Outdoor skills for kids
Grades K–5
Eyes off screens. Hands in the dirt.
Kids make fire, use real tools, take healthy risks, and discover how capable they are.
Watch the video
For parents
Kids see adventure. Parents see capability.
Kids think: I made a fire, I used a knife, I built a shelter, I figured it out. Parents see confidence, judgment, responsibility and resilience. Here is what your kid will learn, and how the levels work.
Explore the program
For schools
Bring Fire & Knives to your school.
We bring the instructors, the tools, the curriculum, the waivers and the certificate of insurance. You provide space, a roster and one contact.
Explore school programsIn the woods
What kids actually do.
The question every parent asks first
Yes, real tools and real fire.
Kids use fixed-blade knives with rounded tips, matched to their age and skill, and light fires with ferro rods. Like kids have for millennia, they learn with lots of safety practice and respect for the flame. We introduce them, step by step, to being around a fire, making one, and even cooking on one.
Every skill is sequenced: kids first learn safety and how to use a tool, then move on to the next stage. Groups stay small, seven kids to one instructor, with the same instructors all term whenever we can.
“The most popular enrichment offering at the Park School of all time. Our next sessions are already filled up with a waiting list.”
Watch
See it in the dirt.
Ninety seconds on what Fire & Knives looks like when kids are handed the real thing.
Why this exists
A generation grew up indoors.
Kids today are more supervised, more scheduled and more online than any generation before them, and many are more anxious and less sure of themselves for it. Parents feel it.
Fire & Knives is one answer. A kid kneeling in the dirt, striking a ferro rod, and lighting her first fire. The confidence that comes from being handed something real and being trusted with it.
Confidence isn't something we tell kids to have. It comes from doing hard things themselves.
Parent voices
What parents tell us.
Sophia loved Fire & Knives. It gave her a renewed sense of confidence, respect, and resilience with nature. Not only does she feel more comfortable in nature, but she also made new friends.
She is proactive and confident in her ability to work with sharp things safely. She also begged to help us start a fire in our fireplace in Maine over the weekend.
Camilo says that Fire & Knives was the best part of kindergarten.
Fall 2026
Schools we work with this fall.
Every fall program runs through a school this term. Open classes are listed the moment they exist.
Fayerweather Street School
Cambridge · After-school enrichment
Fall term, underway
Enroll through the school
The Park School
Brookline · After-school enrichment, three days a week
Tuesdays K–2 · Wednesdays grade 5 · Fridays grades 3 and 4
Enroll through the school
Meadowbrook School
Weston · After-school enrichment
Fall term, underway
Enroll through the school
Dedham Country Day School
Dedham · After-school enrichment
Fall term, from October 13
Enroll through the school
Don't see your class?
Two ways to get one.
Opens a short note you can send to your enrichment director.
Tell us where you are and we write when a class opens near you.
Questions
Common questions
Grades K–5. The curriculum is always fit to the age group. Some groups are mixed-age and some are grouped by grade, and our staff are trained for the ages they work with.
Not at all. We love a class full of kids with all kinds of experience. We meet every kid where they are and help them grow and build confidence. No experience needed.
We love being outside, and our program thrives in nature. Send kids dressed for the weather, the way you would for recess. In extreme or unsafe conditions, we will stay inside.
All program materials are provided by Fire & Knives. Kids just need closed-toe shoes, layers for the weather, and a willingness to try something new.
Tuition varies by program and town, and is listed with each open class. School-based programs are billed through the school.
Build Fire & Knives in your community.
We have just begun franchising and are growing deliberately, prioritizing teachers, coaches, firefighters, outdoor educators, and military veterans.