Access to nature case study

Forest School at King Square Community Nursery, Islington

Goals

Give our children access to the natural environment. Many of our parents and children live in flats and do not get the benefits of garden areas.

What we did

• as early as 2015 we were taking our children on local trips to forests/green areas
• signed up for seasonal sessions at Barnsbury woods
• took public buses so the children had enough energy to explore the woods
• extended forest experiences in weekly visits to local parks
• planned activities based on the children's interests, skills and seasonal changes - for example, building a bird's nest

We also

• invited parents to join us
• created a mud kitchen in the garden area

Results

• calming effect on the children when exploring the natural environment
• increase in physical activity by the children - both in the nursery and out with parents
• the children are more in touch with nature and their surroundings, and are learning skills like tying knots, making dens, handling tools and using twigs to write in the mud
• families are making use of wild spaces and have been visiting these over the weekends and holidays
• a new opportunity to improve the childrens' social, communication and physical skills

Next steps

We found that by using cameras in Epping forest, the children were more engaged and focused on what they were finding. The parents were given prompt sheets with questions/key words for them to use on the hunt. The children were encouraged to use all of their senses to describe the objects that they had found.