Forest Classroom
Grounded in Pikler, Waldorf and Forest School pedagogies, the Gulmohar Forest Classroom is an afterschool program for children. It is a multi-age program that involves grouping children of different ages together. This approach offers unique developmental and learning benefits, allowing each to learn from and with each other in a natural and community-oriented setting.
We give space for children to explore, play, and discover nature through games, stories, and outdoor challenges that foster early naturalist skills. The Gulmohar Forest Classroom is a holistic experiential program integrating the Hands, Heart and Head pedagogy of Waldorf Education, where children develop creativity and resilience through a lifelong relationship with the natural world and the environment. It builds sensory awareness, fine and gross motor skills, emotional regulation, social skills and trust, problem solving and eco-literacy.
With regular sessions rather than infrequent visits, the practitioner can build the cycle of observation and planning that takes into account each individual child’s needs and abilities.
Connecting Our Children With Nature
Forest Classroom is an inspirational learning process that invites children to learn through a direct experience of the natural world. This is a long-term program happening at different times through the year and offers opportunities for holistic growth through regular sessions. Taking place outdoors within our own grounds or in other natural settings, this program nurtures confidence and self-esteem in children through managed risk-taking, self-directed exploration of the environment and hands-on experiences.
Our Dedicated Forest Guides
Our Forest Classroom Program is directed by our trained practitioners and we continually develop our own learning of the worldwide Forest School movement. Forest School started in Scandinavia with the idea of the open air classroom culture, Friluftsliv or “free-air living”, which was seen as a way of life in Scandinavia when Forest School began in the 1950’s. Now, it has spread all over the world, as a grassroots movement across Europe, Asia and North America. Our Forest Program leader has been trained by a UK-trained Forest School trainer who is running Nature Classroom in Myanmar since 2019, and specialises in creating programs that are local and culturally and geographically relevant.
