In this wide-ranging, good-humoured episode of The Forest School Podcast, Lewis and Gemma start with storms, sea swims and the perils of playground design before digging into their main theme: “Woodland Management With Children.”
They unpack why trimming paths, felling sycamores, planting saplings and chopping firewood are much more than chores—they are long-term lessons in ecology, heritage and community. Along the way they explore play theory, tree lore, common-land history, Britain’s low forest cover, the folklore of stolen fire and why “a woodland that pays is a woodland that stays.” The conversation finishes with a listener Q&A announcement and a run-down of forthcoming training dates.

⏱ Chapter Timings
00:00 – Storm banter, naming gales and “copyright-safe” Lionel Richie
02:30 – Holidays, cold-water swims & screen-time guilt
04:20 – Why most playgrounds bore adults (and how loose parts could help)
06:30 – Designing spaces that match how brains work – book teaser
08:15 – Main topic intro: getting children involved in woodland management
09:00 – Tiny tasks, big impact: toddlers clipping brambles on the path
11:30 – When to fell a sycamore and spare a 400-year-old chestnut
13:45 – Ents, lichens and learning to think in centuries
17:40 – Old stumps that still live: hidden woodland networks
18:20 – “Hurting trees” vs. sustainable coppicing – ethics with children
22:00 – Free tree packs, “Just One Tree” day and planting for diversity
23:40 – Reflecting on site change: fences, ferns and long-cycle observation
24:50 – How many native trees does Britain really have? (Spoiler: not many)
26:10 – Ice ages, mountain ranges and why Europe lost species
27:00 – Firewood, mastery play and our primal “fire-theft” stories
31:50 – The oldest flood tale and stories that last 4,000 years
33:15 – Social control, forbidden fire and caring for a scarce resource
34:30 – UK tree-planting drives and November’s “one quid, one sapling” day
35:10 – 13 % forest cover: Britain’s industrial legacy in numbers
37:40 – “A woodland that pays is a woodland that stays” – balancing livelihoods
39:10 – Commons, strip farming and the disappearing right to forage
42:55 – New Forest ponies, stranded oaks and reading a landscape’s past
46:15 – Send your questions! Live Q&A video next Friday
47:40 – Upcoming courses: storytelling (Mar), L1 outdoor learning (Apr), outdoor cooking (May), intro to whittling (Jun) & L3 leader week (Apr)

🌲 Keywords: woodland management, children coppicing, firewood skills, sycamore removal, tree planting, common land, mastery play, recapitulative play, native vs non-native trees, folk tales of fire, UK forest statistics, reflective practice, loose-parts playgrounds, tree-age lore, Forest School CPD

🔖 Hashtags:
#ForestSchool #WoodlandManagement #OutdoorLearning #ChildLed #Coppicing #TreePlanting #MasteryPlay #CommonLand #FireLore #ReflectivePractice #ForestSchoolPodcast #NatureConnection #CPD

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