Forest School
The outdoors environment: where children can explore freely and learn outside!
The outdoor areas at Stepping Stones Montessori Nursery provide the perfect environment for outdoor learning and play. The children have access to the outdoors all day, every day, whatever the weather….and they LOVE it!
We have three outdoor areas; a secure gated courtyard which has an outdoor classroom, a large kitchen/shop role play area, construction, art and craft, sand and water play and many ride on toys including trikes, bikes and scooters.
The fairy garden is where the children can enjoy physical activities; they can climb on the tyres and trees outside. Play football, rugby, volleyball or croquet or have some quiet time with a story in the large wooden tepee.
The forest school area is where children experience a natural approach to learning. There are many ‘hands on learning’ opportunities present in this area. In an age when many children have few opportunities to be outdoors, outdoor learning offers children an exciting and stimulating way to learn and experience a broad curriculum in a woodland setting.
During regular sessions spread across each of the four seasons, children spend time outside, as part of the curriculum, giving them the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of the amazing world around them.
Being child-led, practitioners monitor the children but encourage exploration and discovery and support them to take risks. In a woodland environment, learning experiences are based on what activities a child wants to engage in at that time. Doing this on their own, supervised by a practitioner, children can build problem-solving skills, confidence, independence and resilience as they are allowed to test their limits in the natural world.
Exciting weekly activites include:
Nature walks (into the local village), story time, natural art (using natural resources i.e., twigs, leaves etc) mini beasts and bug hunting, creating musical instruments out of natural resources, gardening including growing vegetables and flowers.
