day Homes, has been lovingly operating in Cochrane for over 20 years.

I am passionate about creating a nature-rich, play-based environment where children can grow, explore, and thrive. There’s nothing more rewarding to me than learning alongside children—sharing in their wonder, curiosity, and joyful discoveries in the natural world.

Each day is an adventure with our team of explorers. I deeply value the strong, trusting relationships I build with the children and their families. Together, we create a nurturing and welcoming space where children feel safe, respected, and heartening relationships flourish—a place filled with sunshine, fresh air, laughter, love, and of course, PLAY!

Learning Through Child-centered Play

Each day is cradled by a daily rhythm in a warm and nurturing family atmosphere. The theme is learning through play! The children are given the opportunity to initiate their own play experiences, they have access to variety of enchanting toys and quality materials, and all the amazing play opportunities and supported risk taking the beautiful outdoors has to offer!

Hands on, mucky, and messy, child-initiated fun - is the pinnacle of learning through play!

I love my role as a co-learner, trusting children and giving them the freedom to stretch themselves, seeing them as capable learners, and involving them in their learning process. The children's natural interests and inclinations guide the direction of our play. Through observation, documentation, and reflection of my group's interests and developmental stages, I introduce various provocations, loose parts, and materials to support their learning and development.

At Wild Wonders, children spend much of every day outside exploring Cochrane Ranche and other natural spaces through all the seasons and all weather. As an educator, I nurture meaningful, child-led exploration and support children through the rhythm of the day. I hold space for child-centered learning through play and honour what is happening in daily moments.

I value our Wild Wonders family community, and the connections we have are fostered through family involvement and communication. I document and share the children's learning journey with parents daily.

Hands on, mucky and messy, child-initiated fun - is the pinnacle of learning through play!

Healthy Attachments

As a mother and an educator, I recognize the importance of having an emotional connection to each child in my care. I believe every child needs to feel loved and connected to their caregivers. This meaningful bond and a child's sense of security supports development, learning, and healthy growth. I place emphasis on respect for self, others, and the natural world. I encourage positive communication, cooperation and teamwork, self-regulation, and problem solving. Autonomy is fostered, and children are given agency. Children are trusted to make decisions and choices that will influence and impact their experiences and their world. I care for each child with love and affection, attention, trust and respect.

Nutrition & Eating

Meals and snacks are pleasant and appealing, whether sitting on a picnic blanket under the canopy of the trees or all around the table together, bonding over our food. I love prepping, cooking, and baking with the children using quality, healthy, fresh ingredients, and whole foods. The children are included in meal and snack planning, prep, serving and clean up. They are viewed as competent and trusted to share the responsibility and are more than eager to expand their palate! They enjoy a wide variety of fruits and vegetables and balanced healthy meals and snacks. Promoting a connection to our food, the children participate in activities like picking saskatoons, gooseberries, and wild strawberries at the Ranche for snack, collecting rose hips in the fall for tea, picking crabapples from their favourite climbing tree in the yard to make cider, picking dandelions in our yard for jelly, harvesting veggies & fruit from our gardens, cracking and eating nuts, prepping and cooking bannock on a stick over an open fire and gathering kindling & flint & steel strikes to light a fire in our Ghillie kettle for oatmeal.

Child to Educator Ratio

I accept children into care ages 2yrs +. I will have full-time availability in 2026. Please contact me if you are interested in being added to the contact list for future availability.

My 2025 team:

3.5 yr. old full time
3.5 yr. old full time
3.5 yr. old full time
4 yr. old full time
4.5 yr. old part time
Drop-in (not accepting drop-in care at this time)

I have a small team of 4-5 children. This enables me to provide attentive, sensitive, responsive care to each individual child, in a relaxed and warm, family-like atmosphere. The low ratio improves safety outside and allows me to facilitate more personalised learning experiences.

Nature Exploration
TIME SPACE FREEDOM

When children come to Wild Wonders Nature Play, they step into a world where the rush of schedules and adult-driven agendas fade away. Here, the natural world becomes their classroom—and their playground.

As an educator and facilitator of nature play, I trust in children's abilities, value what they are doing, and support their learning through observation, connection, and care. I believe in giving children the freedom and time they need to fully engage with their environment and follow their own ideas.

Children thrive when given uninterrupted time to immerse themselves in play. These long stretches allow them to become deeply involved, follow their curiosity, and return to their explorations again and again—entering a state of flow that nurtures authentic, meaningful learning.

With space and freedom to explore at their own pace, children naturally become scientists, builders, storytellers, and problem-solvers. The outdoors offers a rich, dynamic environment filled with endless possibilities for discovery, creativity, and wonder.

At Wild Wonders, children visit their cherished nature sites every day. With unhurried time, a strong sense of place, and the freedom to follow their imaginations, they engage deeply in joyful, purposeful play. These moments of connection with nature and each other leave lasting impressions—rooted in both heart and mind.

Passion is lifted from the earth itself by the muddy hands of the young; it travels along grass-stained sleeves to the heart.
– Richard Louv

Indoor & Backyard Learning Environments

Our indoor play environment is on the main floor of my home, with an open design and large windows facing both east and west bringing in the warmth of natural lighting.

I strive to create a warm and calm environment that invokes wonder, investigation and curiosity, creativity and problem solving. The set up of invitations to play and provocations are full of rich open-ended materials. It is a responsive and intentional space that is always evolving and changed frequently. Children can make choices independently about what they will use and how they will use it.

Our spacious, fenced backyard is a natural haven for play and discovery, surrounded by mature trees and bushes that invite children to climb, build shelters, and pick seasonal fruits. The outdoor space is thoughtfully designed to spark imagination and connection with nature.

We care for several vegetable and herb gardens, where children help plant, tend, and harvest. The yard also features a climbing area made of wooden stumps, a mud creation station for concoctions, a playhouse, ramps, a sandbox, a fairy garden, and a playground filled with seasonal toys and equipment.

Each summer, a bit of magic arrives—cheerful little gnomes take up residence in our yard, helping to care for the garden. As the story goes, these friendly gnomes move around at night, and the children love searching for their new hiding spots each day. They’ve been known to whisper secrets, offer petals and leaves, and share joyful conversations with their tiny garden friends.

Professional Development

I completed the Forest and Nature School Practitioner course with the Child and Nature Alliance of Canada and Forest School Canada in May 2020. I am very excited to be on this journey of learning and delivering Forest and Nature School pedagogical theory and practical skills!

I graduated with distinction from Lakeland College’s Early Childhood Education (ECE) certificate program in June 2025 and hold a Level 2 ECE certification. I am currently enrolled in Red Deer Polytechnic's Immersive Workplace Advancement Early Learning & Child Care program, a unique model of delivery strengthened by a community of professionals and authentic connections to workplace practice. I am on track to achieve my diploma Level 3 ECE in June 2026.

I am also an avid reader of books, research articles and magazines on the topic of early childhood, and forest and nature school ethos.