“I am going to stay here for ever”

This week I have spent three different days outside with children. Today was my nieces 4th Birthday and after lunch we went for a family walk in Epping Forest (behind my mums house) with my mum, brothers and their families, my husband and two of my grown up children.  We walked, build a den, stomped in mud, threw stones in the pond and enjoyed each other’s company.


On Wednesday I accompanied a small group of children from Newham to Epping Forest.  I met them at the station and made the short walk to Knighton Woods where we spent the day exploring.  For some of the children this was their first visit to the forest. 

They ran, squelched in mud and were very excited to find a tunnel under a bridge that crossed a dried up stream.  Without much hesitation two children got down into the ditch to investigate.  Another boy joined them and they talked excitedly together about whether they could go through the tunnel.  After a while the girl looked up from the deep ditch and asked “can we got through the tunnel?” I asked what do you think? Is it big enough? They thought it was and had a go.  One by one the bent over and walked through the tunnel to the other side.  Very pleased with themselves they excitedly chatted together before deciding to try to climb out.  The bank sides were very steep and slippery and it took many goes to get out but they persevered, worked together to find solutions, encouraged each other and eventually all were out of the ditch. 

We carried on our walk talking about bear hunts, witches, a monster tree, until we found a good place for a base camp.  The adults collected logs to make a camp circle and the children explored a bit and quickly discovered a half build den.   A three year old boy started to collect sticks (twice his height) to continue building the den and the other children soon joined in.  Some children looked for mini beasts, some spent a long time involved in building the den while others explored a bit.  One two year old girl, who was not as confident, stayed close by to an adult.
Venturing further afield the children found a puddle; it turned out to be a pretty deep one.  They all had a paddle, some were more adventurous than others finding out the puddle was deeper than they thought and the water filled their wellies.  After much splashing, laughing and screaming, one of the adults suggested building a bridge.  There were plenty of logs and branches around as the forest keepers had been cutting down trees.  The children build a bridge and then two of the bravest children had a go at crossing it.  It was very wobbly and required a lot of balance.  They fell in a few times but tried and tried again saying “I can do it, I can do it” until eventually both of the children made it across the bridge safely.  They screamed with pleasure, massive smiles on their faces at their achievement.

After a clean up, empty of the wellies and lunch we went for another adventure ending up where we had started just in time to get the train back home. 

On Thursday I spent the day at a full time forest nursery in a different part of London.  These children are familiar with their forest surroundings as they are there every week.  This meant there was less excited exploring and more high quality imaginative play.

In the afternoon I sat with a small group of three year old boys on a pile of rotting logs (their castle), warmed by the early spring sunshine, listening to them play.  The tree boys negotiated and suggested ideas for the play; they worked together and solved their disagreements with very little assistance. They planned and discussed who was going to be the king, what they had in their pockets, one had salad, one had a salmon.  They decided to feed their horses (more logs) salmon. I wondered if horses would like salmon.  They thought their horses did like salmon but also asked what horses ate.  I thought for a moment and said I didn’t have a horse so I wasn’t sure everything they liked but know they ate grass and carrots.  “and hay” pipped up a three year old”.  They thought a bit and one boy said “my horses like salad”. They then set about feeding their horses with carrots and salad (old leaves and bark that had fallen off of the logs).  This play continued uninterrupted apart form the occasional discovery of a very wiggly worm and a centipede.  I sat, watched, listened and on a couple of occasions did what I was asked (picked more carrots, fed a horse or rode a horse).  At one point I wondered out loud if the horses might be full up and need some exercise.  One of the boys said “but they only liked to eat”.  I expressed my concern that if they only ate and ate perhaps they would get to fat to run fast, “that’s ok” he said “they can walk slowly”.

After a while one boy announced he needed a wee and ran back to the camp to use the toilet, shortly afterwards an older holiday club boy joined us.  “Can I join in” he asked me.  I am sure you can I replied but it is not my castle so you will need to ask the kings.  He turned to the three year olds “can I play with you” he asked, “you have to say please” responded a three year old, “please can I play” the five year old asked “yes, you can sit on my horse” the three year olds said smiling broadly. I love it that the three year olds were in charge of the play and the five year old respected that.  As I sat on my ‘horse’ in the afternoon sun, watching and listening I thought to myself….is this a real job? Do people actually get paid for this? This is not a job is a privilege. What a wonderful way to spend your day.


“I am going to stay here for ever” announced one of the three year olds, and who could blame him.