Every Wednesday, Katie Sarbacker sets up with crafting material in preparation for a bustling morning of flowers, dirt, glue sticks and little laughter.

This is Adventure Brews Play Haven, a local nature-themed kids activity group that hopes to soon expand to a physical location.

Sarbacker came up to Greer from Columbia with her husband Carl in 2013. After having their son Arlo in 2021, the couple wanted to start something that could serve as a resource for parents in the area.

“Our sole purpose is to create a village for families with nature aspects to it,” Sarbacker said. “We basically took all the things we had hoped to find as new parents and decided just to create it ourselves.”

The ultimate goal for Adventure Brews is to have a physical location with an indoor café, an indoor and outdoor play area and classroom space. Sarbacker says that they aren’t waiting around until then, though. Currently, Adventure Brews offers several opportunities, including family hikes, mom meet-ups and their popular Little Explorers Class. 

The Little Explorers Class is a parent-involved class that allows children to learn about nature in a hands-on way. Recently, Adventure Brews Play Haven partnered with the City of Greer to host these at the Tryon Recreation Center.

“My favorite part about these classes is that kids get to have structure, but express themselves more than they would in a traditional class setting,” Sarbacker said. “They don't have to sit in a chair and be quiet for 45 minutes while they learn about something. They're able to share their thoughts, to talk about the things that are important to them, and then they get to explore to the extent that they feel comfortable.”

The class has been so popular that Sarbacker has added an additional time slot. There was also a demand for the Little Explorers class, which is for 2.5-6 year olds, to be offered to younger children. 

Because of this demand, just a few days ago, Adventure Brews announced the start of “Little Sprouts” — a Little Explorers program for kids ages two-and-a-half and younger. The eight-week program will offer a free demo class on Oct. 1 for families who want to try it out.

The inspiration for Adventure Brews came out of Sarbacker’s own experience of having her son.

Sarbacker’s son Arlo was born three months early in the NICU following complications with the pregnancy. At the time, COVID-19 restrictions were still heavily imposed in medical buildings, limiting the access Sarbacker and her family had to community support in a time of need.

“It was really hard to be living in a bubble where the world is still going and you're just kind of at a standstill,” Sarbacker said. “You’re in your own little world and you don’t have other moms who are going through that.”

She continued: “Having that feeling of ‘it's not just you,’ it just makes such a huge difference.”

Following the birth of Arlo, now a healthy and happy four-year-old, Sarbacker said that nature acted as a great aid in the healing process. For this reason, she makes sure to tie in nature to Adventure Brews’ lessons, all while providing parents in the area with a community they can count on.

“Our whole identity is on being a service to families and giving them the support and knowledge that they need,” Sarbacker said. “Our building is our dream, but we're not just sitting idle until that day happens. 
We want to be doing our part in the community.”

For more information on Adventure Brews Play Haven or their classes, visit their website.

Follow Breanna Laws on X @GreerByBreanna