A day at Forest School camp

We've just concluded our season of Forest School summer camps in Faversham and what fun we had. As some of you know, Benny and I moved to Faversham last year so this was our first season of camps here in Kent. While we still run our weekend sessions and birthday parties in London, all of our camps are now East Kent based and we are so lucky to have found a beautiful little woodland just outside of Faversham to run these. We're going to give you a little run down of what a day of camp involves if you are thinking of joining us for our October half term camp!

A typical day of camp starts with a explorers walk. This could be to the great and ancient dino-land among the bracken and pine trees or to discover the mystical fairy dens (where they often hide their gold coins and trinkets for safe-keeping).

Before our walk begins, we each find a journey stick to take with us. Sometimes these walks are intrepid so the sticks can swipe away things that intrude our path and are great for holding backpacks/lunch bags!

This summer we foraged for blackberries, oak leaves, the first fall of acorns and anything else we might want to use at camp for our crafts and projects.

Here is a lovely example of a journey stick. Native Americans, aboriginal Australians and I'm sure many other cultures, used journey sticks to tell the stories of where they had been and what they had seen. It's a tactile memento of a journey to display what kind of trees, plants, terrain we may have passed over on our journey and can act as a map to tell the story of the path taken.

During our walk, we pick a spot together to have a morning snack and take a pause to discuss where we want to go next!

At some point, we land at basecamp for a bit of free play before lunch. Sometimes this includes making dens, cracking on with craft projects or simply making the most of the slackline & hammock.

We have lunch under our tarp accompanied with a few stories and then, with full bellies, we craft!

This is usually a chilled time of day where we do some craft activities such as making acorn people with clay, tree spirits, whittling, making & decorating wooden discs or elder wish pots, painting with blackberries & mud or whatever other wonderful and creative ideas the kids come up (many intricate wooden contraptions were thought up this week!) We also had some different teas this week including blackberry and nettle.

Once the energy has built back up again for walking, we take a wander over to the big, exciting swings on the hill and spend a bit of time swinging around and exploring another part of the woods before it's time to go home.

Whether you are joining us for a day or three days, everyone has lots of space & time to be free, have fun & get stuck into activities. Being in the woods has a wonderful calming effect and can be a perfect environment for all energy levels so we'd love to see your little ones at the next camp in October!