Boots & Brambles Forest School

🎉🌳 What an awesome day for not one, but two Witches & Wizards Woodland Parties! 🧙‍♀️🧙‍♂️

🧙‍♂️🧙‍♀️ It was SO lovely to see the children enjoying the woods; mixing magic potions, making magic wands, writing with quills, chasing giant bubbles and toasting marshmallows!! 🧙‍♀️🧙‍♂️

🌳💚 But it was equally lovely to hear the following comments from parents attending the parties...

"It's the first children's party I've been to where I'm not clock watching to see when it ends!"

"It's so calm!"

"I don't want to leave!"

"Do you do adult parties?!"

"Everyone is just so much happier being outside!"

"It's such a beautiful space!"

💚As a small, family-run business, it means the world to us when people enjoy our sessions! A HUGE thank you to everyone who came along to today's parties! 💚 Please feel free to share any pictures of your own little ones from today's parties!

🪵 🍄 The first picture sums up how we are feeling at the end of our first full week back at Boots & Brambles Forest School (along with tired!! But there's not a Colour Monster for that one!!)

🌳 A week in the life of Boots & Brambles!! 🌳This week (so far as have two parties happening tomorrow!) We have run 9 different sessions in 4 different locations! 🪵

🪵 🍄 It has been SO lovely to welcome our Parent & Child groups back to the woods this week - we started the week with our Monday morning session and eneded the wee with a new additional session running on a Friday!

🌳 On Monday afternoon we welcomed back the children from Nethergate Academy - it was lovely to see some familiar faces and meet some new children exploring our Base Camp for the first time! 🌳

🌳 We held our first session of our new After School Club at Edwalton Primary School 🌳

🏫 🌧 On Tuesday we returned to Millside Spencer Academy and had a lovely, rainy day exploring lots of exciting new Forest School kit!

🌳 On Wednesday & Thursday we held our Staff Training sessions for our new SEMH Intervention cohort!

🔴🟢🔵 To finish the week, we had a lovely, sunny afternoon exploring Colour Monsters in our new sessions at Cotgrave C of E Primary School. It's been SO amazing to return full circle to the school where I first started my teacher training many moons ago!! 🔵

🤣🌳During Staff Training this week, I mentioned how I left the teaching profession for several reasons; one of these being a desire for a better work/life balance - I joked that I used to work 3 days a week as a teacher, I now work 6 days a week! But it's still a better balance and I wouldn't change it for the world! 💚

🪵 🍄 Thanks to everyone who's attended our sessions this week for a great first week back! 🪵 🍄

♻️ Here we LOVE to use recycled items where we can!

Today I visited our amazing local scrapstore, the Rushcliffe Play Forum! I LOVE this place, it's such an awesome Aladdin's cave full of resources and the volunteers are all SO friendly and helpful! You never know what treasure you're going to find! (I love it so much that Mr Boots & Brambles has to limit me to how many times I can go and I often have to disguise just how much I've brought back and try and sneak it into the garage!!)

Today I've collected;
🎀 Ribbons in a variety of colours
🐑 Wool in a variety of colours
🥫Recycled cans and bottles
🟥 Coloured stickers
🔵 Coloured pom poms

Along with this I've recycled ♻️ some large pieces of card and paper!

All of these items will be put to use tomorrow in our Colour Monsters themed outdoor session at a local primary school! 🔴🟡🟢🔵

We'll be using the ribbons in some games, the wool to make our own colour monsters, recycled cans and pom poms to sort colours, recycled card to make our own colour monsters, recycled bottles to make colour potions! 🔵🟢🟡🔴

Huge thanks to our local scrapstore- if you're local to us, go and check it out! You can join as a family, a charity, a business, a school or group. As well as the scrap items, they also sell a range of craft items at amazingly reasonable prices (I'm fact when I was in there today, they asked my advice on pricing an item and then said my suggestion was too high!)

🟡🟢🔵🔴 Looking forward to exploring all these items with the children tomorrow!

outside

🪵 🌧 Today saw the first of our new half term blocks

It was lovely to meet lots of new families and see some familiar faces as we played in the woods!

🌧 This morning it rained but rain didn't stop play! Although it's great to have a dry and sunny first session, it was SO lovely to hear our families who have been attending for a while talking to new families and hearing conversations like...

"Some of our favourite sessions are the rainy ones"
"I love the sound of rain on the tarps"
"It's easy to play out in the summer - I'm so glad we booked on to Forest School in the Autumn & Winter as it makes us come outside in all weather"
"It's a great start to the week!"
"It's great to have a morning out in the woods in the rain/cold, then you feel justified in snuggling up indoors in the afternoon!"
"If you can do a really rainy session like today, you can do any session!!"

🪵 We followed up this afternoon with a school session and then our new After School Club at Edwalton Primary School where we had lots of fun exploring the woods, making wooden medallions, mixing up a treat in the mud kitchen and lots more!

🌳 If you booked an individual session for this morning's Parent & Child session and would like to join us for the remainder of the half term, you are able to book the remaining 5 weeks as a block and receive our block booking discount!

🪵 We have a handful of spaces left in our After School Club at Edwalton, so if you missed today's but would like to join us - you can still join for the remaining 5 weeks

🌳 Our new Friday Parent & Child session starts this week too!

All bookings can be made via our website www.bootsandbrambles.com

♻️ Reduce, reuse, recycle ♻️
We live in a society that is full of contradictions. On one hand we are encouraged to "reduce, reuse and recycle" yet every season we are bombarded with new must-haves!

🏫This week it's what I've started to call the annual "Stand-in-front-of-your-front-door-smile-and-act-like-you-like-your-siblings" week aka "Back to School week!" There's SO much hype surrounding this week and SO much marketing! There's even "back to school boxes" now! 🏫

🏫Of course, everyone choses to mark this day in their own way and it's all down to personal choice, but in today's world it's hard not to feel the pressure to "do" and "have" it all! So for anyone feeling the pressure...

🏫I'm now several years into my school parenting career and have discovered several things;

1.) Children do NOT need a new school bag/pencil case/lunch box/full uniform each September

2.) In general primary school children don't need pencil cases/stationary at all as it's provided by school! Even at secondary it's basic - a maths set, calculator and a few pens!

3.) Children's feet don't stay the same size ALL year then miraculously grow in the 5 weeks holidays, though also the shoe shops don't seem to realise this - try buying a new pair of school shoes for a 12 year old in April, it's like looking for the moon on a stick!!

4.) Same goes for uniform! There's nothing wrong in sending children in last years off-white/whiteboard pen stained school shirts if they still fit!!

5.) You can kit your child out fully through second hand uniform sales

6.) If there's not time/children aren't in the mood for a photo - you can take one another morning!!

This September we have bought the sum total of one pack of new shirts for the 12 year old, one pack of PE T shirts for the 9 year old and one pair of new shoes for the 7 yo.

(Photo is from last September and 2/3 of these shoes are still in use!)

🍎🍏September is just around the corner! Here at Boots & Brambles we love to explore the changing seasons as we move into late summer and early autumn.

We'd love to hear from you, what does September mean to you? When you hear the word "September" what images does that conjur up? What are your favourite September activities? 🍎🍏

forestschoolnottinghamshire

Not long now until the start of our new term here at Boots & Brambles!

🌽 🥕 Join us this September at Boots & Brambles as we explore late summer! 🚜 🌽 🥕
Our unique Forest School sessions take place fully outdoors in our beautiful woodland space. Each week we explore a different seasonal theme through open ended, free play activities.

Swing in our hammock, mix up a treat in the mud kitchen, chase our giant bubbles through the woods. 🌳

💚Our Forest School sessions take place on Mondays & Fridays 10.30-12 from Monday 9th September. We have no upper or lower age limit for these sessions, there's so many benefits for all ages in spending time out in nature each week.💚

We offer both BLOCK BOOKING and INDIVIDUAL SESSION options.

Sibling discount (pre-walking siblings are free - we just ask you to let us know that they are coming along) 👦 👨‍👦 👨‍👦‍👦

Session price includes an hour and a half of woodland play, hot drinks and refreshments.

Car parking and toilets on site

Book via our website

🌞Leaping into the last week of the Summer Holidays!🌞

We'd love to hear from you! What have you been up to this summer? What have you got planned for the last week? 🌞💚 What's been your favourite outdoor activity this summer?

💚Nowadays there's SO much focus on the future, I sometimes feel like we are forgetting to live in the present! 💚

I went shopping for summer clothes at the start of August - there were no summer clothes to be found; only woolly jumpers, puffa jackets and Halloween attire! 🧤

As soon as we hit August, talk turns to "Autumn" and "Halloween" We are BIG fans of both Autumn and Halloween, but feel like the month of September gets forgotten and there's such a rush to get to "pumpkin season!" 🎃

Here at Boots & Brambles we will be exploring and enjoying September in all her glory! We will be focusing on the end of summer and harvest in our first few sessions! 🚜 🌽 🥕

Join us in our beautiful woodland site on Mondays & Fridays 10.30-12 from Monday 9th September.

Explore our beautiful woods through seasonal, nature-based activities. Swing in our hammock, mix up a feast in the mud kitchen, ride on our tractors and chase giant bubbles! 🚜

Sessions can be booked as a half term block or individually. We offer sibling discount and pre-walking siblings are free- we just ask you to let us know that they will be coming along. 👦 👨‍👦 👨‍👦‍👦

Price includes 90 minute Forest School session, hot drinks and refreshments. Car parking and toilets on site

Book now via our website



forestschoolnottinghamshire

Did you know that at Boots & Brambles ...

We run unique outdoor parties all year round for all ages? 🎉

🌳🎉We have been running outdoor parties for 10 years now and have a range of suggested themes such as Den Building, Witches & Wizards and our unique Wildcraft parties. However as a small, family run business, we also offer bespoke party options which can be tailored to your little ones interests.🎉

🌳🔥All parties are held at our beautiful Boots & Brambles Base Camp where you have the whole of our woodland space to explore and play including; our mud kitchen, hammock, giant bubbles and seesaws. 🌳🔥

All parties are led by a fully trained Forest School Practitioner, holding an enhanced DBS and Outdoor First Aid qualifications.

🌳At Boots & Brambles, all parties include individual lunch bags for each child (which can be tailored to all dietary requirements) Hot drinks and biscuits for adults are also provided. Each party finishes off with our piece de resistance, your own woodland campfire complete with marshmallow toasting, or upgrade to our new s'mores package - new for 2024! 🔥

We also offer Party Parcels, filled with a sweet of your choice to give to your party guests! 🍬

🎉On booking a party you will be sent our downloadable invites, kit list and directions to our site to give to your guests.

🎉All you have to do is turn up (and provide a cake if you wish!) We will do the rest!

🎉We have limited availability for the remainder of 2024! Visit our website
www.bootsandbrambles.com for more information, available dates and bookings

🌽 🥕 Join us this September at Boots & Brambles as we explore late summer! 🚜 🌽 🥕
Our unique Forest School sessions take place fully outdoors in our beautiful woodland space. Each week we explore a different seasonal theme through open ended, free play activities.

Swing in our hammock, mix up a treat in the mud kitchen, chase our giant bubbles through the woods. 🌳

💚Our Forest School sessions take place on Mondays & Fridays 10.30-12 from Monday 9th September. We have no upper or lower age limit for these sessions, there's so many benefits for all ages in spending time out in nature each week.💚

We offer both BLOCK BOOKING and INDIVIDUAL SESSION options.

Sibling discount (pre-walking siblings are free - we just ask you to let us know that they are coming along) 👦 👨‍👦 👨‍👦‍👦

Session price includes an hour and a half of woodland play, hot drinks and refreshments.

Car parking and toilets on site

Book via our website

🍂 LOTS of smiles today at our final Holiday Club! Our Bushcraft Warriors did a fantastic job;
Building natural shelters ⛺️
Making camouflage outfits 🍃
Creating tools and weapons using natural material 🪓
Creating natural dyes 🫐
Lighting their own campfires 🔥
Toasting marshmallows 🍡

A HUGE thank you to everyone who joined us in the woods today!

🟥🟩🟫 We had a FANTASTIC day today at Boots & Brambles Forest School for our Wildcraft Warriors Holiday Club! 🟥🟩🟫

🟫🟩🟥We hunted for "currency" to trade in the market for resources to build our own dens! ⛺️

🪓 We used tools to split wood

🔥 Learnt how to use a fire striker

🥄 Mixed up a feast in the mud kitchen

🪑 Added furniture, defence systems and cooking areas to our dens

💰 Set up our own businesses making/selling items to earn more "currency!"

🍡 🍬 Used our remaining "currency" to buy treats from the market "tuck shop!"

A HUGE thanks to everyone who joined us today... roll on tomorrow for our last Holiday Club of Summer 2024! 🟥🟩🟫

🪵 A beautiful day in the woods exploring Stick Man! 🪵

💚🌳 Our monthly Into the Woods with Zephyr’s Family Session for bereaved families takes place tomorrow Saturday 10th August 10-12 🌳💚 Book your free place via our website www.bootsandbrambles.com

🪵 🌳 Wow what a day! A HUGE thanks to everyone who came to visit Boots & Brambles Forest School at Lark in the Park today! 🌳 🍄

🌳We've had a fantastic day meeting lots of new families, seeing some familiar faces and spreading the word about what we do at Boots & Brambles!

🌳 We've made hundreds of wooden keyrings and ribbon sticks and thousands of giant bubbles! 🍄

🌳If you visited our stall today, please feel free to tag us in / share any photos of your own little ones exploring our activities! 🌳 🍄

🧸 Well that's a wrap for our Teddy Bear's Picnics for Summer 2024! 🧸

🐻 A HUGE thanks to everyone who has joined us in the woods at Boots & Brambles Forest School this week! We hope you had as much fun as our bear's did! 🐻

🧸 Please feel free to share any pictures of your own little ones at this week's sessions! 🧸

🌳Tomorrow we will be at Lark in the Park in West Bridgford- come and join us for FREE nature-based crafts, games and more! 🌳

🐻 A lovely morning at the first of our Teddy Bear's Picnic sessions at Boots & Brambles Forest School

🧸 If you missed today's session, bookings for tomorrow's Teddy Bear's Picnic close at 6pm today. BOOK NOW via our website www.bootsandbrambles.com

🐻 LAST CHANCE TO BOOK our Teddy Bear's Picnic session tomorrow Monday 5th August. BOOKINGS CLOSE at 6pm - book via our website www.bootsandbrambles.com 🐻

🏫"Teaching is a reliable job" 🏫
🏫 "What about your pension?" 🏫
🏫 "Won't you miss the holidays?"🏫

Seven years ago I made a life changing decision, not to return to my role as a teacher in a mainstream primary school.

💚It was NOT a decision that was taken lightly! But I was no longer the same person I'd been before. I had been enjoying my job less and less, we had suffered and survived the tragedy of losing our baby girl; our lives had taken a different path. During this time, spending time out in nature had been cathartic for me and I felt this was where I needed to be.

The main comments I had when I discussed leaving teaching were "It's a reliable job" "What about your pension?" "What about the holidays?" ⛱️

And yes these were things to consider!

💚Like many working parents, we now work during the school holidays, but we are beyond lucky to be able to schedule our own work calender, to be able to bring our children to work if required AND that our wildlings enjoy being out in the woods as much as we do! We are also very lucky to have friends and family nearby who help us with childcare.💚

💚Like many working parents, it's not always easy, I've had the mum guilt when my wildlings ask if I'm "working again?!" I DEFINITELY work more now than I ever did! BUT I want my wildlings to see the value in working hard, that things don't come easy, but if you work hard, you can achieve your goals.💚

On Monday, our youngest wildings came to work with us, they helped during the session and helped us pack away at the end. My middle wildling turned to me and said "Mum, your job is tough, you do this every day and then you come home and do things with us and work at home!" But she is still adamant that she wants to take over the family business one day! 💚

Yes it's hard work and I work more now than ever before ... but I wouldn't change it for the world; reliability, pensions and holidays included!

I often get asked "Do you miss teaching?" My answer "I now have THE best classroom in the world!" 🌳

🐻 IMPORTANT UPDATE 🐻 As these events include food, bookings will close at 6pm the NIGHT BEFORE - BOOK NOW to avoid missing out! 🧸

Join us next Monday 5th & Tuesday 6th August at Boots & Brambles Forest School for our Teddy Bear's Picnic held outdoors in our beautiful woodland! 🧸

🐻 Our Teddy Bear's Picnic sessions run from 10-12 and include;

🥪 🧺 Individual picnic lunch for each child

☕️🫖🍪 Hot drinks, scone & jam for adults

🐻 Teddy bear themed woodland play

🥄 Mud kitchen

⚪️ Giant bubbles

🌳 and LOTS MORE!

Places must be pre-booked via our website 🐻 🧺

www.bootsandbrambles.com

🪵 🍄 Such a great day at Boots & Brambles Forest School running our Stone Age Survivors Holiday Club! We had a fantastic time, with a great group of children in the lovely shady woods!

⚒️The children made their own Stone Age outfits, used tools to make their own spears and swords, made Hapa Zome prints using natural material, built dens, created Stone Age art and learnt how to safely build, light and manage their own campfire!

Such a great day - a HUGE thanks to everyone who came along! 💚

Our Summer Holiday Clubs are sold old for this summer- but we will soon be releasing our October Half Term sessions so keep your eyes peeled! 👀

🌞🌳 UPDATE on our SUMMER SESSIONS- we've had LOTS of enquiries this week about our summer sessions so here's a quick update...

🌳 HOLIDAY CLUBS - Wednesday 31st July, Tuesday 13th August & Wednesday 14th August - FULLY BOOKED

🐻 TEDDY BEAR'S PICNIC- Monday 5th & Tuesday 6th August- SPACES

🌞SUMMER IN THE WOODS - Monday 12th August - LIMITED SPACES

All sessions must be pre-booked - Book you place via our website

🌞 🌳 A beautiful morning in the woods today for our Boots & Brambles Forest School Summer in the Woods session

🌳 A HUGE thank you to everyone who joined us to play in the woods today - please feel free to share/tag us in any photos of your own little ones from today's session! 🌞

If you missed today's session, we have another Summer in the Woods session running on Monday 12th August 10.30-12 & our Teddy Bear's Picnic (including a picnic lunch) running on Monday 5th & Tuesday 6th August 🐻

Keep up to date with everything going on at Boots & Brambles by following us on Instagram

*** IMPORTANT INFORMATION ***
Please note that ALL of our Boots & Brambles Forest School sessions MUST be booked online via our website www.bootsandbrambles.com

If you have any questions about any of our sessions please drop us an email on [email protected] or via our social media pages.

🪵 🍄 As the Summer Term draws to a close it signals a time of change when many of our Boots & Bramblers will soon head off to school, new classes and new adventures. It's an absolute pleasure and priviledge to spend precious time each week out in the woods with these little ones.

"Oh the places you'll go! Today is your day! You're off to great places. You're off and away!" 💚

🍄 LAST CHANCE to book RECEPTION NEW STARTER SESSIONS🪵

Bookings will close at midday on Tuesday 23rd July

🌳Please note that as the sessions are designed for you to meet other families in your child's class - we need a certain number of families attending to make these sessions viable!🌳

🪵 Edwalton Primary School - Wednesday 24th July 9.30 - 11 am

🍄 Tollerton Primary School - Wednesday 24th July 1-2.30 pm

Please book via our website

🪵 🍄 Exciting news... Our weekly Parent & Child Forest School sessions will be running on MONDAYS & FRIDAYS in September!

🪵 🍄 These sessions are fully inclusive and are open to all ages! Sessions can be booked individually or in a block! Booking now open via our website