The Clearing

Activity ideas from forest school practitioners, free to take — each one ready to plan straight into a session, kit list and risk-benefit starting point included. Take what you need, leave one behind.

Good right now — July · summer

Nature · Spring Bug hotel buildingBuild a five-star minibeast hotel from pallets, bricks, pine cones and hollow stems — then survey the guests over the following weeks.the Forest School app team Craft · Summer Hapa zome leaf printingHammer-printing: fold flowers and leaves into cloth and tap — the pigments transfer as perfect prints. Loud, energetic, and the results look gallery-worthy.the Forest School app team Craft Clay woodland facesPress a handful of clay onto a tree trunk and sculpt a face for it — the fastest route into imaginative play there is, and every tree ends up with a personality.the Forest School app team Nature Journey sticksA stick becomes a map: children fasten a memento of each moment of the walk along it, then retell the journey from their stick — brilliant for language and memory.the Forest School app team Craft Elder bead jewelleryElder has a soft pith that pushes out to leave a perfect bead — saw, push, thread. A proper tool session with a wearable result children are hugely proud of.the Forest School app team Fire Campfire toasting sticksWhittle a green-wood toasting stick with a potato peeler, then use it the same session — marshmallows or bread twists over the embers. Tool work with an immediate, delicious purpose.the Forest School app team Bushcraft Den building challengeTeams get a tarp, rope and the woodland — build a shelter that keeps its crew dry through the watering-can rain test at the end.the Forest School app team Ropes & knots Square-lashed photo framesFour sticks, one meter of string and a square lashing at each corner — a real knot skill smuggled inside a craft, finished with a woven nature picture.the Forest School app team Ropes & knots Knot race relaysClove hitch, figure-of-eight, reef knot — taught once, then raced: first team to tie the course wins. Repetition without anyone noticing they're practising.the Forest School app team Games Blindfold string trailA rope wound through the trees becomes a trust walk: blindfolded children navigate hand-over-hand while a partner talks them round. Quiet, focused, surprisingly profound.the Forest School app team Mud & water Mud kitchen bake-offThe mud kitchen goes competitive: menus, mud pies with foraged 'sprinkles', and a judging panel with strong opinions about presentation.the Forest School app team Nature Sit spots and sound mapsFive minutes alone (in sight) with a card and a crayon: you are the X, mark every sound around you. The simplest mindfulness practice in the woods, and it works on every age.the Forest School app team Nature · Spring Pond dipping and frogspawn watchSpring's headline act: nets, trays and the annual frogspawn count, with a return visit to meet the tadpoles.the Forest School app team 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.the Forest School app team 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.the Forest School app team 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.the Forest School app team Fire · Winter Kelly kettle hot chocolateThe winter warmer ritual: children feed the kettle chimney with pencil-thin sticks, and the reward is a steaming cup on a cold morning. Winter sessions run on this.the Forest School app team Craft · Christmas Stick stars and cinnamon bundlesChristmas decorations that smell as good as they look: five-stick woven stars and cinnamon-stick bundles tied with garden twine — the take-home families actually keep.the Forest School app team Nature · Easter Bird nest building challengeCould YOU build a nest with only a beak? Pairs get 'beak rules' (finger and thumb only) and race the clock to build a nest that cradles a real egg. Perfect for spring and Easter.the Forest School app team Nature · Spring Wild garlic pestoApril's foraging classic: identify wild garlic by smell, harvest a leaf each, and pound a communal pesto for crackers. Foraging rules taught with an immediate reward.the Forest School app team

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