Despite all the research showing that it is good for children to spend time playing outside, children are spending more and more time indoors than ever before.
It seems concerns over the danger of climbing trees or getting lost are making the parents nervous about allowing their children to engage in risky outdoor play.
But research, on the other hand, suggests that this very element of outdoor play has significant benefits for children and can help to develop their emotional resilience.
Schools in the last decade and a half, have started to recognise the importance of outdoor time for children—resulting in the development of programmes that take learning outside the classroom. Forest School is one such programme that has been gaining popularity over recent years.
What is a Forest School?
Forest School is an outdoor education delivery model in which students visit natural space to learn personal, social and technical skills. It is seen as a way of getting children outdoors, in touch with nature and away from their phones and computers.
The concept was inherited from Scandinavian outdoor kindergarten lessons and has grown in the UK into a distinct approach to teaching and learning. The lessons are imparted outdoors, usually in wooded areas and are learner-centred and play-based.
During Forest School, children and young people are provided with opportunities to explore the natural environment, experience appropriate risk and challenge and direct their own learning. For both pupil and teachers, Forest School is an opportunity to move away from the monotony of classroom learning and instead engage in hands-on, self-directed learning.
This enables the children to develop other skills beyond the academic—including negotiation, resilience and independence. All of which prepares them for later life, while helping them to harness a love of the great outdoors from an early age.
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