Home Ed Forest School, Team Retreats & Meeting Room in Private Woodland in Small Dole, West Sussex.

This week at Home Ed Forest Club we have learned how to safely use a saw to create beautiful Christmas decorations made from hazel wood. We have also completed the Christmas scavenger hunt challenge and cooked eggy bread over the fire 🔥

This week at Forest Club, activities were inspired by the lovely Christmas story ‘The Night Tree.’ We found our own Night Tree and made edible decorations for the wildlife to help them through the Winter. We also drunk hot chocolate on the picnic blanket whilst we admired the decorated tree, just like in the story! We also made sure our hedgehog house was cleaned out and made cosy for any hedgehogs ready for hibernation. 🦔🦔🦔🦔🦔🦔🦔🦔🦔🦔🦔🦔

This week we used our imaginations to make our own mini worlds. Group members were extremely creative in making their own characters and creating their back stories. We also cooked pizza over the fire. 🍕

This week at Home Ed Forest Club we learned about Guy Fawkes and the gunpowder plot, ate edible sparklers, made a firework in a jar, created Andy Goldworthy inspired fireworks out of natural resources, played games with our friends, relaxed in the hammock and watched the magical bonfire!

Not so quiet with these two 😂 but ‘The Quiet Space’ is set up for anyone who would like time away from the group to regulate their emotions, relax in the hammock, read a book or play with sensory materials. All group members can come here when needed.

Holiday Halloween fun at Foxfire Woods 🎃 We made pinecone spiders, willow webs, climbed through giant spider webs, made wizard wands, mixed magic potions and stole seeds from the scarecrow’s field!

Fantastic team-working skills today to make these tasty, toadstool cookies. Our Home Ed group made the cookie dough and baked them in a Dutch oven over the fire. They used jam and icing sugar to look like the Fly Agaric fungi 🍄

Today at Home Ed Forest Club we searched for Autumn Treasures and used them to make beautiful Autumn Crowns and mobiles. We waxed colourful leaves to preserve them and used tools to drill holes though our conkers. We also made a fire for a much needed toasted marshmallow snack! 🔥 🍁🍂

Today in the Home Ed group we learned about the different trees in our forest, did leaf rubbings, used Hazel-wood to make Halloween decorations, baked cookies sandwiched between Hazel leaves and told collaborative spooky stories around the campfire 🔥🍁🍂

Today at Home Ed Forest Club we learned about spiders 🕷️We learned facts and discussed aspects of their anatomy and behaviour. We also completed the spider web challenge, used tools to make conker spiders and made toffee apples over the fire. 🕸️

We learned about Fascinating Fungi today in Home Ed Forest Club 🍄‍🟫 We went on a fungi hunt, examined them closely and demonstrated how a Toadstool gets its spots using a balloon! 🍄

Today in Home Ed Survival Skills we talked about the importance of fire if we were lost in the woods! We also learned about where to find King Alfred’s Cakes fungus and how to use it as tinder for the fire. We also foraged nettles to make tea and learned how to make smoke signals to signal for help! 🔥 💨

Home Ed Wilderness Survival Skills. We’re still imagining we are lost in the woods! In this session we discussed how to find water, how to filter it using items we might have on us and how to purify it. We also toasted toffee apples on the fire 🔥

Home Ed Wilderness Survival Skills. We imagined we were lost in the woods with no phone battery and it was getting dark! What were our priorities for survival in the wild?!

Today’s aim in Conservation Club was to learn to appreciate and protect all the creatures in our Ecosystem, even the less appealing ones like flies! 🪰Apparently midges are one of the only pollinators of chocolate! This fact managed to increase the popularity of flies with everyone 😁

One Bug Hotel built today complete with underground spa. Lots of mini beasts have already checked in! 🦟 🐝🐞🦗🐜🪲🦋

I think I’ve been as fascinated by this metamorphosis as the kids. We now have froglets 🐸🐸🐸

This week we learned about bats and played an Echolocation game. A special thanks to Carrie (my lovely Forest School Volunteer) who finished making the bat box in the rain, when the rest of us ran back to eat summer crumble under the shelter to escape the downpour! 🌧️

This week at Conservation Club we learned all about caterpillars and butterflies and how to help them in our gardens 🦋 🐛🦋🐛🦋🐛We made Hapa Zome butterflies, cooked Cinnamon and Sugar butterflies over the fire and worked as a team in a butterfly challenge game.

This week at Conservation Club we’ve been learning how to ID native snakes and Slow Worms. We’ve also made a Hibernaculam for our resident Slow Worms to hibernate in this winter. The hard work digging was rewarded with strawberries dipped in chocolate 😋

This week in Conservation Club we learned about trees and why it’s important to protect them. We also learned how to use trees sustainably and made Elder bead snakes and necklaces.

This week we in Conservation Club we celebrated Earth Day! 🌍 We used tools to make earth decorations with our own individual pledges written/drawn on the back to remind us of how we will help our planet. We have also played games, made shelters and eaten S’mores!

Today at Conservation Club we learned about bees and why they are important. To help protect them we made Solitary Bee homes and bee-friendly seed bombs which we threw into the meadow. We also added some Dandelions to our pancakes, but made sure to leave some for the bees! 🐝

What a great day to be in the woods. It’s the first day of Spring AND the sun is finally out! 😁Today at Conservation Club we learned about birds and how to help them by making Bird Nesting Balls and Bird Pizzas. We also learned how birds made their nests by creating a “bird mansion.” We also managed fit 6 children inside! 🦅🐣

Our beautiful new banquet table at Foxfire Wood, built just in time for Spring! 🌺🌼🌷

We’re feeling Christmassy, a festive use for the Hazel that needed clearing 🎅🏼

Thanks @ukyoga.co.uk for a brilliant day yesterday. I can’t wait to use my new skills with the children!

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Upcoming Events

Wed, 04 Dec
Small Dole, West Sussex
Forest Club 3 Sessions Wed 4th Dec/11th Dec/18th Dec
04 Dec 2024, 10:00 – 18 Dec 2024, 13:30
Small Dole, West Sussex
10:00am - 12:30pm.
Details
Wed, 08 Jan
Small Dole, West Sussex
4 week block booking - Home Ed Forest Club - Wednesdays in Jan (8th/15th/22nd/29th)
08 Jan 2025, 10:00 – 29 Jan 2025, 12:30
Small Dole, West Sussex
10:00am - 12:30pm. Adults can stay warm and cozy around the fire while the children keep warm playing games. We'll be learning about how the animals survive the Winter and how humans have adapted to do the same. We'll also be cooking warming snacks over the fire and making icicles!
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“We love coming to your home ed conservation club. It's given my son a confidence boost, alongside being able to learn new things in a less pressured, friendly environment.

As a child with SEN, you have been so flexible, kind and understanding, we really appreciate it!"
Katie

Our Woodland Sessions

For Children and Young People

Explore the beautiful woods, learn about wildlife and how to look after it, paddle in the streams, swing on ropes, make mud pies, forage, build dens, make friends, create using natural materials, play games and cook snacks over the campfire!

For Adults

The opportunity to de-stress, connect with nature and like-minded people around a crackling fire. A seasonal nature/bushcraft activity and campfire snack and hot drink are included.

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​Upcoming Events

Our Woodland Sessions

For Children and Young People

For Adults

Upcoming Events