The team at Little Acorns Nursery is delighted to announce that we’ll soon be running regular Forest School sessions for children under five in the Hindley Green/Wigan area. Little ones absolutely adore Forest School — they seem instinctively drawn to nature and natural outdoor spaces. Like them, we simply can’t wait to begin! Preparations and training are underway, and we hope to begin our first Forest School sessions for children from September 2026. It’ll be a really exciting addition for the new term and for families living nearby. With all that in mind, today’s post explains what Forest School is all about, how it came to be, and how it benefits children, especially those under five.
By way of introduction, take a look at this excellent introductory video from The Forest School Association. It explains the fundamentals of Forest School and is about 6 minutes long. That said, we suggest skipping the last minute — everything after the 5-minute mark — to avoid the more commercial content in the final section.
What Forest School Is … & What It Is Not
Forest School is not so much a place, destination, or static centre of learning as it is a child-centred philosophy and learning process. Through a Forest School programme, little learners can safely play, explore, and discover outdoors, close to nature, under the supervision of specially trained adult leaders. There, in the natural environment, they will learn new skills and grow holistically in a vast number of new ways.
“Qualified practitioners carefully facilitate programmes which are uniquely tailored to the needs of the individuals within the group and have the fundamental aim of building participants’ self-esteem, confidence, independence and creativity.” — Forest School Association (FSA).
The Forest School approach is backed by research that concludes that attending regular outdoor sessions helps children develop in truly profound ways, including spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, socially, and physically. That’s a lot of benefits! What’s more, it helps open young children’s eyes to the wonder and scope of the wider natural world — and helps them better understand how they fit into it.
Forest School’s Roots
As well as being inspired by several incredibly influential proponents* of outdoor play, learning, and discovery, Forest School has its strongest roots in Scandinavia. It was there that people first took notice of their outdoor ‘Friluftsliv’ (free air life) culture. Soon becoming virtually a way of life, the philosophy began to spread around the world. It eventually arrived as ‘Forest School’, in the UK, back in the early 1990s. Its UK beginnings were initially led by staff from Bridgewater College, Somerset, who had visited Scandinavia to see Friluftsliv for themselves. Since then, Forest School’s popularity has grown and grown, with children and adults loving everything about it and enjoying the many benefits it brings.
What Do Children Do During Forest School Sessions?
During Forest School sessions, children are escorted under the supervision of trained Forest School leaders to a natural open space which, ideally, includes woodland or a wooded section. There, they will play, explore, discover, and learn in a myriad of exciting and stimulating ways. They will develop holistically, learning new skills whilst doing so, as well as developing their own unique relationship to the natural world.
“Forest School programmes aim to develop, where appropriate, the physical, social, cognitive, linguistic, emotional and spiritual aspects of the learner.” — FSA.
Forest School sessions are held regularly over an extended period of time and, weather conditions permitting, cover several seasons of the calendar year. They’re usually likely to include a variety of activities in tandem with general exploration and discovery. Examples might include climbing, balancing, problem-solving, activities connecting children to nature, working in teams to complete creative or building tasks, and so on.
Importantly, Forest School sessions are designed to be low-impact in their effect on the natural world. This is part of the philosophy of Forest School, with one of the key aims being to foster a sense of responsibility towards the natural world in each child.
“Forest School aims to foster a relationship with nature through regular personal experiences in order to develop long-term, environmentally sustainable attitudes and practices in staff, learners and the wider community.” — FSA.
Forest School principles can also be applied in the nursery setting as well as at home, when appropriate. There, under adult supervision, children can continue on their Forest School programme using resources found in nature as inspiration for ideas, creativity, and further learning.
What About Health & Safety?
All Forest School sessions are undertaken with trained leaders and, of course, appropriate adult supervision and adult-to-learner ratios at all times. In line with the Health & Safety policy of the nursery, practitioners hold appropriate paediatric first aid qualifications. Additionally, a variety of risk assessments are also taken in relation to children exploring the natural environment. Interestingly, though, Forest School sessions are also a perfect way to introduce children themselves to the concept of assessing risk — something they too need to learn to manage as they grow older.
Children Get So Much from Forest School
The impact of Forest School on children can be truly profound. It’s not only immense fun but also incredibly beneficial to little ones. Even those who previously might have been reserved, or who displayed challenging behaviour, often absolutely flourish when embarking on a Forest School programme. Indeed, many discover skills they didn’t know they had and often relate deeply to the natural world. Forest School is also a great leveller, with children from all kinds of backgrounds finding a new niche where any of them can thrive on an equal playing field. Nature is a place where social bonds adapt and grow in unexpected but often brilliant new ways. New connections are made on so many different levels too. And, with all its profound effects on children, Forest School often helps children develop a long-term appreciation for the natural world, the Great Outdoors, and the need to look after the planet responsibly. It really is a wonderful thing — and we can’t wait to introduce Hindley Green and Wigan children to Forest School.
“Forest School aims to promote the holistic development of all involved, fostering resilient, confident, independent and creative learners.” — FSA.
Forest School at Little Acorns Nursery
A Wonderful Start for Children Under 5 in Hindley Green, Wigan
Little Acorns Nursery in Hindley Green provides high-quality childcare every weekday, almost all year round. We open early at 7:30 am and close late at 6:00 pm, offering wraparound convenience for working families. We support free childcare places for eligible children too, and look forward to welcoming children to our Forest School programme later in 2026. We’ll announce when it opens officially here on the blog and on social media. We can’t wait to start!
If you’d like to learn more about a nursery place and a Forest School programme for your child at Little Acorns Nursery in Hindley Green, please get in touch using one of the options below:
Our nursery and Forest School in Hindley Green is also perfectly located for those living nearby in Wigan, Bolton, Bickershaw, Leigh, Atherton, Platt Bridge, Westhoughton, Ince-in-Makerfield, Tyldesley, and Greater Manchester.
Following May’s 
Children will need some leaves for these ‘leaf art’ activities. We suggest they collect a wide selection of shapes, sizes, and varieties, so they have the flexibility to undertake any of the leaf art activities below. Our 
Whether fresh, dried, or pressed (see below), leaf collages can be used to make wonderful pictures and designs. With a little imagination, leaves can suddenly resemble little trees and landscapes, or be combined into formations that depict a flower head or a graphical design. The accompanying images show a couple of examples to get children’s creative juices flowing.
One of the most straightforward creative activities with leaves is simply to paint and decorate them with coloured paints. Doing so can create highly attractive groups of leaves that are fun and cheerful to look at. Experiment with flat colours or more intricate decorations such as polka dots, stripes, stars, or zigzags. Glue the finished leaves to paper or card once dry to use them as part of a leaf collage (see above).
Leaves and small flowers can be dried, flattened, and kept longer by pressing them. Once pressed and dried, they’re like little works of art in themselves and are quite delightful. They can be kept as bookmarks or keepsakes, or used as art and collage components for some of the other leaf activities outlined today.
Leaf rubbing is a simple yet effective art activity involving leaves. First, simply place a leaf under a sheet of fairly thin paper. Holding the paper still with one hand, children should use their writing hand to rub a crayon, pastel, charcoal stick, or soft pencil lead over the area where the leaf sits, scribbling from left to right in closely aligned lines. A ‘picture’ of the underlying leaf will gradually appear!
Leaf printing is super-easy and fun for little ones. Find a suitable leaf and, using a broad brush or — better still — paint roller, paint the most textured side of a leaf with a thin layer of paint, ensuring it covers the whole side of the leaf. Then, while the paint is still wet, place the painted side carefully over a sheet of blank paper. Without moving its position, press all parts of the leaf down so the paint makes contact with the underlying paper. Another way to accomplish this is to use a clean roller to ‘roll’ over the leaf so it connects the paint with the paper. Carefully remove the leaf and — hey presto — you should have an image of the leaf structure and texture right there on the paper. Try different leaves, various colours, and overlapping experiments to accomplish different outcomes.
Instead of painting or using leaves directly, children can also try to depict them with their own paintings and drawings. These are a good way to encourage children to focus on getting the shape and details correct, fine-tune hand-eye coordination, and bolster technical mark-making skills. And, because children are free to paint or draw however they like, they can let their imaginations run riot and perhaps invent their own leaf shapes, leaf patterns, and natural worlds on paper.
Children can use some of the creative skills they’ve learnt in the activities above to make greeting cards that feature their leaf art. For example, they can forage for heart-shaped leaves and paint them cerise pink to use as part of a simple Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day greeting card. More general greeting cards for other special occasions can also be accomplished using leaves and dried flowers — for example, arranged to depict a leaf or dried ‘bouquet’ on a card sent for a birthday.
Calling all children and their families — people of all ages are needed this July and August for the world’s biggest wildlife survey — the Big Butterfly Count! So, whether you’re a child or an adult, you can play your part. This is a great activity for under-fives too as it’ll be fun, educational, and incredibly worthwhile. What’s more, they’ll become little citizen scientists by taking part. The nature-based activity takes as little as just 15 minutes and costs nothing at all. Children don’t need any special abilities other than a little patience and good observation — both great skills for them to practise. Let’s take a look and see what the Big Butterfly Count is all about and how children can take part this year.
The Big Butterfly Count is a nature survey that anyone can take part in during July and August each year. For 2025, it takes place from Friday the 18th of July to Sunday the 10th of August, a period in which temperatures are usually warm and butterfly populations are likely to peak. In essence, all that is required is for butterflies to be counted during a 15-minute period (more detail follows later in this guide). The survey event is open to everyone and, indeed, the more people who take part, the better. So, if you, your child, your family, or your friends want to play a part in protecting butterflies and nature as a whole, please get involved.
The populations of butterflies can be used as a barometer for the health of pollinator numbers and nature as a whole. With some butterfly species already disappearing from our gardens and countryside and others nearing extinction, there is no time to lose. Only by identifying the issues can we, as a nation, begin to reverse some of the decline. By reversing it, it will be good for butterflies, good for other pollinators like bees, good for nature as a whole — and good for humans too! After all, without pollinators, the supply of foods like cereals, fruit, vegetables and legumes would start to run out. So, taking part in the Big Butterfly Count is extremely worthwhile and we urge little ones and their families to take part.
First, ensure you have downloaded and printed out 
Choose a spot for your butterfly survey. It should be somewhere outside where butterflies are most likely to be seen. Sunny, sheltered spots are good, particularly where a variety of different sizes and types of flowers or blossoms are in bloom.
Sometime in the period from Friday the 18th of July to Sunday the 10th of August, you/your child should spend 15 minutes making a note of how many of each type of butterfly you can see. Concentrate only on the species included in the event organiser’s reference from Step 1. You must count how many of each single species you see at the same time. So, if you see three Painted Ladies at the same time, then record that as 3. However, if you see one Painted Lady on three separate occasions during the 15 minutes, that would only count as 1 — otherwise, it could simply be the same butterfly revisiting.
Did You Know?
Nature and outdoor play feature significantly in children’s time at 
With World Bee Day arriving on the 20th of May and National Children’s Gardening Week arriving on the 24th, it’s an excellent time for a flower-growing activity for children — including under-fives. More specifically, the growing of bee-friendly flowers — from seeds — will be an excellent way to celebrate World Bee Day and support these adorable little creatures. Bees, butterflies, and other pollinators are incredibly important for the world, being largely responsible for pollinating the crops, including nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables, that we rely on for food. Yet they are under threat with numbers dwindling severely in recent years. Without bees and other pollinators, the world’s animals, plants, trees, and flowers would be in real danger. Today’s bee-friendly flower-growing activity is therefore an incredibly worthwhile one for children to get involved in. It’s fun, highly educational for little ones, and will help to make the world a better place! Little ones, let’s get growing!
Unless seeds are available from friends and family or harvests from previous years, parents of under-fives will need to source them. However, that’s easy and can be incredibly inexpensive. Most supermarkets sell seed packets and, if not, there is a whole range of online stores to choose from (
If children are going with our recommended second option, they will first need to read packets to ensure their timing is right. For seed trays, they can use inexpensive, commercially available seed trays or use smaller options like flower pots. Another free alternative is to use repurposed margarine tubs, yoghurt pots, or similar. Whichever option they choose will need drainage holes added underneath by supervising parents plus a drip tray of some kind. Whether that’s a commercial one or something as simple as a saucer is up to families.
Once the soil is layered into the seed trays or pots, to a level an inch or so below the top, children can indent the soil/compost for the seeds to go into. Seeds can be manually spaced out into these indents so that, once they grow, the individual plants will be easily separated. We suggest scattering a shallow layer of sieved soil or compost over the seeds once placed into the indents and given a sprinkling of water.
Children should continue to water the seedlings regularly, when needed, and may also have to thin out any ‘clumps’ or plants that are too close together, otherwise, several plants may get tangled and have to compete with one another unnecessarily.
Once flowers appear, children can expect pollinators like honey bees, bumblebees, butterflies, and hoverflies to appear. It’s going to be magical for children when that day first arrives! Bees and the other pollinators truly are delightful and adorable. Children should look but not touch*, after all, bees have important work to do!
This activity will raise awareness of bees and pollinators in children of all ages. It’s not only a wonderful way to introduce children to these adorable creatures, but also a great opportunity to raise awareness of the plight bees and pollinators are facing. They are under severe pressure from habitat loss, global warming, the use of harmful pesticides/weedkillers, pollution, invasive predators, and many other threats that have made their populations plummet in recent years.
World Book Day is a special charitable event, celebrated globally, that encourages children of all ages to discover the joy of reading. Why? Because reading has the power to substantially improve children’s lives. Schools, nurseries, and libraries across the nation make the day extra special for children through storytelling sessions, fancy dress, and book-related activities.
Find time for your little one to read.
Dress up as a favourite character! There’s no need for elaborate costumes; a simple hat, crown, or themed outfit inspired by a beloved book character can bring your child’s favourite stories to life.
Since September 2024, the number of free childcare hours available for eligible children aged 9 months to 2 years (inclusive) is 570 per year. This is usually taken as 15 hours per week over 38 term-time weeks of the year*. In further good news, the allocation is set to double to 1140 hours per year from September 2025, thereby aligning with what eligible 3 and 4-year-olds are already entitled to (see below).
Meanwhile, a total of 1140 hours of free childcare is currently available for eligible children aged 3 and 4 each year. This is usually taken as 30 hours per week over 38 term-time weeks of the year*.
