Gaia Passages
Jan 2024: Gaia Passages is not running any programming currently
Gaia Passages: Nature and Soul Based Programs for Youth
Gaia Passages offers earth and soul based youth groups and summer camps that support youth in grades 2 and up for the journey from childhood to adolescence. Activities include nature connection, crafts and skills, emotional intelligence, improvisational theatre, an intergenerational community, and a supported rite of passage – all helping to grow your child into a confident and thriving young adult. Parent-child connection is woven in as well. Gaia Passages is a thriving village of other youth, guides, and caregivers and elders.
Parent Q&A
Parent Reviews
Parents, please Sign in to post a review on this page.Gaia Girls has been a wonderful experience for my daughter; I don’t know how we would get through adolescence without it. She is part of a group that meets throughout the year, and we now plan our summers around Gaia Girls summer camp. The aunties are consistently wonderful, and they have managed to foster genuinely positive and supportive groups of girls. This is such a welcome respite from the social dynamics my daughter faces at school! She is learning to take care of and value herself, as well as how to make healthy connections with others. Both the camp and the groups are a great mix of offering her the chance to be independent but also making time for us to bond with each other. We are big fans and very grateful for Gaia Girls.
We love Gaia Girls to the moon and back! If you have a daughter this is a not to be missed after school program & summer camp! The structure of the program is simply beautiful and holds girls and their moms/caregivers in such a unique and stunning way. With attention to the psycho-social/emotional pulse of girls growing up in today's world and the fostering of connection to the earth, ancient wisdom, and community connection.. it just doesn't get better than Gaia Girls. Being part of the Gaia Girls community not only supports my girls with strengthening all the beautiful parts of who they are but, I believe, also supports a needed shift in our world with how we connect to one another and the world around us. I can not speak highly enough about how Gaia Girls has impacted our lives. A universe of stars to you Gaia Girls.. thank you for all the ways you have moved our the souls!
Our family made a cross-country move to the East Bay area a little over a year ago and our daughter (who is now 11) started at a new school. It was a tough year of transition which included some challenging social dynamics with other girls in her class. Our daughter was really missing her old friends and then I saw a flyer for Gaia Girls Passages posted at her school and thought, this is it! Joining Gaia Girls has been absolutely essential for our daughter to finding a fun and emotionally safe space to create new relationships with other girls and to get back in touch with her sense of self again. It has also given our whole family a renewed connection to the Earth and to a caring, welcoming community who have really brought us home to living in California. Gaia Girls provides Moms with the village of support that it takes to raise our girls in a holistic, nurturing way so they can develop a healthy sense of self as well as connected relationships with family, friends, and this beautiful planet. I highly recommend Gaia Girls programs and to either call Sarai Shapiro, the founder of Gaia Girls Passages, to ask questions or come to an open house (dates are listed on the website)!
Gaia Girls after school program has been very important for my 10 year old daughter. In an age where media, materialism and unhealthy views of "perfect" in girls and women, I know that something very rooted to nature, the seasons and other women and girls is being nurtured in my girl. I trust that this bed of knowledge and intuition is helping to shape health in her as she navigates the complexities of this world. I highly recommend Gaia Girls!
Gaia Girls Yearlong Program and Camps: Gaia Girls is a remarkable program that is at once magical, meaningful and empowering. Girls get to be fully themselves in their bodies, hearts and minds while building kind and supportive relationships. Our daughter (age 10) comes home every time after Gaia Girls bursting with joy and excitement, often singing, and simply so happy...truly a highlight of her week. This type of safe and supportive community of other girls is essential to growing confident teenagers. They get to express themselves, share their passions, play and bring forth their full voices while caring and learning about the earth, crafts, nature traditions, and so much more. Gaia Girls also has a close community for the girls of aunties and mothers that support our daughters growth, changes, and curiosities as they move through the pre-teen and teen years which adds an incredible dimension to the program. Sarai is a brilliant and masterful teacher and leader and she has an exceptional group of other women who lead these programs. They are extremely solid and knowledgeable and understand the importance of creating a safe place for girls to thrive. We feel so lucky to have found this program and highly recommend it!
My daughter (age 8) has been loving Gaia Girls! Sarai and the other facilitators are down-to-earth, knowledgable, and dedicated, as well as fun and highly gifted in their work, and really get how to connect with the girls and facilitate their connection with each other, nature, moms, etc. I have seen my daughter grow in very beautiful ways in her experience with Gaia Girls. I feel that Gaia Girls has encouraged her to deepen in her relationship with the earth and she is just loving it-- you can really see her spirit just delighting and expanding with it. They do amazing crafts, explorations, games, fire making, singing, communication learning…. I highly recommend it!
Hello, we did Gaia Girls last summer and fall and will be continuing this spring. It offers a unique, laughter-filled blend of really solid nature skills and interpersonal development for young girls. In a time where a lot of our girls are exposed to a competitive, surface-oriented culture, Gaia girls offers a fun, grounded experience for girls that helps them interact in really positive ways. In addition to the East Bay meetings during the school year, there is a beautiful camp in the Santa Cruz mountains that is great to visit. The camp is structured such that the moms join the girls at the camp for the last three days. Sarai the director is great with young girls, and clearly loves exposing them to her unique, gentle blend of nature and personal development. Another aspect of the program revolves around supporting moms as our daughters move towards adolescence. I was initially concerned that Gaia girls would have an element of ‘taking girls away’ from their moms, but that is not at all the case. There is a strong emphasis on helping girls reconnect with their moms in loving ways as they mature. Please feel free to contact them with questions—it is a small enough organization that there is plenty of room for communication. If you're interested but have a particular point that is sticky for you, I encourage you to call and inquire. Here to healthy development for all of our girls!
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