Forest school Primary school
Play-based nature experiences to support children in Primary Education
These sessions are play-based experiences that support children on their journey, raising confidence and self-esteem, supporting communication, building relationships with other children and helping them to understand and manage their own emotions.
Turn taking and listening skills will be nurtured using games, playing together and through reflections at the end of each session. As the children progress, we encourage teamwork and critical thinking.
The programme will be unique to each group, with a flexible approach that is facilitated to support the needs and interests of the children. Patterns of play will be identified early on in the programme, with experiences offered to support and develop children’s learning through their preferred learning styles.
- Mud kitchen play
- Imaginative play with sticks
- Loose parts play
- Climbing & making a swing
- Den building
- Mixing ingredients for campfire cooking
- Learning how to light, manage and extinguish a fire safely
- Problem-solving team challenges
- Making woodland crafts
- Using simple tools e.g. bow saw / hand-drill
- Exploration and wild play
- Nature art
- Mixing ingredients for campfire cooking
- Making rafts on our river using our knots
There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.
Our Forest activity sessions run in all weathers (the only weather that may put a stop to sessions are lightening and extremely high wind).
To have a positive experience, children need to be dressed appropriately, so old, inexpensive clothes are most suitable.
These guidelines should help:
- Waterproof Jacket & Trousers
- All-in-one waterproofs are very useful, especially for younger children.
- Layers – more in winter (2 isn’t enough!)
- Long trousers (to avoid stinging nettles and scratching hazards)
- Wellies/other waterproof boots/strong shoes/trainers suitable for all seasons.
- Woolly hat, gloves & scarf
- Sun hat (in summer/sunny weather)
We have a duty of care for your child and we make every attempt to ensure that they are dressed appropriately (using spare resources where possible). However, we will not be able to take children if they are inadequately dressed.
Testimonial
"GoWild Outdoors have been instrumental in introducing our school to forest schools activities. They have worked with us to develop a great offer for our children, and straightaway we began to see the benefits."
"Debbie, our forest schools leader, has developed great relationships with the kids, and we get really good admin support from Danielle too.
"We use GoWild Outdoors for class forest schools sessions, a weekly therapeutic session for children with SEND and weekly sessions for our Reception class. Debbie also runs an after-school club.
"Our children and staff absolutely love the sessions, and we have had excellent feedback from parents. We have seen that children who find it hard to be engaged in the classroom really shine in forest school sessions, and that children who don't have any outdoor space at home have really benefited from them too."
Allie Hopkinson, HeadteacherBurley St Matthias CE Primary School
Want to know more?
Get in touch now, and find out how forest school can allow your young learners to connect with the outdoors and develop a sense of belonging and stewardship of their local landscape.
Prices
Please contact us to discuss your requirements, and we will provide a bespoke quote based on your information.
Location
We can run forest school sessions throughout the UK to cater to your business, but our main base is in Yorkshire.
What to bring
Come prepared for a day outside! Ideally wearing walking boots or wellies, and waterproofs.