Smiles all round at Betchworth Forest Camp! 

Linda Spratt reports on our hugely successful half term Forest Camp

The day dawned bright and clear, and most importantly, not too hot given the recent heat-wave - perfect in fact, with just enough cloud, and a forecast mellow, dry 16 degrees. Phew. Relief all round, although we had plenty of rainy-day plans too…

We arrived in the beautiful secret woodland location to find preparations well under way, the main area recently mowed - thanks to our generous and thoughtful hosts, Ros, Ken and their gardener, and many scythed paths cut through the tall wild grass. This alone was just wonderful for running around, hide and seek and spontaneous games of “It”, which some children declared the best part of the day! It's truly inspiring to see the complete freedom that a good Forest Camp encourages and enables; we are so lucky to have this on our doorstep.

It was a full day with so many fun things to do - too many to mention! Firm favourites included stream-dipping (similar to pond dipping, but with more splashing about), practising bush-craft skills, whittling, building and playing in our camp-tents, making our own small fires, sitting around the big camp-fire eating toasted marshmallows. Self-made s’mores and camp-fire doughnuts were also, not unexpectedly, enormously popular, as well as some quieter, more mindful activities like making friendship bracelets, clay modelling, rock-painting, collage, drawing and making paper chains. There was also an opportunity for bird-watching in the quiet spaces, and some interactive story-telling.

This was my first experience of Forest Camp. What I love most is the freedom the children have, either to pursue assisted activities, or initiate and lead their own, which also led onto some interesting discussions and stories around the campfire. If we judge the success of the day by the number of happy, tired children going home, then I think we have to say - Huge Success all round! This is almost entirely due to the thorough and thoughtful preparations undertaken by Clair, Rich, Riley and Benji, ably assisted by Hilary on the day. Again, we are so lucky to have them in Betchworth.

It's such fun - and rewarding too, encouraging children’s curiosity and interest in wildlife and the natural world, helping develop that respect and understanding of our environment, which is so crucial to the future of our planet. Quote of the day has to be, “Yes, slugs do have mummies too”!

Date for your diary: If you missed this Forest Camp, but like the sound of future local Forest Camps for your child, we'll be holding our Summer Forest Camp on Wednesday 27th August. Bookings open in July and spaces get filled very quickly!

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