Our Favourite Outdoor Learning Spots: Forest School Adventures around Balham, Tooting, Streatham & Norbury
- Caroline Curtis
- 17 minutes ago
- 9 min read
Outdoor learning is at the very heart of what we do at Lucky Beans Childcare.
Our forest school ethos means that children get out and about every day. Learning in nature, exploring their local green spaces, and developing confidence, curiosity, and resilience.
There's something magical about watching little ones discover a ladybird under a log, feel the texture of a tree bark, or splash in puddles after the rain.
These aren't just moments of play; they're powerful learning experiences that shape how children understand and interact with the world around them.
In this blog, we're sharing our favourite outdoor learning spots in Balham, Tooting, Streatham, and Norbury, where our Lucky Beans settings regularly visit and why these special places matter so much to the development of our children.
Balham – Where Urban Meets Natural
Balham's location offers wonderful access to several outstanding green spaces. Each provides unique opportunities for outdoor nursery learning and forest school activities.
Clapham Common
Just a short journey from Balham, Clapham Common is one of our most treasured outdoor learning destinations.
With a history spanning almost a thousand years, Clamham Common is protected by an Act of Parliament and is designated as a Conservation Area.
The Common includes about 30 species of trees and numerous wildlife, including voles, foxes, Graylag geese, common frogs, and many others, amongst its woodlands and four ponds.
What We Do Here:
Nature Detective Work – We encourage children to observe seasonal changes, spot different tree species, and look for wildlife.
The diverse habitats mean we might see squirrels gathering acorns, hear woodpeckers in the trees, or watch ducks paddling on the ponds.
Loose Parts Play – The common provides natural materials such as sticks, leaves, pine cones, and stones that serve as tools for imaginative play and creative construction.
Children might build mini shelters for toy animals, create natural art installations, or sort items by size, colour, and texture.
Physical Development – The varying terrain, from flat grasslands to gentle slopes, supports gross motor skill development.
Children learn to navigate different surfaces, balance on logs, and develop spatial awareness in a natural setting.
Sensory Exploration – We bring baskets to collect natural treasures, encouraging children to feel different textures, smell flowers, and listen to the sounds of nature.
Tooting – A Community Connected to Nature
Tooting's green spaces offer the perfect spot right on our doorstep. We're lucky to be surrounded by such accessible, varied outdoor spaces where our children can explore, discover, and learn in nature throughout the year.
Tooting Common & Tooting Bec
Tooting Common and Tooting Bec are cornerstones of our outdoor learning programme.
Adjacent to each other, these expansive green spaces offer well-maintained playgrounds, wide-open areas perfect for ball games and kite flying, but it's the natural features that we value most for our forest school sessions.
Dating back to medieval times, the Commons are protected by legislation over other public parks. They are also a Site of Metropolitan Importance due to the acid grasslands, the vast oak trees, and the historic avenues.
What We Do Here:
Bug Hunting Adventures – Armed with magnifying glasses and bug viewers, children search under logs, in long grass, and around trees for minibeasts.
We talk about different creatures, their habitats, and how to handle them gently before returning them to their homes.
Leaf Collections – Throughout the seasons, we collect fallen leaves and discuss why they change colour, why some trees keep their leaves while others lose them, and how leaves feel different at different times of year.
Back at nursery, these collections become art materials for printing, rubbing, and collage work.
Den Building – Using fallen branches, large leaves, and natural materials, children work together to create shelters and hideaways.
This collaborative activity develops problem-solving, teamwork, and spatial reasoning skills.
Seasonal Nature Walks – Each season brings different discoveries.
Spring brings blossoms and new growth. Summer offers long grass and wildflowers, while autumn provides colourful leaves and acorns. And winter lets us spot bare tree structures and perhaps even frost patterns.
Streatham – Wild Spaces for Wild Imaginations
Streatham offers some of the richest natural environments in South West London, perfect for immersive forest school experiences.
Streatham Common & The Rookery
Streatham Common is an absolute gem for outdoor nursery learning, and we're fortunate to have such an exceptional natural space accessible to our settings.
Streatham Common contains areas of woodland, grassland, meadows, streams and a picnic area, as well as a large children's playground, café, toilets and a seasonal paddling pool.
The Common, along with The Rookery, are a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) for the London Borough and Lambeth.
With numerous awards, such as the Green Flag Award, these areas are highly regarded by the local community and Greater London.
The Common and Rookery are packed with wildlife, home to Lambeth's largest areas of acid grassland and ancient woodland.
For our little ones, that means exploring real, thriving ecosystems where nature learning happens hands-on, not from a book.
What We Do Here:
Eco-Environmental Exploration – The path passes through three distinct habitats: a meadow, woodland, and an area of acid grassland.
This diversity allows children to compare and contrast different natural environments.
Wildlife Spotting – The Local Nature Reserve status means the common supports abundant wildlife.
Children might spot squirrels, hear birdsong, or observe insects in their natural habitats. We use this as an opportunity to teach respect for wildlife and the importance of careful observation.
Natural Art and Creativity – We collect items like pinecones, interesting twigs, and leaves and use them for land art.
Children arrange natural materials into patterns, shapes, and pictures.
Connecting Indoor and Outdoor Learning – A particular strength of our approach is bringing the outdoors in.
After collecting leaves at Streatham Common and The Rookery, we return to the nursery and use them to print patterns, supporting both creative development and understanding of natural forms.
Norbury – Hidden Gems and Peaceful Spaces
While Norbury might be known as a quieter residential area, it offers lovely green spaces that work beautifully for nursery-age outdoor learning.
Norbury Park (Croydon)
Dating back to 1935, Norbury Park provides our nursery children with a safe, manageable outdoor space that's perfect for younger learners or those new to forest school activities.
Features of Norbury Park include playing fields, multi-games courts and a children's playground, but we primarily value the park's quieter green spaces and natural areas.
What We Do Here:
Manageable Size – Unlike the expansive commons, Norbury Park's more intimate scale is less overwhelming for toddlers and babies experiencing outdoor learning for the first time.
Safe Enclosed Feeling – The park's layout provides clear boundaries, helping children feel secure as they explore.
Mix of Facilities – We can combine structured playground time with unstructured nature exploration.
Seasonal Treasure Hunts – We create simple scavenger hunts appropriate for the children: Can you find something green? Something rough? Something that fell from a tree?
Picnic Learning – The park's peaceful atmosphere makes it ideal for outdoor snack times, where children practice eating in nature, managing their belongings, and tidying up after themselves
Why Outdoor Learning Matters & How We Do It at Lucky Beans Childcare
At Lucky Beans Childcare, we're passionate about outdoor learning because we've seen firsthand how it transforms children's development, well-being, and understanding of the world.
The Benefits of Forest School for Young Children
Our previous blog post, The Great Outdoors, explains what a forest school is and how we implement the ethos of a forest school nursery. It also describes the benefits of outdoor nursery learning.
Some of the benefits of following a forest school ethos include:
Physical Development and Health Benefits
Regular outdoor time supports children's physical development in ways that indoor play simply cannot.
Navigating uneven ground strengthens core muscles and improves balance. Climbing, jumping, and running in natural spaces builds strength, coordination, and stamina.
Fresh air and physical activity support healthy sleep patterns and overall well-being.
Risk-Taking in a Safe Environment
Forest school allows children to experience appropriate, managed risks. From climbing a small log, balancing on a low wall, to exploring a puddle.
These experiences are crucial for developing risk assessment skills and building confidence.
Children learn to evaluate situations, make decisions, and understand their own capabilities and limits.
Connections to Nature
In an increasingly urban world, many children have limited exposure to natural environments.
Our outdoor nursery learning ensures that every child develops a relationship with nature from the earliest age.
This connection fosters environmental awareness, respect for living things, and a sense of wonder that enriches their entire lives.
Improved Attention and Focus
Research consistently shows that time in nature improves children's attention spans and ability to focus.
After outdoor sessions, children often engage more deeply with indoor activities, bringing the calm and focus they experienced outside back into the nursery environment.
Communication and Language
During our outdoor learning, children develop their vocabulary by describing what they see, hear, and discover, building upon their language and expression.
Being able to communicate what they can see, and what they feel, is a core developmental milestone.
Resilience and Emotional Wellbeing
Outdoor learning helps children develop resilience and the ability to cope with challenges, disappointment, and change.
Getting muddy, feeling cold, or encountering unexpected situations (like rain during an outing) are valuable experiences that teach adaptability and emotional regulation.
Social Skills and Collaboration
Many forest school activities naturally encourage cooperation.
Building a den together requires negotiation and teamwork. Sharing discoveries promotes communication. Helping a friend over a log develops empathy and supportiveness.
How Lucky Beans Childcare Implements Forest School Ethos
Our approach to outdoor nursery learning is thoughtful, well-planned, and deeply embedded in our practice.
Regular Scheduled Visits
Outdoor learning isn't an occasional treat at Lucky Beans; it's a regular, non-negotiable part of our weekly schedule.
Each setting has a designated outdoor learning space where children take part in various activities.
In addition, each setting will visit its local green spaces and community.
This consistency allows children to observe and understand seasonal changes, develop familiarity with their outdoor environments, and build anticipation and excitement.
Trained Staff
All our practitioners understand forest school principles and outdoor learning pedagogy.
They know how to facilitate child-led exploration, manage risks appropriately, and extend learning through thoughtful questioning and observation.
Loose Parts and Natural Materials
We embrace the forest school principle of learning through natural materials that can be moved, combined, and used in infinite ways.
Rather than providing structured toys, we encourage children to explore sensory play by using sticks, stones, leaves, and other natural items imaginatively.
This open-ended approach supports creativity, problem-solving, and divergent thinking.
Child-Led Exploration
While we plan our outdoor sessions with specific learning intentions, we allow children's interests and discoveries to guide the experience.
If a child spots a particularly interesting beetle, we might spend twenty minutes observing it together, even if our plan was to collect leaves!
This responsive approach honours children's natural curiosity and teaches them that their interests and questions matter.
Bringing the Outdoors In
Our outdoor learning doesn't end when we return to the nursery.
We bring materials, photos, and experiences back with us, extending the learning throughout the week.
Collections become classroom resources, photographs prompt storytelling and recall, and outdoor experiences inform role play, art projects, and other activities.
All-Weather Learning
At Lucky Beans, we believe there's no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.
Our outdoor sessions continue throughout the year, in all seasons and most weather conditions. Children learn to dress appropriately, experience the world in different conditions, and develop resilience.
Rain brings puddles to splash in, winter brings frost to examine, summer brings shade-seeking, and autumn brings leaf-crunching. Each offers unique learning opportunities.
Parent Support: Extending Outdoor Learning at Home
We encourage families to support and extend our outdoor learning ethos at home. Here are some ways you can do this:
Visit the same green spaces
Bring nature into your home
Ask about the children’s outdoor days
Follow their lead
Embrace messy play
Support all-weather adventures
Join Us for Outdoor Adventures
Interested in how our outdoor forest school style works at our Balham, Tooting, Streatham, and Norbury nurseries?
We'd love to show you what makes Lucky Beans Childcare so special.
Book a Visit and come to see our indoor and outdoor learning spaces. Our team are always happy to discuss our approach to forest school in detail.
We regularly share photos and updates from our outdoor learning sessions through our social media pages. Follow along to see the discoveries, adventures, and learning moments that happen when children connect with nature.
At Lucky Beans, we're committed to giving every child rich, meaningful outdoor experiences that shape their development, nurture their wellbeing, and foster a lifelong love of nature.
Contact Lucky Beans today to learn more about our outdoor learning programme and how your child can benefit from our forest school approach. We can't wait to welcome your family and share our passion for outdoor learning with you.
You can find more information on local commons and parks at:
Comments