A place to belong, explore and become.
Where people feel seen, relationships matter, and there is room to try, fail, discover and grow.
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays · Since 2018 · Lower Peirce, Alexandra Forest and Tampines
HOW WE WORK
Four things, in this order
We notice.
Before we do anything, we watch. We notice what children are drawn to, what they are trying to do, what is happening between people, and what the situation might be asking of them. The tickling is rarely the whole problem. The tripping is rarely the whole story. We're looking for what's stuck between a child and the situation they're in.
We connect.
We get alongside before we direct. In a meltdown, we stay. Not soothing it away. Not absorbing it. Just staying, and staying connected. Children often find their way back to themselves through connection, not instructions alone.
We open.
Then we change what feels possible. Sometimes that's breaking a slope into eight steps. Sometimes it's naming who's organising the race. Sometimes it's asking a question so open that a chips bag becomes a water bottle.
Over time, something bigger happens.
Children begin to know themselves. They become more willing to try, more able to recover when things don't go their way, more able to work things out with other people, and more confident in finding their own way forward.
We call it relational learning. Learning through relationship: with yourself, with other people, and with the world around you.
The children call it Saturday.
“The coaches also made the experience exceptional. They were incredibly nurturing, patient, and understanding, creating a safe environment where the children felt free to explore, learn, and grow at their own pace.”
“At first, I kept saying I couldn’t strike a spark. At last, after many tries and guidance, I managed to strike sparks.”
THE VILLAGE
The village, on purpose
A childhood is about twelve years long. In Singapore, a child can start over three times inside it: a new school at P1, a new school at Sec 1, new everything at 16. New faces, new rules, prove yourself again.
Here, nobody makes them start over.
Children can join us at three and grow through Kinder, Juniors, Seniors, Middle School and College. The forest stays familiar. Friends grow alongside them. Adults remember what they were afraid of two years ago. Trust needs time and repetition. We built the structure so it can have both.
And the village isn't just for the children.
Families contribute too. Some volunteer their time and skills in ways that matter to the community. Parents get to know each other's children. Older ones look out for younger ones, and we make a point of telling them when they do.
This is what a village can give a child:
familiar faces, shared responsibility, and somewhere they don't have to start over.
Nobody has to arrive with a reason for being here.
“A great opportunity for kids to be themselves, learn, relax and be with friends.”
IS THIS YOUR KIND OF PLACE?
Our groups are mixed age. We strive to make every child feel heard, to know that their thoughts and feelings matter, and to know that they are loved and capable.
We draw from the Nonviolent Communication framework and various community building approaches in our work with children. Building community is an important part of how we think about learning.
We believe that, at the end of the day, our health and our relationships are what matter most. Money and achievement have their place, but they are not what make a life. So we put our life energy into creating a place where the children we meet can grow well, and grow through relationships, with themselves, with each other and with the world around them.
You'll fit here if:
You want your child to know the adults around them, and be known in return.
You want childhood to include everything a forest school can offer, and more: mud, making, climbing, working with tools, exploration, imagination, friendship, arguments, repair, challenge, discovery and the freedom to figure things out for yourself and know yourself.
You want friendships that can grow over years, not just last a term.
You want to be part of something, not simply pay for a slot.
We may not be the right fit if:
• You are looking for facilitators to prepare activities for children, rather than letting children create, explore and figure things out for themselves. We do plan, but we leave room for children to follow their own ideas and ways of moving through the space.
• You are looking for a weekly measurable output.
• You want adults to simply tell children to stop fighting, rather than help them understand what is happening and work things out together.
• You want everything clean, sheltered, predictable and controlled.
And if your child needs a little more support to take part, tell us.
Our groups are mixed, and we make room for children who need closer support too. Sometimes that means an additional coach, sometimes a smaller group, and sometimes one-to-one support. We'll talk with you honestly about what might work.
“If the forest is calling, this is the place and people to be with.”
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS
What a session actually looks like
We start by introducing learners to the space as one where they can do anything they like and go anywhere they want to, within its boundaries. After the introduction, it becomes child-led and co-designed within safe boundaries, with facilitated sharing at the end.
During this middle period, children can play in whatever way they feel like, together with the group. There will be discussions about where to go that day, and through these, they learn to ask, poll, listen, negotiate, discuss and agree. They learn to accommodate each other, be flexible and adapt.
They can also disagree and have conflicts. They are supported to work through these conflicts and learn how to express what they need and feel, including being assertive. We believe this takes communication skills, but also self-awareness.
As they play, they may need certain motor or coordination skills, which they develop through doing the activity itself, such as balancing on a log or tying ropes.
Social and relationship skills develop too, because through free play they are constantly learning about themselves and others.
Facilitators may ask learners questions instead of providing answers, provoking them to think and create. We observe learners to understand their development and bring in additional resources to support their growth as we review each session.
In a term, children here might have:
carved wood · chiselled stone · made a basket · built a tiny home · argued and repaired it · run a stall and handled real money · built swings and shelters · climbed slopes and trees · rolled on grass · whittled sticks · marked out hidden trails · wrote with a charcoal pencil · organised a race and written its rules · helped a sibling · taught a younger child something they had just learned · role-played teachers · been cold, wet, muddy and completely absorbed.
“It makes me feel happy to be in the forest. Everything in the forest makes me happy.”
WAYS IN
Some children need a group. Some need a smaller one. Some need one of us to themselves.
All three exist here, and children can move between them.
Moss & Mint | our weekly forest school
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, at Lower Peirce, Alexandra and Tampines. Weekly or fortnightly, whichever rhythm your family can actually keep. The same patch of forest, the same group, the same coaches, from Juniors at three all the way through to College.
Families with a Blue CHAS card pay up to 50% less, Orange CHAS up to 25% less. We keep these places limited so we can sustain them, and the difference is absorbed by Nature Den. They are made possible in part by families who pay full fees across our other programmes, helping us keep the village open to more families.
The Pod | small group, two coaches to four children
For children who want to be with other children, but who need more attention than a full group can give them right now. Big feelings, sensory needs, anxiety, a hard season at school, or simply needing longer to arrive.
The Pod isn't a separate track. It's a way in. Children can start here and move across into a Moss & Mint group when they're ready, with coaches they already trust.
“My boy spent time carving and whittling wood and he was so excited to use real tools adults use!”
“The coaches are sensitive to the kids’ needs and safety without negating the sense of fun, adventure and cooperation among the kids.”
WHY YOU CAN TRUST US
Why you can trust us with this
Nature Den has been running since 2018. We have stayed with this work long enough to know that relationships take time, and that good practice is about much more than having the right activities.
Our work is grounded in psychology, Forest School, education and therapeutically informed relational practice:
Forest School Level 3, trained with Archimedes Earth and awarded through Open Awards, a UK regulated awarding organisation.
Bachelor’s degrees in Psychology, alongside training in education, human development and relational practice.
Asia's first approved practitioner of The Therapeutic Forest (CIC), UK.
Completed training with NIE in advanced pedagogical studies, The Relationship School (USA) in personal communication, conflict and repair, and Authentic Education (Australia) in coaching.
A track record of supporting young people through significant transitions. To date, 3 out of 3 students we supported with DSA applications using their Forest School portfolios secured secondary school offers, including SST. All 4 EAE applications we’ve supported so far have also been successful, including pathways into the polytechnics in areas such as design, game development and mechatronics.
Regular session reviews and periodic profiling, helping us notice changes in areas such as motor skills, emotional regulation, communication and engagement.
“This is the most professional and meaningful version of this type of outdoor education I have encountered in Singapore so far.”
A growing community of...
children
young people
parents
siblings
coaches
educators
schools
families
people who bring skills into the forest
people who simply like being here
From one small group in Lower Peirce in 2018 to a community growing across Singapore.
8 years · 3 forest locations · hundreds of children · families, schools and educators
Nature Den Certifications
Come and see.
The fastest way to know if this is your place is to stand in it on a Saturday morning.
Love big, live bigger.