What is Forest School?

Forest School helps people to develop emotionally through providing opportunities to manage and understand risk, to stretch comfort zones, to play, to develop your self esteem and to enjoy the outdoors. Originating in Denmark, the Forest School ethos gives people the opportunity to be free in the woodland environment.

People also get the chance to practice physical skills in an outdoor environment such as tree climbing, obstacle courses, team building games, whittling, fire starting, den building, bug hunting and much more. You are given freedom of choice and are encouraged to take part in whatever you like.

There is also an abundance of opportunities for social interaction through teamwork, communication, problem solving and group activities, although people are also given the time for personal reflection to review their learning and set new goals to work towards.

Children and adults alike have had their mental health and wellbeing challenged this year and it’s time to take more of a stance to improve on this in our local community. Branches Out aims to provide opportunities for people of the local community to come together to enjoy playing in nature. It gives local people the chance to channel their energy into productive, healthy activities that they may not otherwise have the chance to access.