The National Trust 50 things to do before you’re 11 ¾ Is this an alternative to Forest school?

The National Trust 50 things to do before you’re 11 ¾ Is this an alternative to Forest school?

Forest schools originated in Scandinavia in the 1950’s as a way of educating children about nature. It was brought over to the UK in 1995 and was first taught at Bridge Water College in Somerset, which was the first accredited organisation to teach forest school teaching methods (Murray, 2003) to students. People have this crude idea that forest school is just for school children which is incorrect; forest school is relevant for all young people and adults. The Forest School Association (2011) describe forest schools as,

“a way of working with people in an outdoor natural space for an extended period of time, often a full year. Qualified practitioners carefully facilitate programmes which are uniquely tailored to the needs of the individuals within the group and have the fundamental aim of building participants’ self-esteem, confidence, independence and creativity.”

All of these aspects of what forest schools try to achieve are based around building upon individuals soft skills. Forest schools allow children the opportunity to respond positively to their environment and peers, where they may have previously failed to do so. This may result in the individuals becoming more responsive to future learning opportunities that arise (Murray, 2003).

The National Trust (2013) has come up with a list of 50 activities for children to do before they are 11 ¾. It created these activities because staff carried out a report highlighting that fewer than 1 in 10 children play in the outdoors, compared to the amount of time people spent outdoors half a generation ago. The National Trust has come up with these activities to get both children and their parents outside doing the basic outdoor activities everyone is capable of doing. The Trust has also compiled a number of different places around the United Kingdom to conduct these activities, which is easily accessible on the website. The image below shows all 50 of the activities and the ones I completed at 21 years old. 

50 Things to do before you are 11 3/4 Check List

The 50 things to do before you are 11 ¾ is a great idea for parents and teachers to promote to children of this generation, because otherwise they would be happy staying indoors playing, for example, video games. The list gives the children something to achieve, which motivates them to want to get them all ticked off before their 12^th birthday.

However, I do not think that the 50 things to do before you are 11 ¾ is an alternative to Forest school. Yes it gets children and their families into the outdoors to experience new activities and possible adventures. However, I do not think that it significantly develops an individual's soft skills and everything else forest schools go out to achieve. The list does not have to be addressed regularly, for example weekly as with forest schools which take place on a regular basis. There are obvious benefits to both organisations but they achieve different outcomes and one is not an alternative for the another.

References

FSA. (2011). Forest School myth busting. Available: http://www.forestschoolassociation.org/. Last accessed 1st October 2014.

Murray, R. (2003). Forest School Evaluation Project A Study in Wales . Available: http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/ForestSchoolWalesReport.pdf/$FILE/ForestSchoolWalesReport.pdf. Last accessed 1st October 2014.

National Trust. (2013). 50 things to do before you are 11 3/4 .Available: https://www.50things.org.uk/parents-area/faqs.aspx#a12. Last accessed 2nd October 2014.