Exploring Nature, Culture & Connection through the lens of Outdoor Play.
Free Forest School is a national-and-beyond organization that empowers parents and caregivers to make free play in nature a central part of childhood.
Grandparenting in Nature: Experiencing the Outdoors Across Generations
Marty Smith reflects on decades of outdoor experiences, from childhood imaginary play to outdoor adventures with her grandkids.
Forest Bathing: Big Medicine for Big and Little People
Dr. Suzanne Bartlett Hackenmiller explains what forest bathing is and why it supports our physical and mental health.
Nature Play Schema: Building Blocks for Crucial Brain Development
Understanding the concept of play schemas helps to establish context for the learning and development that occurs when children play, and it helps adults cultivate patience for what otherwise may be interpreted as stubborn or difficult behaviors.
How Does a Sliding Scale Model Promote Equity?
Since our founding in 2015, we strongly ascribed to a belief that there should be no charge for access to Free Forest School. In retrospect, this played into the common confusion between what is “equal” and what is “equitable.”
FFS & U of MN Examine Parent-Child Interaction During Play
DeLiema and colleagues were recently awarded a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Rapid Response Grant through the Global Programs and Strategy Alliance (GPS Alliance) to study ‘Parent-child Discourse in Outdoor Inquiry: Understanding Autonomy, Risk, and Failure during Learning.’
Community Visioning for a More Equitable Future
At Free Forest School, we see that our model must change and evolve. Kids simply can’t play freely outdoors together as they used to, and no one knows when that will be safe to resume. What’s more, shortcomings of our previous model, and the organization’s rapid rate of growth, meant we fell short of achieving our goals and commitments to building an inclusive and empowering multicultural movement. We are setting out to actively engage our community in a process of envisioning a new and better model.
Outdoor CEO Diversity Pledge – 2020 Report
2020 has provided Free Forest School with a unique opportunity to tackle the important work of promoting inclusion and representation for Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color. With in-person FFS gatherings cancelled for most of the year due to COVID-19, we were able to take the time to pause and re-think our operations and priorities in a deep and critical way, seeking to bring many voices to the table to imagine creative solutions to overcome barriers and expand access to outdoor play, and to re-envision a new and more equitable future for Free Forest School.
Early STEM Skills at Free Forest School: How Nature Exploration is the Basis for Science Learning
Learning in nature through scientific inquiry is a great way to support kids’ STEM skills.
Learning to Play and Playing to Learn
Learning takes many forms, but self-directed play lies at the heart of it.
Beyond Babywearing: Why Newborns Belong at Free Forest School
There may be a sentiment that children will get more out of Free Forest School if they’re hiking, interacting with others, and getting dirty. Our groups nationwide seem to consist of more walkers and beyond, with many of the tiny humans hitting the trails with an older sibling. I think newborns belong in the forest, and not merely as an accompaniment to the more mobile members of the family.