Forest school and nature preschool

1 Where it came from

In the UK, Forest School practitioners agreed six principles in 2011, and the Forest School Association formed in 2012 to support them. In North America, the Natural Start Alliance, a project of the North American Association for Environmental Education, defines nature preschools as programs that use nature as their organizing principle and aim at both child development and conservation. US counts of nature preschools differ widely by source and year, so we don't give one here.

2 The big ideas

• Nature is the classroom. Woods, fields, gardens and creeks are where learning happens, not a reward for finishing indoor work.
• Regular and long-term. UK Forest School is a long-term process of frequent, regular sessions in the same natural place, not a one-off trip.
• Supported risk. Children climb, balance, use tools and explore with risks matched to the setting and to each child, so they learn to judge danger for themselves.
• The learner leads. Sessions follow children's interests, with adults supporting rather than directing.
• Community. The group learns to look after each other and the place, building relationships along with skills.
• Trained adults. UK Forest School principles call for qualified practitioners to run sessions.

3 What a lesson looks like

A morning at a forest kindergarten: children arrive in waterproofs and boots and walk with their teachers to the same patch of woods they visit every day. At a log circle the group sings a greeting and talks about what they noticed on the way: frost on the puddle, a feather. Then they scatter. Two children dig at the stream edge to make a dam; a group balances along a fallen trunk, one teacher close but not holding hands; a four-year-old asks what made a hole in a tree and a teacher hands her a magnifying glass and a picture book of insects. Snack is outside around the circle. Before heading back, the children sort the sticks they collected by length, longest to shortest, and count them. Nobody needed a worksheet, but there was measuring, counting, new words, science and a lot of talking.

4 Reading and math

We found no forest-school or nature-preschool sequence for reading or math. Learning is built into outdoor activity: counting and sorting sticks, comparing lengths and weights, noticing shapes and patterns, new words for plants and animals, and stories told around a fire or circle. Families wanting systematic early phonics or counting should ask how a program covers them, or add short practice at home.

5 The adult's job

The adult chooses and checks the site, keeps children safe while letting them take sensible risks, follows and extends their interests, names what they find, and looks after the group's habits of caring for each other and the place. In UK Forest School, the practitioner is trained and qualified for the role.

6 How progress is checked

Practice varies by program, and we found no standard approach. Most programs watch and record what children do outdoors rather than test them.

7 Strengths and criticisms

8 What the research says

The best summary is a 2022 systematic review by Johnstone and colleagues of 36 studies of children aged 2 to 7 in nature-based early childhood programs. It found positive associations with self-regulation, social skills, social-emotional development and nature relatedness, but rated the certainty of that evidence as "very low", found inconsistent results for attention and other outcomes, and called for high-quality experimental studies. A companion review of physical health found associations with less sedentary time and better balance, but rated 28 of its 31 studies as weak. In short: the findings point in a good direction, but they come mostly from studies that cannot rule out other explanations, such as which families choose these programs.

9 How to try it

1. Pick one outdoor spot near home or school, and go back to it every week, ideally more often. The repeat visits are the point.
2. Dress for the weather so cold or rain doesn't end the session: waterproofs, boots, layers.
3. Let your child lead. Follow what they notice. Bring a magnifying glass, a bag for treasures and a field guide, not a lesson plan.
4. Allow small risks. Climbing a low tree or balancing on a log, with you close, teaches children to judge for themselves.
5. Count and sort what you find: leaves by shape, sticks by length, three kinds of bird. Then draw one thing in a nature journal at home.

10 Using Peabody with it

• AnimalsLook up the creature you found outside, briefly and together, after you come in; for this approach most of the learning should stay outdoors.
• STEM projects for kidsHands-on projects that can follow up an outdoor question; Peabody can't replace time outside, and it shouldn't try.
• Preschool themes with their booksSeason and nature themes with picture books to read after a day outdoors.

Peabody is free and has no ads. Pages on peabody.kids are for children; pages here are for the adults teaching them.

11 Programs that follow it

Programs and materials often named with this approach: UK Forest School (Forest School Association principles), nature-based preschools, forest kindergartens.