Having always loved Børn of the Forest holiday and pre-school sessions with Cici and Bran I was so excited to go back today with Raffy and Trilli. It was even better than I remembered!Vikki, the Chief of Play, is so wonderfully warm and welcoming that instantly you feel comfortable in her presence. The main idea behind Børn of the Forest is a classroom without walls. A place where children can explore, experiment, imagine and create. A place where children have space, freedom and time. Where adults and children can play and learn together. There are no expectations and it is all very child led with so many activities and experiences to engage with.
Towards the start of the session we gathered together for the welcome song and story under the shelter. The story was all about Dandelions which nicely linked the theme of the session altogether. Again there was no expectation to sit and listen and the children are free to go off and explore. Raffy was keen to hear the story and to also engage in the Dandelion related tasks which included some Japanese art – making flags using natural materials. He loved being supervised using the hammer to help use the Dandelions to make natural patterns. The dandelion homemade play doh went down a treat too and he enjoyed making pizzas from it. It clearly looked good enough to eat as I had to stop Miss T from having a try!The pre-school session is 90 minutes long giving you plenty of time to explore the Forest and all the session has to offer. I love the versatility that Born of the Forest offers as you can book for occasional sessions, make a block booking at a discounted rate and there is also sibling discount available too.When you think of a Forest school you often think mud kitchen. The Børn of the Forest mud kitchen is AMAZING! So big with so much equipment and of course which pre-schoolers don’t love mud and water and potion making?!If you can tear your little one away from the mud kitchen they can enjoy making mud art on easels, setting up ramps for trucks, chilling out in the hammocks, exploring the fairy homes and bird hive, creating water chutes from tubes, building the tallest towers from wooden blocks and searching for and identifying mini beasts. If you’ve any time left after that you can explore the Forest too and we loved having a walk over the mini bridges and spending time amongst the Blue Bells which were absolutely fabulous. There’s also, what Raffy called a little stage which he loved walking across, a tree swing and rakes and brushes to have a go of too. Raffy loves an implement and his chosen one today was a leaf picker. He enjoyed using that to help pick up the crunchy leaves and ‘tidying the Forest’ as he put it.Børn of the Forest is not just for pre-schooler’s but also has Holiday and After School Club from the age of 5, Home Education sessions, Therapeutic Forest sessions from age 4 to young adults, parties seasonal events, and mens woods for wellbeing. It truly offers opportunities for all.So the verdict from Raffy and Trilli? Well the smiling faces say it all and they can’t wait to go back. If you’ve not tried Born of the Forest before we’d definitely recommend giving it a go.
Reviewed April 2022 by Mumbler Champion Nic, Raffy and Trilli
Disclosure: We were gifted our class at Børn of the Forest however we pinky promised to only write a truthful account. Phew, we really enjoyed it! (otherwise that could have been awks!)
