Badger Forest School

Choose Nature CIC

Our Mission: To inspire lifelong learning, support connections to nature and strengthen communities.

We are a Community Interest Company, which means we are a non-profit organisation partly funded by grants and sponsorship

Forest School

Forest School is a child-centred inspirational learning process, that offers opportunities for holistic growth through regular sessions. It is a long-term program that supports play, exploration and supported risk taking. It develops confidence and self-esteem through learner inspired, hands-on experiences in a natural setting.


The process helps and facilitates more than knowledge-gathering, it helps learners develop socially, emotionally, spiritually, physically and intellectually.
It creates a safe, non-judgemental nurturing environment for learners to try stuff out and take risks. Forest School inspires a deep and meaningful connection to the world and an understanding of how a learner fits within it.

Our approach to risk means that learners constantly expand on their abilities by solving real-world issues, building self-belief and resilience.

We believe that risk is more than just potential for physical harm, but a more holistic thing, there are risks in everything we do, and we grow by overcoming them. Forest School therefore, helps participants to become, healthy, resilient, creative and independent learners.

Take A Tour Of Badger Forest School Through Our Video

Badger Holiday Clubs

To book Badger Holiday Clubs at Cardinham Woods, click below.

Our Activities

We offer sessions for :

Pre-school groups
Home Ed community
Dangerous Dads
Mothers and babies
SEND community


Set in our beautiful and safe sites, enjoy a campfire, time in the woods, mindfulness and companionship. Discover the nature and sensory play.

Nurture Programme

This provision is an intervention programme providing an inclusive and sensory rich environment for children needing a bespoke timetable.

We work with local schools across Cornwall at three different sites.

This programme helps to develop confidence, build self esteem, motivation to learn and self worth.

Educational Development

We run school trips for primary and secondary schools offering a variety of educational packages.

Our educational outreach programme provides professional development for staff in an outdoor learning environment.

Open to schools, educational facilities and those returning to work or looking for a new career in outdoor learning..

Make it stand out.

  • "Having the opportunity to work outside in a beautiful environment and observing the seasons heighten my spirit even in the depths of winter, I would highly recommend volunteering with Choose Nature!"

    Weekly volunteer

  • “Dangerous Dads has been such a brilliant experience for my children and I. We have been struggling to find things that all three of us love doing and now we have found it! The fires and campfire food are the highlight for us as well as meeting other like-minded people.”

    A Dangerous Dad!

  • "Badger Forest school is a great environment, run by people who genuinely care about the children (and adults) they support. It's a wonderful resource and I hope to see it continue to expand and go from strength to strength...”

    Mum attending Badger Cubs

  • “Thank you so much for today. It was such a lovely relaxed session for the little ones and they really enjoyed exploring the site, all the activities and making friends. It was lovely to attend a session with other parents who understand some of the challenges we are facing and to have the opportunity to chat to them”

    A parent attending ‘Making Track's’ open day

  • “Badger Forest school's innovative approach to education in a natural setting is refreshing and inspiring. The dedicated staff showed a genuine passion for teaching and connecting with the students, creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere. The activities were engaging and educational, allowing my daughter to learn and explore in a hands-on way. From outdoor adventures to creative arts and crafts, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. I was impressed by the emphasis on environmental stewardship and sustainability, helping students understand important values."

    Parent of an individual being supported by our Nurture Programme

  • “…importance of forest school for my son: He is totally non-verbal and has suspected autism and the fact that he can go to an environment where people use Makaton frequently really has a huge impact on him. He is usually quite isolated at groups and doesn't want to interact with others, but having a group that has leaders and parents who are willing to communicate with him in a way he understands makes such a difference."

    Parent whose son regularly attends sessions

Working With The Community

Choose Nature

Find out about us, our mission, and why we have created this space for the community to enjoy, learn and grow together.

Follow Us On Instagram @badgerforest

View fullsize Just wanting to give a huge shout out and thank you to @edenprojectcornwall . We salute you. The work that goes into creating such wonderful experiences for us all here in Cornwall and across the world is amazing. We love it 😍 and very excited to kn
View fullsize Such a wonderful day at Cardinham Woods working with y2/3/4 pupils. They are a pretty amazing bunch. The children worked so well in their teams, they listened so well to safety instructions and shared their ideas. We lit fires, toasted cinnamon apple
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View fullsize Thank you to Kym and H who shared this photo with us today from Castle An Dinas today. We had a quiet day in the woods today as our pupils didn’t manage yo arrive in their various taxis . Many parts of Cornwall were covered in snow and roads we
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View fullsize Such a gorgeous day hosting an outdoor learning and forest school day for St Kew school. Children in YR and Y1 came to join me today. We were learning about our local area and comparing the woodland site to our school grounds. We used our senses to
View fullsize Badger parties are a real treat. Lots of fun with friends in the woods, having a campfire, cooking sausages on a stick, playing games, making woodland crafts and exploring in nature while parents can relax and enjoy the beauty of nature and happy chi
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View fullsize Thank you Kelly for a wonderful Badger cubs session today. We had a fabulous time and felt so blessed to be back in the woods with you all. It was extremely moving marking Rememberance day out in nature and amongst young children. The quiet and still
View fullsize Thank you so much to our competition winner Beth who designed this beautiful design for our entrance space. A huge thank you to my best friend and incredible artist @heatherjp1 who drew the design for us (whilst on holiday!) and finally to our very o
View fullsize Lots of beautiful mark making today at our badger cubs session. More often than not it’s the child initiated and unplanned learning that becomes the focus of the session. Beautiful creativity and lots of mindful art created from both children a
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View fullsize Happy half term everyone. We have had maybe the busiest half term ever!!! Lots going on this half term so check our website for more details. I gave myself a little treat with my beautiful friend Lisa @mindbodydancecornwall who also runs her own bus
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