Glen Park Forest School Wild Skills and Bush Craft Club

11/09/2026

Weekly wins 🥇

It was so good to be in nature with home-ed yesterday. It was a full session. Over the next six weeks we are bringing something a little different. We are looking at the human body and similarities with nature - Nature vs Human. This week we bring you. Skeleton vs Tree Trunk. Did you know that a human skeleton and a tree trunk are quite similar in principle: both stay strong by continually renewing themselves and adapting to forces placed on them. But they do it in very different ways. I will leave that one to you to discover It's very interesting. On asking the children how we keep our bones strong I heard "food," "we need calcium" and "exercise", this is true. Strength exercising especially keeps our bones strong and forest school supports strength exercise by way of climbing trees, carrying logs and branches, jumping and landing, climbing ropes and scrambling and crawling and so much more. During the day I have enjoyed finding "Bob the skeleton" in precarious positions. I think the horse one was the best one for me🐴 🩻 I have enjoyed finding your tree and skeleton drawings and the big wooden skeleton you designed. We measured body parts, I couldn't find a tree exactly the same size as my head, go figure! 😄 The children enjoyed playing hammock games, mud painting, crochet (thank you for making me sit for 10 minutes and teaching me a new skill Izzy) They enjoyed tools. They did some research and played games in the Wild Skills Shed. I observed a weather man giving a weather update, which was humorous. A group of children found quite a few items of interest with the metal detector. There is so much going on throughout the day, energy is always high and engaged in individual interests or sometimes in each others. Brilliant first week back, thank you so much. See you next week 🩻🌳

11/09/2026

Weekly wins 🥇

We are back in the zone this week with Schools Monday. The children were all happy and full of energy This week the children are settling back in, reestablishing their play and learning styles in nature, they are now so used to how FS works they soon find their feet. This week they have enjoyed colour matching, searching for anything of interest and using tools to better understand them. Looking at seeds and what a seed can produce. Making small worlds, using sticks feathers and leaves. Den building, enjoying physical pursuits, ropes, swings. Lifting logs and building a fort. They have been enjoying some group whittling. I even threw in some Dinosaurs, because who doesn't like listening to children pronounce dinosaur names precisely! 🦖 It's also been nice hearing how much fun you all had during the holidays. You have given me lots of ideas to bring to future sessions this term. I will see you next week 🌰

09/09/2026

Glen Park Forest School and forest school overall have been offering risky play since it was introduced back in 97. A generation of us were raised climbing trees, playing hide and seek in the dark, engaging with wildlife, foraging, mud and nature and it's helped us navigate our way through life with gumption and less fear. No screens, limited TV, present parents. I find it sad that we have to push risky play as if it's a danger to life. When it's what every child needs in order for a healthy life. Great read! ☕

Showing appreciation for my tribe 👋💪💓

Risky play in the early years is one of the most important experiences children can have. Here's why it matters and what you can do encourage it.

09/09/2026

***NOTICE***

Good Wednesday vibes tribe 😄

The website has been updated. The parent page is available for viewing. Please let us know as soon as possible regarding home-ed family get together and numbers.

Any questions please reach out.

Enjoy your play
GPFS Team 🌳

07/09/2026

🎃 🍎 🍏 October Half-term Holiday Club 🍏 🍎 🎃

As they say, the early bird catches the worm 🪱. We are already taken bookings for our half-term holiday club. I will pin this for reference to what we have going on over the holidays.

Get in touch to book. Places are limited, when they are gone they're gone 👍

Enjoy your play
GPFS Team 🍂🍁

07/09/2026

Good Monday vibes woodland tribes 😄

It is now September, although it is still late summer we welcome our new season. With it we welcome back our awesome home-ed tribe and we rejoin with Schools Monday. The new season Autumn/Winter can be a particularly powerful season for building resilience and we are inspired and ready for it. We hope you are too! 👏

**Weekly Diary**

☀️ Schools Monday - Welcome back - Into the Woods Play Date

It's been a while since you have been out to Forest School. I know you will be excited to play and explore and get back into it. Today will be all about settling back in and reestablishing interests for the term. See you soon 👍

🦴 Thursday Wild Skills and Bush Craft Home-ed Club - Nature vs Human Week 1; Skeleton vs Tree Trunk

We are excited for this journey. This week we will begin our 6-week Nature vs Human journey by discovering similarities we have with nature, we begin with "skeleton vs tree trunk". Well you might ask what similarities do trees and human skeletons have? Well, both provide support, both have central structures, both branch out, both can repair damage, there are plenty more, can you find out and let me know?

This week children can get involved in

🦴 Exploring the human skeleton and discover how our bones support and protect us.
🌳 Investigate tree trunks, branches, bark and tree rings to see how trees support themselves.
🔎 Forage to look for strong and weak branches and investigate why some branches bend, break or stay strong.
📏 Measure the length and circumference of trees and compare their size with our own bodies.
🪵 Skeleton Scavenger hunt - Get creative and build stick skeletons using natural materials found on the woodland floor
🩻 Tree vs Skeleton battle (group game)

Question: If you were to give a tree an x-ray what do you think you would see inside? 🌳

As usual there will be other skills to get involved in; whittling, den building, tool use, nature kitchen, fire lighting, sewing and foraging.

Always looking forward ⏩

See you soon

Enjoy your play
GPFS Team 🌳

03/09/2026

Good Thursday vibes Tribe 🍂

Just a reminder that there is no Forest School today. We will be back under the canopy from the 10th September.

All updates for what's happening over the Autumn/Winter season will be on the parent page via the website by 10th September.

Enjoy your play
GPFS Team 💫

28/08/2026

Weekly Win and Reflection 🥇

The final week of the summer holidays and it was quite a wet day yesterday at Forest School. It was eerily dark and wet under the canopy due to it being so dull but the comfort of a fire made it really cozy, It was an experience in itself. I have never experienced it rain so hard in the woodland the energy from the rain coming down was quite something and the children noticed and were excited☔🌳👋 Our summer festival fun day was a complete wash out so meaning it was the perfect festival day. Instead of nature crowns, festival flags and bunting, the children collected litres of water from the tarps, built bridges and enjoyed umbrella games. There was a stream flowing through the woodland and the children were puddle jumping, they made a water flow station, we finally got to wash all the muddy pots from the mud kitchen. Water water everywhere. A group of children played board games, some also just chilled and enjoyed colouring and sewing in the learning shed. They really enjoy this space. Some of the children bought along their bikes for some cycling fun, cycling in the rain is SO MUCH fun. At FS rain becomes part of the environment rather than an obstacle to learning. A child completing lap after lap of a wet park isn't simply “cycling in bad weather its practising persistence, confidence, physical competence, judgement and self-belief. I think the children had done about 15 laps throughout the day. I heard a wonderful statement during laps, "I think I am starting to love the rain" 💥. It was a wonderful day of rain discoveries yesterday. The ground needed it and it was good to feel it. The children enjoyed making popcorn over the fire, hot chocolate and marshmallows I think they deserved a few fire cosy treats today. I just wish to say thank you to everyone's support over the summer holidays (it keeps us going and helps us to continue to build forward with this wonderful venture) behaviour has been spot on, children have yet again made new friends and core memories. Enjoy the rest of your holiday and see you after our break on the 10th September 🌳☔🚲💚

P.s we can't forget we found a little shrew in the box. I have not seen a shrew in years. Such a cute little thing 🐁

27/08/2026

"Always play in the rain like no one is watching!"

When I decided I wanted to get children outdoors I 100% committed to it. No matter how wet and cold it gets I will always show up. Rain, mud, puddles and freedom — away from screens and back to real childhood, life
should be felt, explored and remembered. My commitment is simple: to give children time, space and freedom to be children. This is Forest School. This is why I believe in it. Days like to days are where core memories are made! ❤️☔