Here are a few thoughts after ten years of Forest School… yes I started teaching Forest School in 2012…
Well, my thoughts… what always inspired me was the wish to have children understand and be connected with nature. Yes, true it was about how nature was great for children. How nature was important to us. How they are the future and therefore they are entrusted to nature. And from the very start to was always linked to the unseen beings, the invisible law of physics or pharies, you choose, that surrounded us. Always.
The most important thing though – along with working with all of nature – was bringing this joy, this constancy of love. If the activities were overprescribed and joyless, then it would defeat the purpose.
So Forest School would always be a place of learning, yes, but also magic and play…
Fast forward ten years… that’s ten years of being a Waldorf teacher, ten years of Forest School, two years of Covid, two years of starting our own social enterprise… and here we are…
Here are the top 5 things I have learnt as an outdoor teaching practitioner:
- Plan, plan, plan with the children and the activities in mind.
- Have everything at hand.
- Health and safety of course, but also boundaries they can explore and grow into.
- Always read the children – see where they are and what they need.
- Have fun with it! Make sure that there is always space for fun.
It has been a wonderful 10 years and with any luck there will be another 10 to go! Thank you everyone who has helped along the way.