A return to the child.
A return to play.
A return to nature.
A return to community.
Welcome
My name is Eleanor de Jager — experienced teacher, passionate playworker, and mother to two beautiful, bright children.
I welcome you to Homegrown Nature Play — a space created for my children, and for yours. Homegrown offers nature-based recreational play experiences where children and young people can explore, create, and connect in their own way, at their own pace.
Our sessions feel like a home away from home — safe, welcoming, and deeply respectful of each child’s whole being.
Rooted in playwork principles, our environments are thoughtfully curated to invite: freedom discovery creativity and genuine connection.
We honour children as capable, creative individuals with their own stories to tell. Our role is to hold space for play, not to instruct or direct it.
We observe, listen, and respond with care, allowing each child’s experience to unfold naturally.
At Homegrown, we value:
autonomy, emotional safety, physical exploration and the simple, powerful joy of play.
We protect children’s time, their agency, and their right to engage in meaningful outdoor experiences.
Homegrown is a recreational offering, not a childcare or education service. We provide opportunities for children and families to participate in nature-based play experiences, grounded in connection, community, and wellbeing.
Whether you’re joining us for regular sessions, casual play experiences, or home education enrichment, Homegrown is a place where: childhood is honoured families are welcomed as part of the community and the wild is given space to grow.
Homegrown Offerings
Homegrown Nature Play provides nature-based recreational play experiences for children, with a strong emphasis on nurturing the whole child. A child’s wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do.
Playgrow
Playgrow is a fortnightly, all-ages family playgroup (most suitable for birth to 10 years), designed as a shared experience for children and their parents or caregivers. Together, families enjoy a relaxed, unstructured morning of play and connection at our Homegrown play base, with space to explore, create, and build community in a natural environment.
Evergrow
Evergrow is a full-day nature play experience for children, grounded in child-led, playwork-informed practice. Our time is spent outdoors, with each day unfolding through freely chosen play, exploration, and connection with the natural environment. Children participate in a rich play environment supported by experienced playworkers, whose role is to: observe, respond and hold space for play rather than instruct, direct, or lead activities. Evergrow is offered as a recreational program, where the focus remains on play, connection, and wellbeing.
Wandergrow
Wandergrow is a mobile nature-based program for teenagers, designed for young people seeking adventure, connection, and a sense of belonging. Together, we journey to wild and natural spaces, engaging in a diverse range of hands-on outdoor experiences shaped by the environment and the group. Wandergrow offers opportunities for: exploration and adventure, practical, real-world skills connection to land and place, peer relationships and community. Supported by experienced playworkers, young people are invited to take ownership of their experience, contribute to the group, and engage in meaningful outdoor exploration.
Guiding Principles
Homegrown Nature Play
A place where childhood is not rushed.
Children are beautifully, uniquely, and wonderfully made.
In nature, they come alive — through movement, curiosity, risk, and wonder.
We believe meaning is not delivered, but discovered through whole-hearted play and lived experience.
Here, children lead. Play is trusted. Childhood is protected.
Children are not products to be measured, but souls to be set free to become who they are made to be.
-Ainsley Arment, Wild + Free
Join our community!
Sign up to be the first to know about our Homegrown offerings.