GREAT OUTDOORS

Looking at the importance of Forest School at Treehouse Nursery Schools

It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men’s hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit… Robert Louis Stevenson Forest School is not a physical building, but an ethos at Treehouse Nursery Schools, Wanstead, where children get to spend their time in the forest for most of the day. Children learn through play, but there are no traditional ‘toys’ as such, instead they have sticks, seed pods, grasses, and plants to use as they explore and adventure through their environment. Children get to eat their lunch surrounded by the leafy grounds and trees. Their Forest School leaders and facilitators bring simple resources like paint brushes, plant pots and spoons, but a child’s imagination will always fill any gaps, allowing them to create situations, carry out experiments, take part in role play or verbally write stories – they are experts of invention.

It is a di erent experience from an indoor setting as children have to learn to cope with di erences and challenges that they might not experience otherwise. Perhaps it’s the unevenness of the ground underfoot, maybe there are changes in temperature or that their hands might get dirt on them. All these things can be extraordinary or demanding, but ultimately they can inspire and delight – purely through being out of the ordinary.

These processes prepare children for school and life in general, where not everything is predictable, where sometimes ‘things just happen’. It fosters high levels of confidence and resilience and shows the children things that are simply not possible indoor:

• The natural changing ‘ceiling’ of the sky;

• Birds flying overhead;

• Having the space to try out more physical activities, such as throwing techniques; treehousenurseries.com

• Talking about the change of seasons and then creating objects that reflect this while being surrounded by the natural world.

If Forest School had to be explained, one of the best ways to do it is by considering the humble stick. A stick can be a musical instrument, a magic wand, a measuring stick, a paint brush, an arrow, a pen or a living creature.

Forest School puts no barriers up against learning, exploring or teaching – it is limitless.