Come and sit by the fire
The Clearing
Where forest school practitioners gather: ideas to take into the woods, the people who run them, the trainers who teach them and the forest schools near you.
Good right now
All the ideas
Fire · Bonfire Night
Charcoal from the fire: woodland drawingMake your own charcoal in a biscuit tin on the embers, then draw with it: fire, chemistry and art in one session. A natural Bonfire Night pairing.
Craft · Halloween
Woodland wands and potionsHalloween the forest-school way: whittle-free wand decorating, then a potion station of mud, petals and 'eye of newt' (acorns) with incantations mandatory.Cooking · Harvest
Blackberry crumble on the firePick blackberries along the hedge, top them with a rubbed-in crumble mix, and bake it in a Dutch oven on the embers.
Fire · Bonfire Night
Popcorn over the fireCorn kernels in a lidded pan over the embers, and a ring of children waiting for the first pop. A quick win on a cold autumn day.
Nature · Autumn
Leaf mandalasBig collaborative land art from autumn's free art supplies: sort by colour, build outward from the centre, photograph from above before the wind takes it back.planned 1×Mud & water · Autumn
Puddle scienceChalk round a puddle and come back later to see how it has changed. Measure it, jump in it, float things on it.Forest school near you
209 independent forest schools and 67 trainers across the UK. Pick your area to see who's there, then your county and town.
- North East 8 forest schools · 3 trainers
- North West 17 forest schools · 5 trainers
- Yorkshire and the Humber 7 forest schools · 6 trainers
- East Midlands 15 forest schools · 4 trainers
- West Midlands 9 forest schools · 6 trainers
- East of England 36 forest schools · 7 trainers
- London 14 forest schools · 3 trainers
- South East 45 forest schools · 11 trainers
- South West 21 forest schools · 5 trainers
- Scotland 18 forest schools · 6 trainers
- Wales 11 forest schools · 6 trainers
- Northern Ireland 8 forest schools · 2 trainers
Run a forest school? Each one has its own page, free to claim, with your photos, your colours and a button straight to your bookings.
Practitioners
Find a practitionerRachel MonteathDirector BEING Outdoors CIC - Therapeutic Forest School LeaderHigh Peak, UK
Michelle EltisForest School Leader Level 3Saffron Walden, Essex
Rebecca DodmanPrinciple and Forest School LeaderHorringer, Suffolk
- Sarah AllingtonDirector Nature of Learning Forest School, Forest School practitioner and trianerSaffron Walden, Essex
Philippa EvansForest School Leader and Director of Seed + Root Nature School CICLlandeilo, Carmarthenshire
Take what you need, leave one behind
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