Rather than being constrained by the classroom, we believe that the natural world stimulates the children’s desire to learn and discover. Children who partake in the forest schools sessions are given the opportunity to learn about the natural environment, how to handle risks and to use their own initiative to solve problems and cooperate with others.

We have three forest school trained staff within the setting. Forest schooling enables us to take the children outside to follow their usual curriculum but in an outdoor context.

Activities are vast and varied – here are some examples of the kind of things we do:

• Bushcraft – shelter building, knot use, fire lighting and cooking, wild foods, whittling
• Woodland crafts – willow crafts, natural jewellery, weaving, natural dyes, traditional crafts
• Teambuilding and trust games – blindfold games, circle games, problem solving activities, team games
• Construction – shelter building, rafts, rope swings, tree houses, pulleys
• Wildlife conservation – tree planting, nest box construction, coppicing, fence/path building
• Imaginative activities – story telling, drama, role play, songs, mud kitchen
• Physical play – tree climbing, balancing, log dragging, digging
• Field Studies Activities – mini beast hunts, pond dipping, tree identification, bird watching, life cycle games
• Sensory Activities – games to do with colour, smell, sound, touch, blindfold games images.

I’m sure many of you have fond memories of doing these activities yourselves as children – we are excited about being able to teach the curriculum and extend the children’s learning in such a fun and inspiring way.

If you would like more information about forest schools, these are good websites to take a look at:
www.forestschools.com
www.forestschoolassociation.org