Hainault Forest – a unique educational resource for children
Are there tigers and bears in Hainault Forest? It’s a question children often ask on their first visit. Fortunately, the answer is no, but that rarely dampens their enthusiasm.
Since 2005 hundreds of primary school children have enjoyed activity-packed trips to Hainault. These are sponsored by the Woodland Trust and run by environmental educator, together with local schools.
New learning experiences
Each trip can last up to two hours and delivers new learning experiences that teachers would find hard to recreate in a classroom. Besides clearing up misunderstandings about woodland, the visits give children the opportunity to:
- observe rare wildlife
- enjoy games about plants, insects and animals
- express their feelings for nature through art and poetry
- collect seeds and plant trees
- learn about climate change
- enjoy healthy outdoor exercise.
And the trust believes the visits offer the youngsters something else. “A lot of the kids coming on these trips live on the wood’s doorstep,” Janet Watt environmental educator says, “but they’ve never been inside. By introducing them to woodland, we’re reminding them there are leisure activities that don’t involve a Playstation.”
Designed for both mainstream and special needs children aged 8-11, the visits fall into three distinct types:
- woodland discovery – children learn about the forest, both its ancient heritage and how it is used today
- seed collection – they gather acorns from the site and take them back to school to see if they can get them to grow
- tree planting – they bring the young oak trees grown at school back to the forest for planting.
Feedback about the trips has been extremely positive. Janet explains: “I’ve had teachers comment on how much better children engage with activities in the forest than they do in the classroom. These visits also benefit children with emotional or behavioural difficulties who respond especially well to outdoor hands-on activities.”
Useful links for teachers
If you’re a teacher interested in learning more about woodland outings for schools, you may find these pages of value:
Other useful links include:
If you would like to learn more about the activities, please contact
