The first early years forest school in Sweden, set up in 1957, was known as 'I ur och skur', meaning 'rain or shine'. Here, children spent all day, every day, of their early years education up to age six in the outdoors, unless it was below -10 degC, when they could spend some time in a log cabin. Recently, the temperature in Kent has been as low as -1 degC but we've continued with our Forest Schools sessions nonetheless.
Preparing for and learning to not only survive, but thrive, whatever the weather, is one of the great lessons learnt in forest schools. Parents, teachers and children all need to learn about this preparation - and it is surprising how often a child will turn up at school with little more than a T-shirt and thin raincoat!
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