News Blog

The children had a thoroughly enjoyable visit to The Hive, an environmental education centre amongst Epping Forest’s 50,000 ancient trees.  It was the perfect location to get outdoors, connect with nature, study habitats and learn about a variety of animals.  

Experiencing the forest first hand, in an age appropriate manner, supports the development of child choice when considering how to protect the environment for the future. Studies have shown that the outdoors can offer an enabling environment with endless opportunities for children to explore, interact and discover. This all forms the foundation for confident and independent learners.

F1 followed the mouse on an exciting adventure trail through the deep dark wood, meeting many of the characters from Julia Donaldson’s Gruffalo tale.  

Numerous opportunities to develop gross motor skills were provided on the trail, such as making a log pile house, following the path of a stream to creating natural land art from the resources found on the forest floor.

After a much needed lunch, the children were invited to handle many exotic animals.  These included a giant African land snail, a stick insect, a hissing Madagascar cockroach, a fire salamander and a very large corn snake!  This activity taught the children about the importance of care and respect for the animals and something about their natural habitats.