The first Sustainable Skerries Urban Summer Forest School this August was a great success. This is what organiser Breda Naddy wrote about it:

The Skerries Urban Forest School (funded by Fingal County Council) aimed to inspire a group of young people (aged  6 – 9 years) with a love of being outside and a sense of adventure and Ross and Miriam from Free Range Outdoor Education (www.froe.ie) did just that. There were four days of outdoor forest school activities where the children got a chance to use saws, hammers, drills etc. for their crafts and games. There were also walks to the Ballast Pit, an open orchard, the community garden and the beach. Ross and Miriam put up hammocks and shelter amongst the trees and started lots of games  but there were also plenty of games that the children made up themselves.

The thing that the children liked most was having freedom outdoors. Using the saws and hammers was also a big hit. And of course the melted marshmallows and biscuits on the last day helped to cement it all as a great experience. The thing that parents liked most was their children being outside. Everyone found that it was a no-pressure, non-competitive way for children to enjoy being outside while having fun. Underlying all of the games and fun was a message about caring for ourselves, caring for each other and caring for nature and the environment.

On the final day some inspiring visitors came to talk to the children about community safety. Robert Dillon from The Garda Síochána, Jenny Morgan from Order of Malta and Rosie O’Regan from Water Safety Ireland all had important messages for the children through games and fun. The children were fascinated.

And what a wonderful group of children we had for our first forest school. They were full of enthusiasm and fun and were ready to jump right into whatever activity was lined up for them. One day there was a huge downpour and everyone was completely soaked in seconds. What did the children do? They sang with huge smiles “rain rain go away” while sheltering under the trees. That’s the kind of group they were.

We hope that this little taster of a forest school gave the children a chance to experience the joy of being in nature having fun with new friends.