Nature Cafe - Forest School; Central Teignmouth

Weekly Nature Cafe (Forest & Beach School)

Well, we’ve been running weekly forest school sessions on a Sunday afternoon as well as informal sessions through the week in our local Frobisher Woods.  We’ve reached 10 - 12 children aged 8 to 13 on a regular basis and a handful more via outreach, as and when.  The children love being outdoors. They love being together and love learning new skills. We’ve seen them happily building fires; cooking light meals; climbing trees; digging for clay (and making lots of stuff); planting seeds; whittling sticks; marvelling at fungi; foraging for berries / flowers / nuts / seeds etc; tracking foxes; laughing (and sometimes crying); creating art with natural resources - don’t forget the pavement art that pops up regularly; and getting to know each other.  Which, to us, is building community.

Not Just for the Children

Parents and other adults have also got involved. We know kids need space and time, but it’s also good to be with adults that are not in a parental or teaching role; just there to support in a non judgemental way. 

All Year ~ Seeing in the Seasons

We will keep offering these sessions and midweek outreach all year.  As well as the emotional and physical health benefits, we are encouraging environmental action (tidying the woods / planting a mini orchard & some window veg boxes).  There is much evidence to suggest that children & young people who spend quality time in their local landscapes come to care for them.  They develop a strong sense of belonging and community.  

Why Local is Important 

Health and sustainable living have never been more important. We want our very local focus to radically improve the lives of local families.  We also want to keep our wild places wild & grow for the future. 

Sharing Our Learning

We will publish our weekly activities and learning on our website and instagram / Facebook so that other communities might learn from us.  We believe the time is right for us all becoming more aware of our local natural assets and ways to get children, young people and families out into nature. 

What Parents Say

"My two eldest children absolutely love having something that is for them and that they can enjoy independently without their much younger siblings.  They get a huge sense of pride and achievement from the activities they undertake at Forest School, they come home talking non stop about the cooking, building and other things they've achieved, which is lovely.  As a parent I love that they are outdoors in nature as its so easy for teens and pre-teens to sit inside all of the time."

"We've noticed that Forest School has been really beneficial to our daughter's mood & her interactions with others as she can struggle with relationships.  Having to work as a team to achieve goals and practical projects has helped a lot."