What is Forest School for Children?

Children have the opportunity to learn so much outdoors and there are a range of mental and physical health benefits that it can bring. This can help with their performance at school which is why many schools have adopted outdoor learning methods and branded themselves “forest schools”.

 

We spoke with one, known as Reflection Nurseries, to learn more about how they operate and their benefits.

 

Happier Children

It was found in a study that children who spend more time outdoors are happier and less anxious than those who don’t. This is thought to be due to colour psychology as the colour green is calming. 

 

Physical Activity

Outdoor environments are also less restrictive which means that children can roam around freely and explore. This can help them where their physical health is concerned as they can move around as opposed to being immobile. Classrooms in comparison are confined which means that there are fewer activities that they can engage in. 

 

Gross Motor Skills

Some of these activities include jumping, climbing, and running which all exercise what are known as gross motor skills. They concern physical strength and are just important to develop as fine motor skills.

 

Kinaesthetic Learners

Children are all unique and so is the way that they learn. This can be categorised by the 3 learning styles which are visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic. The latter involves learning through interactive, hands-on means which outdoor learning caters to perfectly. 

 

Building Stronger Relationships

As a part of an outdoor lesson, children may be put into groups to explore and document what they can see. This gives them the opportunity to build team working skills and strong relationships with their peers and teachers on tasks.

 

We hope that this post was informative and taught you some interesting facts about forest schools. For more parenting advice, why not take a look at our blog archive where you can find more posts just like this? 

 

*Photo via Pexels

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