“To understand the wild you must first understand the wood.”
– Robert MacFarlane
Eco Therapy has become a familiar feature in schools as an antidote to the current strictures of testing and measurable outcomes. It offers children the chance to experience their place in nature, where for a moment the walls of the classroom become the trees and sky of the woodland.
Here the children learn skills which use natural materials to make creative artwork, build dens, learn skills of orienteering and map making and engage in imaginative play.
Alongside planned activities, children can play freely with others and create worlds and stories of their own.
They become familiar with the plants and creatures that belong to the place and become immersed in the scents of leaf and earth and woodsmoke.
Skills of observation are developed as they become familiar with the changes through the seasons, the fall of light and the turn of shadows through the day and sounds of birdsong and wind in the trees.
In a therapeutic context, Eco therapy offers a unique opportunity for children who have experienced trauma or displacement to know the peace and freedom that comes from regular connection with the natural world.
It helps them to develop a sense of belonging and responsibility towards themselves and others, as they grow in awareness that they are part of the earth and that their place in it matters.
