Join the Team

Our team is made up of lead teachers, paid assistants, parent volunteers and student interns. We are always on the look-out for people who are passionate about play and who love to be outdoors in all weather. We have three main ways you can join the team. 

Join Our Core Teaching Team

We are always open to hearing from people who are interested in pursuing work with us. If we don’t have an opening now, we may soon so please reach out to connect with us about your interest. 

Become a Parent Volunteer

For some programs and program days, we have parent volunteers that support our Core Teaching Team. These are parents whose child is attending the program that day and wants to be a Teaching Assistant  for the program. Their child receives free tuition to the program. This setup is dependent on many factors - the needs of and fit with the Core Teaching Team for the program/program day (we have at most one parent volunteer per program day), the dynamic of the parent and child attending the program and more. If you are interested in discussing the possibility of becoming a parent volunteer, please contact us here.   

Join us for your Student Field Work Internship

We offer Level II Fieldwork placements for occupational therapy students all year round. Field Work students become part of the Core Teaching Team during their 12-week placement.. We work closely with our students to help them deepen their understanding of child development and the significance of the occupation of play.  Our goal is to help our students grow as OTs and explore what they’re interested in. Our founder Beth provides direct one-on-one support, has a completely open door policy for questions and growth opportunities and endeavors to help students feel like part of the team. We deeply value our OT students and also place a lot of importance on supporting them on their journeys. We can tailor their time with us to their interests - focusing more on child development, working outdoors year-round or the business side of our work.

Doing a Fieldwork Placement with us is great for any OT student who is curious about non-traditional, wellness-based, health-promoting programs, and anyone interested in OT that is proactive rather than reactive (setting clients up for success instead of treating a “problem”).

As an Intern, you will develop:

  • A thorough understanding of the impacts and benefits of play on children’s lives and development. It is one of the primary occupations of children. 

  • A deeper understanding of the developmental stages of children by taking what you have learned in the textbooks and experiencing it in the real world. 

  • A better appreciation of why the outdoors is such an essential environment for children who are developing skills and whose growing bodies and brains need a rich source of  sensation and opportunities for different kinds of movement.  

We are always open to other forms of internship or professional development outside of the Level II Fieldwork Placement structure. If you’re interested in joining us, contact us.

Don’t take our word for it, here is what a Field Work Intern had to say about working with us:

“In 2023, I spent a semester at TimberNook as a Level II OT fieldwork student. What that experience gave me—and continues to give me—is a way of thinking. Working with children in nature helped me develop a deep appreciation for the power of play, particularly nature-based and child-led play. I came to understand the importance of risk-taking, problem-solving, and imagination in childhood development. TimberNook pushed me to think creatively and foundationally about the nervous system, sensory integration, and how children engage with their bodies and surroundings.

One moment I often reflect on involved a child who climbed a tree and transformed it into a “power line” to support the make-believe town that the group of children was building. That moment was so much more than pretend play: it was social-emotional growth, bilateral coordination, sensory integration, and executive functioning all in action. He was solving a problem, contributing to a larger purpose, and moving with both purpose and creativity. Learning to see play through this layered, therapeutic lens has stayed with me.

Now, as a school-based occupational therapist with over a year and a half of experience, TimberNook continues to serve as a foundational framework in my practice. I support students with IEPs and varying needs to access their education in meaningful ways. When I’m presented with a challenge or need to problem-solve through a student’s behavior or difficulty, I often return to the same mindset I used when analyzing that child climbing the ladder to build the “power line.” I look at the process, the functional components, and the deeper meaning behind the task. I encourage my students to take risks and learn through doing. While I can’t always take them outside to climb trees, the way I observe, analyze, and support their engagement is deeply informed by the lessons I learned at TimberNook.”