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Meet Rachel
Rachel Lawrence is a director, childminder, and mother based in Cambridgeshire, UK. Alongside her partner Jodie, she co-founded Where the Wild Ones Learn, a nature-led, child-centered educational project that creates accessible resources for families, childminders, and educators.
The Joy of Childhood, Rediscovered
Rachel’s journey into child-led, nature-based learning began close to home.
“Where the Wild Ones Learn was born from our own children wild, curious little explorers who showed us how deeply learning comes alive in nature,”
she explains. Observing her own children roam woods, puddles, and mud kitchens, she saw learning transform from a structured expectation into a living, breathing experience. Every puddle jump, every stick-scribbled drawing, and every moment of quiet observation in a sun-dappled glade became evidence that childhood flourishes when given space to breathe.
For Rachel, the magic wasn’t in fancy tools or strict curricula it was in freedom itself. She and Jodie recognized early on that when children are trusted to follow their curiosity, they thrive in ways that no worksheet or classroom could replicate. This insight became the guiding principle of everything they would build.
Growing Wild: Formative Moments
Rachel’s formative experiences were anchored in family, curiosity, and a love for the outdoors. As a mother and childminder, she noticed patterns among the children she cared for: the ones who spent time outdoors were calmer, more confident, and more engaged. But equally, she noticed a gap affordable, high-quality resources that supported sensory-rich, child-led, outdoor learning were almost non-existent.
“That combination our children’s joy in the wild and the lack of accessible resources for families like ours became the spark for everything we’ve built since,”
Rachel says. That spark wasn’t a sudden epiphany; it was a quiet, persistent pull that emerged in the muddy trenches of daily family life. Rachel and Jodie began creating homemade nature study packs, simple materials designed to honor curiosity without overwhelming children or parents.
From those early packs grew a philosophy: childhood doesn’t need to be rushed or structured to be meaningful. Every craft, every observation, every lesson in nature was a reminder that children learn best when they are free to explore, guided subtly by their own interests.
A Turning Point in the Mud
Yet the path was not without struggle. Rachel recalls late nights piecing together materials after long days with her children, feeling the pressure of both motherhood and professional ambition.
“One of our biggest challenges was realising how few affordable, high-quality resources existed for families and settings who wanted to follow a nature-led, child-centred approach,”
she says. The frustration was real, but instead of discouraging her, it sparked action: if the tools didn’t exist, she and Jodie would create them.
Developing the first nature study packs marked a turning point. What started as simple, homemade tools quickly became something bigger. Families and educators began using them, children’s engagement and joy confirmed the value of Rachel’s approach, and a broader community began forming around a shared belief in child-led, nature-based learning.
Writing a full accreditation for the project was another milestone. It transformed their personal approach into a structured framework others could follow confidently. And preparing their pedagogy book brought the philosophy into a tangible form that could inspire practitioners far beyond Rachel and Jodie’s immediate circle. Each of these steps carried moments of doubt and exhaustion, yet each also reinforced the purpose at the heart of their work: nurturing children in a way that respects their curiosity, senses, and individuality.
Building a Movement: Work That Matters
Today, Where the Wild Ones Learn is more than a project it’s a community. Rachel and Jodie create accessible, nature-rooted materials, provide accreditation for childminders and home-educators, and soon will release a pedagogy book that captures the essence of their philosophy. Their work is guided by values of respect, accessibility, inclusivity, and authenticity, ensuring every child, regardless of background or ability, can experience learning in the wild.
The impact is tangible. Families have access to practical, affordable resources that encourage outdoor play and exploration. Educators gain confidence in delivering child-led experiences. And children themselves muddy, curious, and fully themselves thrive in ways that are both measurable and ineffably human. Rachel’s approach challenges traditional educational narratives: learning doesn’t have to be rigid, indoor, or expensive; it can be playful, messy, and deeply rooted in the rhythms of nature.
Vision for the Future
Looking ahead, Rachel hopes to expand the academy side of Where the Wild Ones Learn, offering more training, deeper support for childminders and home-educators, and accessible pathways into nature-led, child-centered practice. She envisions a world where outdoor, child-led learning is not a luxury but a fundamental part of childhood.
Further, she and Jodie continue to develop new nature study packs and strengthen their accreditation system, ensuring the philosophy reaches even more families and educators. Their pedagogy book promises to amplify their voice and share the lessons learned from years of observing, experimenting, and listening. Every new step is rooted in the same ethos: accessibility, authenticity, and respect for the child’s experience.
Reflections on Success
For Rachel, success is quiet, wild, and human. It’s not in numbers, awards, or recognition it’s in witnessing children flourish outdoors, hearing from families and educators who feel empowered, and knowing that her work is making nature-based learning attainable for everyone.
“Success is seeing children thrive outdoors confident, curious, muddy, and fully themselves,”
Rachel says. The work is a balance of values, community, and lived experience: staying present with her own children, trusting instincts, and building resources that genuinely serve others. In this balance lies the joy that has guided Rachel’s journey from observing her children in the backyard to leading a movement that reimagines what childhood can be.
Her story is a reminder that meaningful work often grows from ordinary beginnings: a mother noticing her children’s curiosity, a desire to fill a gap, and the courage to create what didn’t yet exist. Through Where the Wild Ones Learn, Rachel Lawrence is showing that childhood can be wild, joyful, and profoundly human if we only trust it to be.
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