Forest School with Wild Tots

When you are small there is nothing better than to be out in the wilds playing with mud.

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Thursday is my day with the girl and the day we go to A touch of the wild: Wild Tots forest school.

For those who have never experienced forest school, it’s quite the thing to do these days and you really ought to try it.

Wild Tots have their base at beautiful Haldon Forest Park near Exeter, it is a bit of a walk to the base and it is advisable to take a sling or a buggy to get back up (it’s a pretty steep hill).

The base is made up of a fire pit with benches around it.  There is a compostable toilet, a mud kitchen where the kids can make porridge & mud pies or just cover themselves in it (see pic above), a net canopy to climb or skygaze on, or my girls fav is to play ‘mummy and baby spider’. There is a ball to swing on, a hammock to swing in, other bits and pieces to play with – more than enough to keep a little person and their adult delighted and engaged for an hour and a half.

The session is dedicated to ‘free play’ – in other words – the children decide what they want to play with and we assist them.  Every week there is a craft to get involved in and you may find yourself making butterflies out of sticks, string and tissue paper or moulding clay hedgehogs with sticks for spikes.

At half time we gather around the pit to drink hot chocolate and share popcorn or stuffed apples that we have prepared together and cooked on the fire.

Before we all head off we sit in the circle and chat and then the lovely leader Eve sings some sweet songs with with us (you’ll be pleased to know that they don’t include wind the bobbin up or Old MacDonald).  Eve, if you are reading this, I think there is definitely a market for a CD or – at the very least-  a few Youtube videos.

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One happy bunny

This term is our second term at Wild Tots, we actually started in the Autumn term.  It’s really lovely to trundle down into the woods and see the canopy change from green to reds, oranges and yellows week by week.  This term we are looking forward to watching the forest become greener and greener.

A touch of the wild also do birthday parties, education groups, team building, family days and lots more, they are a great little company, check them out!

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