A place built around how children actually experience the world.

“I wanted a place where I could sit down and watch my children play.”

I didn’t start thinking about Wonder Grove because I wanted to build a farm. I started thinking about it because I wanted to take my children outside.

I had one child who needed big movement and space — to run, climb, swing, explore, to move his whole body and follow whatever caught his attention. But that freedom came with a constant fear. Open spaces weren’t really open to us — they were places where I had to watch every direction at once. A gate. A road. A parking lot. Water. A child who could suddenly be somewhere I couldn’t safely reach him.

My other child experienced the world completely differently — cautious, slow to warm up, needing time to watch before joining in, wanting to decide for himself when he was ready to try something new.

They both needed to be outside. They just needed completely different things from the same space. And I couldn’t find many places where both could simply belong.

So we started with our backyard

It became a little experiment in what was possible when we stopped asking our children to fit the environment — and started changing the environment around them. We created space to move, places to slow down, things that invited curiosity rather than demanding participation — and boundaries that made the freedom possible.

One of my favorite places became the saucer swing beneath the trees. One child could swing and move and regulate his body. The other could sit nearby and watch. Sometimes they played together. Sometimes they did completely different things. And that was okay.

What changed most wasn’t just what the children could do. It was what I could do. I could finally sit down. I could watch instead of constantly scanning. I could see my children exploring instead of seeing all the things that could go wrong. I could actually be with them. That feeling stayed with me.

Because children don’t all need the same thing. And they shouldn’t have to.

Some need to run. Some need to watch. Some need noise and movement; others need quiet. Some want to touch everything, and some need time before they’re ready to participate at all. Some children find regulation through movement, water, swinging, digging, or climbing — or simply having enough space to wander. And some need the reassurance of staying close to a trusted grown-up while they take the world in at their own pace. There should be a place for all of them.

What if we built that place? That’s the idea behind Wonder Grove.

A real place in nature — a small, sensory-friendly farm in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, California — where children can run without constantly being called back. Where curiosity doesn’t have to stop because the next thing is a road or a parking lot. Where a child can follow a chicken, dig in the dirt, splash in water, swing beneath the trees, climb, wander, watch, retreat, and try again. Where boundaries create freedom rather than taking it away. And where parents don’t have to spend the whole visit scanning for danger — they can sit, they can breathe, they can watch their children discover something. They can be there with them.

Sometimes the difference between “I can’t take my child there” and “we love going there” isn’t the child. It’s the environment.

Imagine this…

Orchard Grove

A living food forest — fruit trees planted in dense, overlapping clusters instead of tidy rows, with almost everything within reach chosen to be picked and eaten right off the branch. Tucked among the trees, a small cluster of domes gives a real place to retreat to — duck in, read, or watch from, not squeezed in as an afterthought.

Dense, overlapping clusters of fruit trees heavy with ripening fruit, with two small dome shelters tucked among the trunks

Oak Grove

A grove of old oaks left wild and climbable — a rope bridge and a boulder scramble threaded between the trunks, with a tree swing, a hammock, and a cocoon swing hung wherever a branch is sturdy enough to hold them.

A rope bridge and boulder scramble built between old oak trees, with a tree swing, a hammock, and a cocoon swing hanging from sturdy branches

Garden

A winding path through dense, fragrant plantings — grasses to brush a hand along, blooms that pull in hummingbirds and butterflies, a small trickling fountain tucked around a bend. Somewhere to wander at a kid’s own pace, not just pass through.

Animals

Chickens, ducks, goats, and rabbits close enough to actually meet — touch, feed, and watch them up close, again and again, not a one-time petting-zoo visit.

Chickens, ducks, and goats in a fenced pasture, with a coop and rabbit hutch nearby

Sand, Water & a Place for You, Too

Open-ended sand and water play right at the edge of the garden — messy, self-directed, no set way to do it right. And real seating close enough to actually watch from: a hanging egg chair under a tree, an open-sided dome with cushions just steps away, so you can sit down and actually be there, instead of standing at the edge keeping watch.

An open-sided dome furnished with bean bags beside a sand and water play area, with a hanging egg chair on a nearby tree and raised garden beds close by

A place where one child can run while another watches from a hammock — and both belong there.

Wonder Grove is being built around how children actually experience the world — not how we wish they experienced it, and not around the idea that every child needs to play the same way. It’s a place for regulation, curiosity, and connection, where siblings can share the same adventure in completely different ways, and where their grown-ups finally get to sit down and watch. That’s the place I wanted for my children. So that’s the place I want to build.

Help us build Wonder Grove

Wonder Grove doesn’t exist yet. We’re using what we learn from families today, through Free to Grow, to shape the place we build tomorrow.

Frequently asked questions

Is the property enclosed/secure?

Yes — full fencing with a single entry point is part of the plan from day one. It matters to some of our families, and every family benefits from it.

You don’t have to wait for Wonder Grove

It’s still a dream we’re working on. In the meantime, Free to Grow can turn the yard you already have into something like it — a free, personalized plan built around your own kid, ready in about 5 minutes, no signup.

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