Forest School for pre schoolers – wild learning for 3 years and up
Hares (Pre-school): Confident explorers engaging in deeper play and social learning.
As your child’s imagination and independence bloom, forest school offers the perfect environment to explore, experiment and expand their world. Each day at forest school encourages deep, meaningful play in nature, helping your preschool aged child build essential life skills and preparing for the transition to a traditional school setting.
Our children love their environment, and are encouraged to take ownership of their play spaces and show natural curiosity in all things alive and growing.
Three-year-olds are busy mastering social skills, refining their motor abilities, and learning how to think creatively. By this age, they will be supported to dress themselves, hang up their kit, and change their kit according to the weather on the day. Children are encouraged to take responsibility for handwashing, whilst knowing how and when to ask for support.
Why ages 3 and up is a key time for forest school children
We don’t like the saying “school ready”. It was introduced many years ago, to mean that schools were ready for the pupils rather than the other way around.
For this reason, we place plenty of emphasis on supporting transitions, inviting schools in to meet their next cohorts and working closely with you and your children to ensure everyone is happy. We share observations with you, to ensure that your child has a thorough transition report at the end of the academic year.
Whilst one of our goals is to ensure that our forest children develop the required skills to transition seamlessly into a traditional school setting, they often leave with much more.
By spending time in a sensory-rich environment working with natural resources, your child will leave with vital life skills, like how to behave and cook safely around an open fire, whilst developing a curiosity around food and where it comes from.
Other benefits include:
Transition support to traditional school system
Transition support to traditional school system
Risk awareness
Risk awareness
Friendship building
Friendship building
Confidence in themselves
Confidence in themselves
Curiosity
Curiosity
Emotional literacy
Emotional literacy
What to expect for your little one
Children this age love imaginative, hands-on experiences, and our days are packed with them. Your child might:
• Use real tools with close adult supervision: we say it’s the process not the product that counts
• Experience and explore both team work and independent work
• Get messy with mud kitchens, using clays and soils to create natural painting
• Travel through woodland adventures and make up stories to map and share at mealtimes
• Learn basic fire safety and learn to start the fire with an adult
• Understand about nutrition and how our bodies are fuelled whilst enjoying making food in the outdoor kitchen
• Have small responsibilities at mealtimes to support the younger children and opportunities to volunteer to support the adults with tasks.
• Get involved in the permaculture, planting and harvesting.
• Have conversations about our emotions and kindness
• Role play, dressing up, face-painting and music!
Each day is different at Forest School, and we try and use as much of our natural setting as possible. However, to get an idea of what an ‘average day’ might look like, click the link below.
“My little girl went to forest school for life from 10 months old until she started school. Now she can’t wait to go back in the holidays!”
– Zoe, parent
Next steps
It’s never too late to start with us! Get in touch to enquire about your child starting at Forest School For Life.