How did we begin Elements Forest and Garden School? It came for the deep wish to bring art, science, spirit and nature together.
Children need to feel wonder with the world – and all too often, wonder was being taken out at too young an age. The other thing they needed was to be in nature. Whether it was at the top of a mountain or by the lough shore, nature and children belong together.
This connection has been shown to not only be good physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. And since children will be the custodians of the planet – we look after it for each successive generation – they needed to know and love it.
There was also the intuition that everything around us is alive and we are in partnership with it. So… we decided that we would ensure that this understanding and respect for the seen and unseen and everything in between would be an important part of our sessions. That it would be filled with world literature, traditions and activities which were nonetheless deeply rooted in the immediate place around us.
So our sessions will always include deep play. But in addition to that we will have seasonal stories which are never dumbed down. We will have activities which speak to the soul. We will learn skills without realising we have done so. We will always bear the cosmos in mind and our wider responsiblity to the world.
And we believe we can do this one child, one forest school session at a time. It does sound overly worthy but those were the reasons… however this does not mean that it won’t be fun. Because that’s what it is all about, fun. And I promise, they won’t even realise they are learning.
The thing about wonder is that it keeps us interested in the world… and it then inspires us to do something about it – and for it. And so we come full circle… Elements Forest and Garden School. We hope you’ll be able to join us.
