Forest School is a powerful educational approach that immerses children in nature, offering them the freedom to explore, learn, and grow in an environment that encourages curiosity, creativity, and holistic development by protecting and prioritising play. However, a common pitfall that can diminish the effectiveness of a Forest School programme is the over-prioritisation of structured activities at the expense of child-led play. This shift often stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of the crucial role that play serves in children's learning and development.
The Role of Play in Learning
Play is not merely a leisure activity for children; it is the very foundation of their learning. Through play, children experiment with the world around them, test boundaries, develop social skills, and engage in problem-solving. This experiential learning is deeply rooted in their innate desire to explore and make sense of their environment.
When play is rejected in favour of structured activities, the Forest School programme inadvertently restricts the child’s ability to engage in this self-directed exploration. While activities have their place in many Outdoor Learning programmes, they should not overshadow the organic, spontaneous nature of play that is essential for fostering a child's autonomy, confidence, and creativity while in Forest School.
Misunderstanding the Value of Play
The tendency to prioritise activities over play often arises from a misunderstanding of play's significance. Educators and parents may feel compelled to introduce structured learning experiences, mistakenly believing that these will yield more measurable educational outcomes. However, this approach overlooks the fact that play is inherently educational. It is through play that children develop the critical thinking, resilience, and social skills that are foundational for lifelong learning.
This misunderstanding can lead to a programme that relies too heavily on a leader-led approach resulting in a programme that is too rigid, where the child’s natural curiosity is stifled rather than encouraged. Such an environment is less likely to engage children deeply, leading to a less effective educational experience overall.
The Richness of Play: Bob Hughes' Play Types
To fully appreciate the depth of learning that occurs through play, it's helpful to examine the concept of play types as identified by play theorist Bob Hughes. Hughes identified 16 distinct types of play, each offering unique opportunities for learning and development. These play types demonstrate the vast array of skills and understanding that children acquire through different forms of play.
Here’s an overview of Hughes' play types and the learning associated with each (download the more detailed PDF here:
1. Symbolic Play: Children use objects, actions, or ideas to represent other objects, actions, or ideas. This type fosters creativity and abstract thinking.
2. Rough and Tumble Play: Physical play involving play fighting and chasing. It helps children develop physical coordination and understand social boundaries.
3. Socio-Dramatic Play: Role-playing games that involve acting out real-life scenarios. This enhances social skills, empathy, and problem-solving abilities.
4. Social Play: Play that involves interaction with others, often including rules and shared goals. It builds teamwork, communication skills, and negotiation abilities.
5. Creative Play: Activities such as building, drawing, or making things. This nurtures creativity, fine motor skills, and perseverance.
6. Communication Play: Play involving the use of words or sounds. It aids in language development and understanding of communication.
7. Dramatic Play: Acting out situations and stories. This type helps children explore emotions and social roles.
8. Deep Play: Engaging in risky activities that challenge the child. It develops resilience, courage, and risk management.
9. Exploratory Play: Investigating and exploring the environment. This builds curiosity, sensory development, and problem-solving skills.
10. Fantasy Play: Imagining scenarios and characters. This fosters imagination and understanding of the abstract.
11. Imaginative Play: Creating new scenarios or ways of doing things. It encourages innovation and divergent thinking.
12. Locomotor Play: Movement-based play such as running or climbing. It develops physical health, coordination, and spatial awareness.
13. Mastery Play: Repetitive activities that allow the child to master a skill. This builds confidence and competence.
14. Object Play: Manipulating objects to discover their properties. It enhances fine motor skills and understanding of cause and effect.
15. Role Play: Assuming roles of other characters or people. It helps with understanding perspectives and social structures.
16. Recapitulative Play: Play that revisits evolutionary history, such as playing with fire or in mud. It connects children with their primal instincts and nature.
Each of these play types contributes to a child’s cognitive, emotional, social, and physical development in ways that structured activities alone cannot replicate. For example, rough and tumble play might seem chaotic, but it’s crucial for learning about boundaries and self-regulation. Similarly, fantasy play allows children to explore scenarios beyond their immediate reality, fostering creativity and emotional resilience.
Prioritising and Protecting Play at Forest School
To create a truly rich and effective Forest School programme, it’s vital to recognise the importance of these diverse play types and to create an environment where they can flourish. A Forest School Leader plays a pivotal role in ensuring that play is prioritised and protected within this unique educational setting often by having a solid understanding of Perry Else's Play Cycle (more on that in this blog).
Structured activities can occasionally complement play by providing resources, environments, and inspiration for new types of play, but they should never dominate the programme. Instead, educators should observe and facilitate play, stepping in only when necessary to support and extend the learning that naturally occurs. At Forest School children don't acquire their learning from an 'all knowing' adult, instead they realise it through the relationships they develop with themselves, eachother and nature during their unadulterated play.
In essence, prioritising play in Forest School is about acknowledging and valuing the rich, multifaceted learning that occurs through self-directed exploration and play. By understanding and embracing the importance of play, particularly through the lens of Bob Hughes' play types and Perry Else's Play Cycle educators can offer a truly holistic educational experience that nurtures every aspect of a child's development.
In the end, the balance between play and structured activities will play a huge role in determining the effectiveness and richness of a Forest School programme. Many of the Forest School Principles rely on the child being central to their experience and play is the fertile ground that nurtures such independence. By ensuring that play is prioritised, we honour the natural way children learn and grow, laying the foundation for a lifetime of curiosity, creativity, and resilience.
sources:
Else, P. and Sturrock, G. (2009). Therapeutic Playwork Reader.
Forest School Association (2011). Full principles and criteria for good practice. [online] Forestschoolassociation.org. Available at: https://forestschoolassociation.org/full-principles-and-criteria-for-good-practice/.
Gray, P. (2013). Free to learn: why unleashing the instinct to play will make our children happier, more self-reliant, and better students for life. New York: Basic Books.
Hughes, B. (2013). Evolutionary Playwork. Routledge.
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