Here we have collected a range of books to help support Forest School and encourage a love of outdoor learning in our children, at home and in our schools.

I love Forest School. It used to be the highlight of my week. Donning my muddy wellies and heading to school as one of the parent helpers for my kids’ weekly Key Stage 1 Forest School sessions. Blessed to have a brilliant location in South East London on the edge of Oxleas Woods, it was a joy. 

If you’re not lucky enough to have a location that lends itself and are unaware of what Forest School is, it is an outdoor, child-centered learning approach that encourages exploration, play, and problem-solving in a natural environment. It focuses on holistic development, building confidence, resilience, and social skills through hands-on experiences in woodlands or other natural settings.

Forest School was inspired by Scandinavian outdoor education and introduced to the UK in the 1990s. Today, it is widely used in early years, primary schools, and even with older children or special educational needs (SEN) groups.

Key Features of Forest School:

  • Child-Led Learning – Sessions are flexible, allowing children to explore at their own pace.
  • Outdoor Environment – Typically they take place in forests, woodlands, or nature reserves.
  • Hands-On Activities – Includes den-building, fire-lighting, tool use, nature crafts, and wildlife observation.
  • Risk-Taking & Resilience – Encourages managed risk, boosting self-esteem and problem-solving skills.
  • Long-Term Approach – Usually involves regular sessions over months or years rather than one-off visits.

The Benefits of Forest School:

  • Improves mental well-being through time in nature.
  • Enhances physical development via climbing, running, and tool use.
  • Boosts communication and teamwork in group tasks.
  • Encourages independence and confidence in decision-making

Children’s Picturebooks Set in the Forest

This adorable picturebook by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, first published in 1999, is a modern classic selling over 13.5 million copies worldwide and has been translated into more than 60 languages. It tells the story of a clever little mouse in the deep dark wood who outsmarts various predators in the woods by inventing a fearsome creature called The Gruffalo—only to discover that the Gruffalo is real!

Deep in the woods, beneath the trees, the animals are gathering. It's time for Mrs Owl's Forest School. Join Mouse, Squirrel, Fox and Rabbit for their forest school adventures. Out in the woods, they can learn about wildlife, try something new, get creative and - of course - make friends! Mrs Owl's Forest School series is a lovely series of books by Ruth Symons and illustrated by Seb Braun creates charming, detailed scenes that perfectly blend together picture book storytelling with non-fiction details. In his spare time, Seb volunteers as a Cubs and Squirrels leader (part of the Scouts movement), and his love and knowledge of the outdoors shines through on every page.

A Selection of Books About Forest School for Parents or Teachers

Tell me a child who doesn’t love mud. Or fire. Or splashing in puddles! If there is one, they might think differently after spending a day outdoors with Forest School Wild Play. Get muddy, get creative and get outdoors with this fabulous addition to the best-selling Forest School guides. Another fabulous addition to any teacher’s, leader’s, parent’s or carer’s outdoor toolkit. It’s a delight.

You can further bring your outdoor adventures to life with a set of 48 perfectly sized activity cards that will inspire young children to connect with nature all year-long, by the forest school dream team of Jane Worroll and Peter Houghton.

Talking of dream teams, this space has another great team who know how to make the outdoors fun! Naomi Walmsley runs Outback2Basics with her partner Dan Westall from their patch of woodland in Shropshire, UK. Specialising in bushcraft and Stone Age skills, they provide unique experiences for schoolchildren and teachers to connect to nature. Naomi is a qualified bushcraft instructor and Forest School Leader and believes that every child should be able to safely light a fire and have at least ten uses for a stick by the age of ten. Their 100 Forest School Activities is a bumper book that teaches kids how to thrive outside, through outdoor crafts, bushcraft skills and nature-based play.

Forest School Handbook is a lively collection of activities, crafts, bushcraft skills and nature-based play which will inspire kids to thrive outside. Whether just popping out for a walk, going camping or exploring in the woods, this handy-sized book will be your essential guide for connecting with the natural world.

Books and Tools for Managing Forest School

Celebrate the changing seasons A Year of Forest School, an activity-packed guide that will inspire children of all ages to get out and play. By the aforementioned Worroll and Houghton this brilliant book is bursting with interactive games, skill building-activities…and fun! It’s also fascinating to see how Worroll and Houghton gear each session towards the seasonal changes in the children too.

Forest School and Encouraging Positive Behaviour provides you with the tips, suggestions and philosophy to utilise outdoor skills and activities that children can benefit from, regardless of many additional needs they may have.

Books to Deliver an Urban Forest School

If the view from your window is more concrete than the countryside, this activity-packed book Urban Forest School helps you to make the most of your local patch and discover the hidden things you don't see when travelling around by car. Urban gardens, allotments, parks, cemeteries, playgrounds and more, provide green havens and opportunities for some magical forest-school fun. Whether it be collecting sticks in playgrounds or foraging for nettles in a nearby park, there is so much to explore and learn about.

Books Enabling Children to Craft with Nature

Featuring twenty-two easy craft projects using natural and recycled materials, The Big Book of Nature Art is a fun and eco way for young children to connect creatively with nature.

The Stick Book is a wonderfully inspiring book for the great outdoors or indoors for that matter.  The authors offer masses of suggestions for things to do with a stick, in the way of adventures and bushcraft, creative and imaginative play, games, woodcraft and conservation, music and more. 

#GetChildrenOutdoors @outback2basics

Click on the titles below to purchase, download an extract or read our expert reviews.