About Us.
Welcome to The Gentle Wild. We provide nature based play sessions and forest school sessions for children and their grown ups around SW London.
The Gentle Wild’s ethos is captured in our motto:
Life’s better outdoors.
We are passionate about providing rich and joyful opportunities for children and families to engage with nature. Our sessions are dedicated to nurturing children, families, and communities through nature-based learning and wellbeing support. We believe and the research shows that time spent outdoors strengthens not only wellbeing, resilience and creativity, but also family and community bonds and a clearer sense of belonging in the world.
Our approach is grounded in child-centered learning, creative play, and immersive experiences in the natural world. Our sessions aim to provide adventurous, inclusive, and inspiring opportunities for children, families, and communities to connect deeply with the natural environment.
Sessions
1. Mum and Baby Session (0-18 months)
This group is for those seeking gentle care and support during the early stages of their babies’ lives. Motherhood is equal parts hard and wonderful and you don’t need to do it alone. Come and join us in the woods, Monday mornings 10-11 am for a chat, nature crafts and skills, enriched play for babies and a hot cup of tea or coffee!
2. Family Outdoor Play Session (0-5 year olds)
Come and join us for some joyful and sometimes muddy fun! These sessions include nature based craft, forest school skills, games, storytelling, singing and importantly snacks and a hot cup of tea or coffee for the grown ups! N.B. If you are home educating or flexi-schooling and would like to bring an older sibling along, please get in touch to discuss.
3. Forest School for Home Ed/Flexi School (6 - 11 year olds)
Come and join us for forest school adventures every Friday morning 10am-12pm. Our sessions will follow a regular structure with a child centered approach aligned with the 6 Forest School principles. The focus of the group will be informed by the children’s interests and so will vary from term to term but will usually include forest skills, tool work, craft, games, tree climbing and a snack. N.B. This is set up as a drop off session but please contact us if you would like to attend with your child.
Meet the Team.
Siobhán De Jonghe - FOUNDER
Level 3 Accredited Forest School Leader.
BIO TO COME
Testimonials.
“Wonderful to see the children so engaged and busy in nature. Siobhan pitched the sessions so well for their age and stage.” - Jenny (Mum to Jack, Benji and Felicity)
“Children were all carefully listened to and attended to; space was given to them to develop their own interests as well to develop their own games together.”- Cat (Mum to Micah and Mila)
Bookings.
The Gentle Wild run nature based play and forest school sessions for children up to the age of 11 around SW London. We can’t wait to meet you!
Block booking discounts available. Please see session details for more information.
Refund policy:
Once you have made your booking, your place will be reserved and the session will be resourced according to the number of participants booked on. On this basis, we are not able to offer refunds if you are unable to attend for any reason. Under very exceptional circumstances credits and refunds will be given at the owner’s discretion otherwise the fee is non-refundable. We thank you for your understanding on this.
Our staff are DBS checked and our ethos is to support each child according to their individual needs, all children and their grown ups are welcome here. Please get in touch if you have any questions ahead of booking.
The Gentle Wild take safeguarding seriously. If you have any concerns or complaints, please contact our Designated Safeguarding Lead Siobhan De Jonghe. And please contact us for a copy of our policies.
FAQ
For more info, please check out answers to the some frequently asked questions:
