How Forest School Supports Your Child’s Learning Through the Curriculum for Excellence
If you’ve ever watched your child explore the outdoors—climbing a log, digging in the mud, or building a den—you’ve seen the kind of learning that happens naturally when children are given freedom, space, and fresh air. That’s what forest school is all about. And the great news? This kind of outdoor learning fits beautifully with Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence (CfE), which guides all early years education.
In this blog post, we’ll explain how forest school supports your child’s learning in a way that’s fun, meaningful, and fully in line with the curriculum.
What Is the Curriculum for Excellence?
The Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) is Scotland’s national curriculum for children aged 3–18. It’s not just about reading and writing—it aims to help children become:
Successful learners
Confident individuals
Responsible citizens
Effective contributors
The early years (ages 3–5) focus on learning through play, exploration, and hands-on experiences—making forest school a perfect match.
How Forest School Helps Your Child Learn
In forest school, learning happens naturally through play in the outdoors. Here’s how it links to what your child is expected to learn:
✅ Health and Wellbeing
Climbing, running, and balancing on uneven ground builds physical strength and coordination.
Being outside helps children feel calm, confident, and connected to nature.
Working together on activities like building shelters encourages sharing, cooperation, and friendships.
✅ Literacy and Communication
Children develop language through storytelling, singing songs, and talking about what they see and do in nature.
They may use sticks to write letters in the mud or create their own “books” with leaves and twigs.
Listening to instructions, asking questions, and talking with friends all support strong communication skills.
✅ Numeracy and Early Maths
Children count sticks, sort leaves by size or colour, and explore shapes and patterns found in nature.
Building with natural materials teaches ideas like balance, weight, and measurement.
Real-life problem-solving (like figuring out how to cross a puddle!) builds thinking and reasoning skills.
Learning Through Play and Exploration
Forest school follows your child’s interests. If your child is fascinated by bugs, a whole session might explore insects and habitats. If they’re interested in building, they might create bridges or towers using logs and branches. This approach helps children stay curious and excited about learning, while still developing the skills and knowledge they need.
How Do We Know They’re Learning?
In early years, learning is mostly assessed through observation. Practitioners watch and listen as children play, recording key moments of learning and progress. At forest school, this might be your child showing determination as they climb a tree, or teamwork when they help build a den. These observations help staff understand what your child is learning and how to support their next steps.
Nature Nurtures Responsibility
Forest school also teaches important values like caring for the environment, being respectful of living things, and taking responsibility for their actions. Children begin to understand how their choices affect the world around them—laying the foundations for being responsible citizens.
Final Thoughts
Forest school isn’t just a chance to get muddy (though that’s part of the fun!). It’s a powerful way for your child to grow, learn, and thrive—while meeting all the goals of Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence.
By playing, exploring, and discovering outdoors, children become more confident, more independent, and more connected—to nature, to others, and to themselves.
If you have questions about how forest school works or how it supports your child’s development, we’d love to chat with you—just ask!
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