by Juliette Lloyd, writer and mum.
I’m a copywriter, copy editor, children’s writer and, most importantly, a mum. My daughter has been attending our local forest school since she was two-years-old.
Here, I explore the reasons why I believe forest school to be the pinnacle of early education.
There’s a wealth of information and research espousing the benefits of forest school, from communication and social skills to physical development and confidence building. In our ‘safety first’ culture, forest school nurtures problem-solving, and encourages free exploration through carefully managed risk-taking. The Scandinavian import has taken the UK education system by storm, and many mainstream schools are now providing learning-in-nature sessions.
But there are aspects of forest school that are often overlooked in the research and literature, perhaps due to their ethereal and unquantifiable nature…
Imagination.
Wonderment.
Bringing children’s stories to life.
And, in my opinion, these are some of the most valuable contributions that forest school has made to my daughter’s development.
I’m a children’s writer, and these soft outcomes are of particular interest to me. Picture books are a staple of early years education and parenting. They’re my passion and my obsession. But how does an educator with limited time, resources, and support, make the magic of a picture book pop from the pages?
I was recently privileged to witness such skill in what I consider to be the gold standard of early years education, when the book Tell Me a Dragon, by the wonderful Jackie Morris, inspired a session of storytelling, crafts, and childhood awe.
Going on a dragon hunt!
The session began in the usual way, with the welcome song and the all-important safety measures.
Then Esther, the forest school leader, took the children on a thrilling hunt through the woods.
She told them that she’d found a nest.
And in the nest was an egg.
A huge egg.
A golden egg.
Laid by….
…A DRAGON!
The children, some scouring the treeline for the mummy dragon, followed Esther to a circle of moss and foliage, where the mystical egg (a painted melon!) was nestled.
Was it still warm? Could they hear the mummy dragon through the swishing of the trees? Would she come back to protect her offspring? Some of the children were wary, and some needed to find out more.
The golden dragon’s egg in its nest!
They returned to the outdoor classroom area, and Esther read the book to a rapt audience. She ensured that each child had the chance to absorb the exquisite illustrations on every page.
Onto the crafts. The little explorers used air-dry clay, seeds, pulses, and grains to make their very own dragon eggs. Later, snacks were toasted on the campfire (which my daughter thought had been obligingly lit by a fire dragon) and were washed down with hot chocolate.
Kneading clay to make a dragon egg
My daughter took her egg home and declared that it belonged to an underwater dragon. Out came the craft supplies. She painted her egg metallic green and bejewelled it with sparkly bits. We made a nest in her sensory tray, with shells, stones, sea creatures and mermaids. It became the focus of various small-world scenarios that dominated her imaginative play for hours at a time.
Three days later, she was finally ready to move on to ventures new, with a cache of wonderful memories and an enduring love for Morris’s enchanting book.
We’ve read hundreds of picture books. But my daughter didn’t just read Tell Me a Dragon. She lived it. She was submerged in the smells and sounds of a forest dragon’s lair. She felt the fiery heat of a dragon’s breath and harnessed it to toast a marshmallow. She created. She kneaded and painted and glued. When she slept, she had exhilerating dreams about it. She embellished the story until it became her own; surely the greatest compliment a children’s author can receive.
The completed underwater diorama with sea creatures and mermaids
Yes, it’s a wonderful book, but it could so easily have been read, enjoyed, and then simply put back on a shelf. The onus is on us, as adult picture book facilitators, to help stories lift from their pages and take our little ones on an emotional and sensory journey. And that’s where forest school excels.
Unconstrained by walls, and the formalities and limitations of traditional classrooms, forest schools benefit from a wealth of natural resources. In a truly child-led fashion, outdoor education is uniquely placed to allow children to move freely, make noise, get messy, and immerse themselves completely in multi-sensory storytelling experiences.
As more mainstream school settings adopt the principles of learning in nature, I hope that it’s more than a tokenistic nod to the trend. Anyone wishing to up their storytelling game couldn’t do better than to emulate the inspired five-senses approach offered by Esther, and her team, at Inside Out Forest School.
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