Tending Course weekend (Stage 3 of the Facilitator training course)
About the course
Over two days we will look at all aspects of tending a Children’s Forest from young trees into the future. This will include developing a growing community around your children’s forest, practical aspects of caring for a young forest, crafts and activities to increase and enhance biodiversity, tracking and recording changes in the environment, supporting connection in children and communities, creating community learning and celebration opportunities.
During this weekend course we will explore tending the land and our role as caretakers – reconnecting us with the positive part humans can play in the health of our ecosystem. The tending of a newly planted Children’s Forest offers children and their communities a place to develop connections with each other as well as the land and the family of species with which we share the world. Here we develop heart connection as well as knowledge and ecological understanding. We will explore the practicalities of looking after the trees; the creation of habitats for wildlife; surveying the site and reporting with advice from ecologists.
Who is this course suitable for?
- This course is for those who have completed our Facilitator training course and attended a Children’s Forest planting. It will complete your Children’s Forest training and enable you to organise, plant & tend Children’s Forests for your local community and to work as a Children’s Forest facilitator for other projects.
The course will cover
- An opportunity to expand your tools and deepen your practice in nature with children.
- Learn practical aspects of tending young trees and caring for a young forest into the future.
- How to create habitats for wildlife to enhance biodiversity; surveying the site and reporting with advice from ecologists.
- How to support connection in children and communities and develop a growing community around your Children’s Forest through the creation of community learning and celebration opportunities.
- An exploration of our role as caretakers – reconnecting us with the positive part humans can play in the health of our ecosystem.
Course Fee
£350 (standard fee) £500 (supporters fee). Price includes 2 day camp with food included. Price may change for 2025.
Please pay at the level comfortable to you. We support paying it forward – when you pay more as a supporter, it will directly facilitate someone else to attend via the supported (concessionary) rate. And all additional income will directly help with the planting of Children’s Forests, contributing towards a bright future for all.
Terms & Conditions
Please read our Terms and conditions, linked here.
About the tutors
Anna Richardson: Anna has been a nature mentor and trained forest school leader for over 20 years, working with children of all ages and mentoring adults in plant lore, foraging, nature connection and bushcraft. The 8 Shields deeply informs Anna’s work and approach. She is passionate about connecting to nature through creativity and reverence for life and is also a forest school trainer through Circle of Life Rediscovery and has co-authored two books : Learning with Nature and The Children’s Forest and am the founder of the Children’s Forest.
Pippa James: Pippa has 25 years experience of working with land, designing and making ecological gardens. She has taught Permaculture for over 20 years and has been passionate about inspiring people to develop their own connection to a piece of land to grow food for families and communities. She has created the first Children’s Forest tree nursery, facilitating children to grow native trees from local seed, for planting Children’s Forests.
