There is a particular kind of tired that children come home with after a day in the woods. Not screen-tired or bored-tired. Properly tired, muddy, full of stories, slightly breathless from explaining everything they did.
If you have ever seen it, you will know what we mean.
Forest school as an approach to learning has grown significantly in UK schools over the past decade. But during the summer holidays, it is also one of the most valuable things you can give a child, and one of the most enjoyable, for reasons that have nothing to do with education.
What is a forest school holiday camp?
Forest school is not simply playing outside. It is a structured outdoor learning approach where children explore, create and problem-solve in a natural setting, supported by trained practitioners.
At a typical forest school holiday camp session, children might be building dens using natural materials, cooking simple food over a campfire, exploring and navigating a woodland or outdoor space, making things from wood or clay, learning to identify plants and insects, or taking on outdoor challenges as a team.
The key difference from a standard outdoor play session is that children are given real agency. They make choices, take managed risks and see the results of their own decisions. That is a fundamentally different experience to most of what happens in a classroom or a structured sports session.
What are the benefits of forest school for primary school children?
The benefits are well documented and genuinely broad. Children who spend time in forest school settings regularly show improvements in several areas.
- Confidence. Taking managed physical risks and succeeding builds a specific kind of confidence that transfers into other areas of life.
- Resilience. Outdoor environments do not always go to plan. Weather changes, dens fall down, fires need relighting. Children learn to adapt and keep going.
- Focus and attention. Research consistently shows that time in natural environments reduces stress and improves concentration, particularly in children who struggle in traditional classroom settings.
- Social skills. Forest school activities are inherently collaborative. Children who might struggle to connect in a structured classroom often find it much easier to build friendships when they are working together on something physical and fun.
- Wellbeing. Fresh air, physical movement and time away from screens have measurable positive effects on children’s mental health. The summer holidays are six weeks long. Time outdoors matters.
Why is forest school particularly valuable during the summer holidays?
Because six weeks is a long time, and the research on children and screens makes for uncomfortable reading. Average screen time roughly doubles during the school holidays for many children.
Forest school holiday camps are not the answer to that by themselves. But they offer something screens genuinely cannot: physical challenge, sensory experience, social connection and the particular satisfaction of making or doing something real.
Children also tend to sleep better after days spent outdoors. Which, for any parent who has spent a summer evening with a wired and overtired child, is not a small thing.
What should a good forest school holiday camp look like?
Not all outdoor holiday clubs are the same. If you are looking for a genuinely forest school-led experience, here is what to look for.
- Trained practitioners. Forest school is a recognised qualification. Look for camps led by trained forest school leaders, not just staff who happen to be outside.
- Natural setting. Access to actual outdoor space, ideally with trees, varied terrain and opportunities for exploration rather than a tarmac playground.
- Child-led elements. Genuine forest school gives children choices and agency, not just a series of instructor-led tasks.
- Managed risk, not eliminated risk. Good outdoor learning involves managed risk. Camps that ban all climbing or all tool use are missing the point.
How does NOVUS include forest school in its summer holiday camps?
NOVUS includes forest school as a core part of our summer holiday camp programme across Bristol and Bath. Our outdoor sessions are led by specialist staff, the same practitioners who deliver forest school in partner schools during term time.
Children attending our camps experience forest school alongside sport, music and creative arts, a combination that reflects how we think about children’s development all year round.
Find your nearest NOVUS summer camp in Bristol
NOVUS summer holiday camps run across five venues in Bristol and Bath, for children aged 5 to 11. From £25 per day, Tax-Free Childcare accepted.
