Urban Forest School by Naomi Walmsley and Dan Westall

More than a book review

This June GMC Publications are delighted to bring out a new outdoor activity and green crafting book for families and children. Urban Forest School authors Naomi Walmsley and Dan Westall are bushcraft experts, forest school teachers and authors of the bestselling Forest School Adventure. Their first book focused on Forest School education in forests but this new book brings the action to towns and cities and shows it doesn’t matter where you live so long as there are gardens, parks, trees and green spaces there will be a way to share and enjoy the natural world with you children.

Both Dan and Naomi are parents and have a wealth of experience when it comes to educating children and parents about how to make the most of the great outdoors whether you live in the countryside, suburbs or a city.? You don’t need a woodland to be able to hunt for bugs. You don’t need a garden to make mud pies, you don’t need a vast green space to play games and you don’t need fields and meadows to look for plants and wildlife. You can create your own nature space or, even better, spend some time searching it out. You may be surprised by what you see around you.

Additionally during this lockdown period the Naomi and Dan have been live streaming forest school/ bush craft lessons from YouTube and Facebook, please check them out here to see past episodes or tune in on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10am to see new ones

Forest School Adventures Facebook Videos

Urban Forest School Adventure

The new book will be available very soon for £16.99.

Kids love this kind of thing and it’s a great way of encouraging them to get off their screens and get outside. With many of us being unable to venture out further because of COVID19 restrictions, taking the lessons to your own back garden or local area is a big bonus.

The book shows that there is so much to do in your own back garden as well as in parks or even around the city. There is wildlife everywhere! The book also includes craft activities like leaf printing and things to do with conkers. It also has recipes from foraging for example, dandelion cookies, which we made recently. (so sad I didn’t photograph them now.)

Do take a look at the Outback2Basics Facebook page and check out their videos. It might be just what you need for inspiration for the kids while they are stuck at home.