School Visits

Teaching Trees offers fully funded woodland visits and school based workshops for children aged 3+. Led by our Education Officers, our visits are curriculum linked and create knowledge and understanding through experience of the natural world.

Each 2 hour session is filled with games, activities, story telling and discovery to inspire your group about the importance of woodlands.

At some sites we are also able to offer a full day visit, please ask your local Education Officer.

Please note that not all topics are available at all sites and some may only be available at certain times of year.

Woodland Ecosystems

EYFS and KS1

Learn about the changes in the woods around you through play, making and creating. Go on a search for the first flowers of spring, bask in the warmth of the summer sun or crunch through the autumn leaves on a seed hunt.

Go on a treasure hunt around the woods to find each of the stages of a plant life cycle and plant a seed to take back to school with you. In autumn you may even be able to take part in one of our seed gathering sessions.

Use the natural environment to ignite creative writing and speech and language development.

Discover the forest through the eyes of Little Red Riding Hood. Identify the plants and animals she would have seen on her journey and use natural resources to create your own stories.

Reveal the homes and superpowers of woodland minibeasts. Create minibeast habitats.

Search for evidence of our woodland animals, and play some games to introduce the idea of balance in nature.

How does the forest change through the year? What does this mean for animals like hedgehogs? Create a hedgehog home.

KS2

Discover woodland seeds, their similarities and differences, and what seeds contribute to woodland management.

You are part of a stone age tribe that has just moved into this area; how will you use the woodland to survive? Go on a hunt to find vital resources, build a shelter and discover the challenges of life in the stone age.

You and your Viking clan are challenged to scout out the woodland for the resources it needs to survive; will the chief be impressed with your finds?

Experience the trees and their uses of our native woodland, then imaginatively explore the tropical rainforest. How are they different?

Search the forest for evidence of climate change; how can forestry help us in the race to lessen the impact? What do you think is most important? Take part in practical work to support the forest ecosystem.

A scavenger hunt will take you through the forest on the trail of the creatures calling it their home. Who eats what and is the ecosystem balanced?

Woodland Management

KS1

Scout out the woodland for landmarks to draw onto your map and find North. Can you challenge another team to find your hidden treasure?

Explore the different ways we can look after woodlands so that they look after us (and the other animals!).

KS2

Just what is eating all the trees and seeds? Delve into this investigation to find out.

Survey the woodlands for landmarks to use on your own maps, and discover how to tell where North is without a compass!

The forest needs thinning and you are the team of experts ready to work out just how much timber we can get.

Forestry and Timber

EYFS and KS1

Uncover the properties of different building materials in the woods, through the eyes of the Three Little Pigs!

How will you make a bridge using only the materials found in the woods, and will the Billy Goats Gruff get safely across?

KS2

Scrutinize the history of forests through hands-on investigations, and debate the big questions!

Is forestry all about chainsaws? You’ll be finding out who’s who in the forest and whether there’s a future career waiting for you!

From cradle to grave, unmask the hidden properties of timber and how humans have used it for centuries. What role will woodlands play in the future?