Outdoor nursery wins prestigious innovation award
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
London's first full-time forest nursery has won a Queen’s Award for Innovation.
Little Forest Folk's chain of five nurseries, caters for 110 children from two to five, and was started just three years ago.
The nurseries are based in woodland areas, for example Wimbledon Common for the Wandsworth and Wimbledon settings, and in Barnes, Chiswick, and Fulham. Children start the day inside, but the majority of the day from 9am until 4pm is spent outside, whatever the weather.
The nursery was opened with the aim of creating a world in which children are inspired by nature to live a simple and naturally healthy lifestyle, breaking away from screen or plastic toy-based playtime to improve physical and mental health.
Demand is great with 2,000 families on the nursery group’s waiting list.
Co-founder Leanna Barrett told Nursery World, ‘We are delighted to have won a Queen’s Award for innovation. We are so happy to have outdoor learning be recognised as being a wonderful experience for children. We hope this award will encourage more people to take children out into nature, to enjoy the freedom of space, connection to the natural world & joy that this brings.’
It is not the first time that Little Forest Folk has been recognised for its excellence. The nursery group was joint winner for Health and Well-being at the Nursery World Awards 2017, highly commended on Nursery of the Year, and for the second year running won the Online and Social Media category.
