Mama Beech

When it comes to providing activities and experiences in Forest School we try hard to stick to things that we COULDN'T do inside. This isn't a hard and fast rule, but it is guidance. Taking lots of equipment outdoors doesn't feel child led, nor does it feel too much like Forest School. There will always be information to access and equipment to support exploring, but beyond reference books and sheets, magnifiers, binoculars, and bug pots very little is a staple.  Tools are available, that can just be yarn and scissors, peelers, palm drills, or something that needs much closer supervision. There are digging areas and mudkitchens on each site, swings, and platforms, as well as access to climbing.  We do offer opportunities to weave, tie knots, create a nature table, and plant. We may suggest den building or hide and seek. We will respond to requests for litter-pickers, or pond dipping, or whatever activity on site we can accommodate, with support and with equipment. When a ch...

We have a lot of visitors at Forest School.  Plenty are of the feathered and furred variety, and the children love meeting them! But, we also have lots of people coming and going. This week (and next) we have a group of students on their Level 3 Forest School Leader Course. We team up with Forest School Learning Initiative a couple of times a year, we provide the space and the support tutoring, and FSLI provides almost twenty years of training experience on 3 continents, in several countries! It's great having students around as it's impossible NOT to view everything we do through their eyes as new and different! Which is always a great perspective! We also have some much smaller visitors in the form of children from the Nursery next door! Again, watching them need very few activities, and to just revel in the freedom of exploring for themselves is a timely reminder as to why we actually do this!  Last weekend we did a little visiting of our own and took the opportunity to me...