Program Name

Outdoor Kids OT Groups

Organization

Program Description

Therapy groups designed with intention, connection, and your child in mind.

Through intentionally-planned therapeutic outdoor activities with other kids, your child will build creative problem-solving and have supported play experiences to develop social-emotional skills for real life. Children never know it's therapy... they just think it's FUN!

Registration includes participation in a weekly, 90-minute outdoor group. Groups are capped at 6 kids with at least 2 adults (1 therapist plus 1-2 group assistants) so every child receives focused support during group. Package includes an initial Occupational Therapy group assessment, collaborative goal setting, on-site consultation, weekly group video recaps, private parent consult calls, and personalized progress reports at the end of each semester.

An Outdoor Kids OT Group might be a good fit if your child is struggling to:

Regulate their emotions and sensory responses; your child often feels overwhelmed or unable to self-regulate in group settings.
Navigate conflict; your child gets very upset if things don't go their way or when another child behaves in a way they dislike.
Play cooperatively with peers; they prefer to play alone, only want to play their own game, or struggle to collaborate with others.
Share and express ideas comfortably; they struggle to voice their thoughts or accept others' ideas during play.
Control impulses and respect personal space; it's hard for them to wait their turn, stay in control of their bodies, or give others the physical space they need.
Try new activities confidently; they show significant shyness or anxiety in group settings or when facing unfamiliar tasks

Guided by

The ConTiGO™ Approach

All OKOT therapists are Certified Nature-Based Pediatric Therapists™ with advanced training and ongoing mentoring in the ConTiGO (Connection & Transformation in the Great Outdoors) Approach™ - an evidence-based framework for best practice in pediatric nature-based therapy, developed by OKOT founder, Dr. Laura Park Figueroa.

CONNECTION: Humans are built for connection. Kids thrive with friends or family in therapy, not just a therapist. We include peers or caregivers to make sessions fun and help skills stick in daily life.
TRANSFORMATION: Evidence-based therapy in nature speeds progress. Our therapists partner with nature and YOU to help your child build skills and reach goals that matter to you, making daily life easier and more enjoyable for your family more quickly.
IN THE GREAT OUTDOORS: Nature boosts mood, attention, and health in ways indoor clinics can’t. Our outdoor setting ditches the clinical vibe, so therapy feels normal, not stigmatizing, while sparking joy and growth. Being outdoors inspires children’s internal drive to explore, challenge their bodies, be creative, and have FUN while building skills.

2026-2027 Groups

Mondays 3:45 - 5:30 pm at Token Creek County Park (ages TBD)

Tuesdays 4:00 - 5:30 pm at Glen Oak Hills Park (ages TBD)

Wednesdays 4:00 - 5:30 pm at Glen Oak Hills Park (ages 7-9)

Thursdays 4:00 - 5:30 pm at Glen Oak Hills Park (ages 9-11)

Cost/Fees:

As a private pay practice, we can offer unique, family-centered services—like parent consultations and video updates—not covered by insurance. If you have out-of-network benefits, we provide superbills for reimbursement after payment. To keep care accessible, we allow families to pay for services in installments of smaller monthly payments over the course of the program. Scholarships are available for families in need.

If your family joins at the start of the school year, the monthly all-inclusive cost for our Wisconsin group therapy packages averages about $631-663/month. Groups held on different weekdays may also vary slightly based on session counts due to holidays. This monthly cost may be slightly higher if you join us mid-year (because there are more sessions in spring semester and fewer months over which to distribute payments.)

Financial Assistance:

Our non-profit, the Outdoor Kids Foundation, provides scholarships to families who need financial assistance for nature-based therapy services. Applications are first-come, first-served, and the board takes total yearly household income into consideration. We encourage families to apply each year, as financial situations change, and we hope to award more scholarships over time!

Families with a Health Savings Account (HSA) or Flexible Spending Account (FSA) can use those funds to help cover the cost of OT services! Since occupational therapy is a qualified medical expense, payments made through an HSA or FSA use pre-tax dollars — which can add up to meaningful savings over the year.

Registration Information:

Submit a free application: Group times, locations, and costs are listed on the application. You will rank groups in order of preference when you apply. On the application, you’ll also share a little bit about your child’s strengths and challenges and the goals you have for their participation in the group.

Confirm your child’s spot: After reviewing applications and forming groups, we notify families. Spring applicants for fall hear about placement or waitlist status by late May, with 72 hours to accept and pay a deposit. Mid-year applicants are notified ASAP as spots open.

Start the adventure! We’ll share the program schedule so you can update your weekly calendar and gear up for the adventure. It’ll be filled with fun, exploration, and growth!

Our Outdoor Kids OT groups run August to May. You can apply anytime. Applications for the next school year start in February, with spots filled ongoing until the group is full. Waitlists help us decide if we can add more groups, so don’t hesitate to apply! If no spot is available now, your application stays on the waitlist for your chosen groups, and we’ll email you if one opens up.

Registration Link

Services for Children with Disabilities:

Over the past 10 years, our groups have benefitted a wide range of children including those with ADHD, Autism, Anxiety, Sensory Processing Disorder, Motor skill challenges, or Social-emotional challenges.

Many children in our programs have no diagnosis at all but just need time to work on skills … just like adults might go to the gym to get stronger or take classes to learn new skills. While our groups focus on building social-emotional skills, we also work on a range of important skills like sensory processing, executive functioning, and motor skills.

We do require that children are able to function with a 1:2 adult-to-child ratio to be in the group. They must be able to stay with the group in the woods and maintain personal safety with an adult nearby but NOT always within arm’s reach. Children receiving group OT cannot endanger the safety or compromise the therapy of other children in the group.

Last Updated:

Friday, April 24, 2026 - 11:34am

Program Logo

Locations:

Glen Oak Hills Park

Token Creek County Park

Program Locations:

Glen Oak Hills Park,

301 Glen Highway

Madison , WI 53705

Directions

Bus

Token Creek County Park,

6200 Williamsburg Way

DeForest , WI 53532

Directions

Bus

Website:

https://www.outdoorkidsot.com/group

Contact:

Outdoor Kids OT

Contact Phone

(510) 431-8114

Contact Email

support@outdoorkidsot.com

Quick Details:

Grades/Ages Served:

Kindergarten (ages 5 to 6),

Grade 1 (ages 6 to 7),

Grade 2 (ages 7 to 8),

Grade 3 (ages 8 to 9),

Grade 4 (ages 9 to 10),

Grade 5 (ages 10 to 11),

Grade 6 (ages 11 to 12)

Time of Day Offered:

After School,

Evening

Time of Year Offered:

Fall,

Winter,

Spring,

School Year

Day(s) of Week Offered:

Monday,

Tuesday,

Wednesday,

Thursday

Program Type:

Life Skills & Social Emotional Development,

Recreation / Physical Activity

Free Program:

Financial Assistance Available:

Yes

Registration Required:

Yes

ADA Accessible Location(s):

Services for Children with Disabilities:

Yes

Transportation Provided:

Bilingual Services: