It was really difficult to hear. My Forest Schoolers rarely dishearten me over things they might mention during the sessions but one had stopped on the Timber Trail on one particularly wet Forest School session.
Read moreLeaf Crowns
It’s my favourite time of year. There’s something very comforting and familiar about Autumn. The kaleidoscope of colour. The falling of leaves. The chill in the air. The smell of wood fires. Hot drinks and woolly hats. It's a riotous assault on the senses.
Read moreFire: Sparking their Curiosity
Fire; the one tool in my Forest School arsenal guaranteed to spark creativity, curiosity and focus. Seeing a child make their first fire is something very special. We have been harnessing and bending it to our will since time immemorial, and even now, after all the fires I've lit (a lot), it still captures my attention and draws my gaze
Read moreMacho Macho Kids
Our Forest School focus over the past few weeks has looked at the children’s perceptions of strength. If you ask any child if they’re strong and you’ll get a mini Mr & Mrs Universe lineup of bicep tensing as a visable display of their perceived strength!
Read moreIs it a bird? Is it a plane?
No! It's Free Range children flying down the zip line with the greatest of ease! Over the past few weeks, our focus on Forest School has been all about challenging the children's perceptions of their confidence and physical ability and just how far they can push themselves to conquer fears.
Read moreForest School in the Den
Forest School at Free Rangers is our bread and butter. It's what drives the nursery and it's our aim to get your children learning, exploring and (most importantly) playing outside as much as we can.
Read moreThe Colour Monster is in the Den!
Every week we have a story of the week that is read to the den children during transition times. This week the book of the week is ‘The Colour Monster’.
Read moreNatural Maths
The Den Team wanted to share what we have been doing in the Yurt in our group activity sessions this week. Our activities have been great examples of just how much learning comes from having fun!
Read moreIntroducing Pilar Fernandez de la Vega!
Hello Free Rangers! My name is Pilar and I work in the den room of the nursery.
Read moreWelcome to Paloma!
Hi Free Rangers family! My name is Paloma, which means “Dove” in Spanish.
Read moreFood For Thought
There's something wonderful about allowing children to make a legitimate mess. It can provide such fantastic learning opportunities. It's when we apply a certain level of meaning to the mess created that we can see the magic happening...
Read moreIntroducing: Ellie!
Tea from the Hedgerow
What do you do when the hedgerows are burgeoning with ripening blackberries, and the early apples are starting to drop? You make sure you use them in as many ways as possible! Blackberries have been a focus across the Nursery and in the Den we opted to make some hedgerow tea!
Read moreWhy We Love REAL Tools
We love working with tools at Free Rangers and they have become a key component of Forest School, providing another avenue of access to the natural world. Tools help create and inspire, they help us understand the world, as well as ourselves and help promote confidence.
Read moreThe Free Rangers Mini 3 Peaks Challenge
You may have noticed recently some of your Free Rangers staff tackled the 3 Peaks Challenge, attempting to climb Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon in under 24hrs. Whilst this challenge fell at the feet of an intrepid few nursery staff, we wanted to extend the challenge to our Free Range kids as well, and set about challenging them to their own sponsored mini 3 Peaks.
Read moreReady, Steady, MOVE!
Children like to move. If you've ever tried to keep a child sat still for any length of time you'll agree that it's nigh on impossible. So when we go on Forest School we make sure we keep any stillness to a minimum!
Read moreDigging Deep for Free Rangers
You might be aware that we recently completed The Department of Health's "Healthy Outcomes Certificate in Early Years". As part of this, we organised a Big Dig day in a bid to add an extra dimension to our little patch of Somerset.
Read moreThe Assault Course is Dead. Viva la Timber Trail!
In the first year of Free Rangers opening, we did some serious development of our blank canvas. From the outset, we knew our outdoor space was special and we didn't take it for granted when planning its conception (nor do we now!) Our brief: to make it as appealing, varied and challenging a space for our little adventurers as possible, turning bare grass into the tangible, climbable, and jumpable. We built it, and they came. But that was a long, long time ago...
Read moreEvery End is a New Beginning
As my apprenticeship draws to a close, so will my time at Free Rangers. It has been such an amazing opportunity for me, studying at college once a week and working in the Den for the remainder of the week over these past 2 years. I have gained more experience and knowledge than any textbook could have ever taught me.
Read moreNot Everyone's Cup of Tea
As spring thoroughly forges ahead, the newest, tenderest shoots are often the fodder of deer and rabbits. But back in March on Forest School, we decided to make use of some rather more volatile ones for ourselves...
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