Forest school fire activities

Running fire activities well

Fire earns its place because it is genuinely risky and genuinely rewarding, and children rise to it. A child who has been trusted with a fire steel and a ball of cotton wool is a different child by the end of the term — not because they can light a fire, but because somebody let them.

The structure matters more than the spark. A settled circle, a clear rule about how you move around it, a kettle that means something good is coming, and one adult whose only job is the fire. Get that right and the lighting itself is almost incidental.

• One adult on fire, and only fire. It is not a job you do alongside the register.
• Circle, walk-round rule and water bucket before the first spark. Every single time.
• Fire steel before matches. It's slower, and the slowness is the point.
• Write the fire risk-benefit for your actual site — ground, canopy, wind line, and what's underfoot in August.