Our outdoor afterschool care provides children with a refreshing change from the school day - time to unwind, explore, and enjoy meaningful play in nature.
We create a warm, supportive environment where children can reconnect with themselves, their peers, and the natural world around them.
Our afterschool program follows Forest School principles, allowing children to:
🌳Play freely outdoors after a structured school day
🔥Explore risk and challenge safely (tree climbing, tool use, campfires)
🧠Develop problem-solving, social skills, and confidence
🧘♀️Relax, decompress, and enjoy the calm of nature
🎨Engage in creative, hands-on activities like crafting with natural materials
🤝🏽Build friendships and teamwork through shared adventures
Our focus is on child-led play, emotional wellbeing, and the benefits of time spent outdoors.

We provide reliable daily pick-up from local schools, ensuring children are collected safely by our trained staff. After school, children are brought straight to our outdoor woodland base, where they can settle in, change into their outdoor kits, and begin their afternoon of exploration and play.
At the end of the school day, children are collected by our trained staff and transported to the woodland using our fleet of minibuses. This ensures a smooth transition from school to the forest and allows children to begin their afternoon feeling settled and supported.
Once we arrive at the woodland, children change into their outdoor kits so they can play, explore, and unwind comfortably in all weather.
All core outdoor clothing—such as waterproofs, boots and bags—is provided by our service.
If you would like your child to have their own hats, gloves, or scarves, we welcome families to supply these items. Personal accessories help ensure the best fit and comfort for each child during colder months.
Once children are settled and ready for the afternoon, we provide a light snack to help them refuel after the school day. Snacks may include items such as crackers, a cereal bar, a biscuit, and water.
This gives children the energy they need to enjoy their time outdoors while keeping things simple and manageable.
Children are encouraged to explore the woodland freely and follow their own interests, using a variety of natural and open-ended resources. Our outdoor base includes opportunities for swinging, mud kitchen play, slackline balancing, hammocks, den building, and more—allowing children to unwind, be creative, and enjoy active play after the school day.
Alongside free play, we offer optional Forest School–inspired activities, such as tool work, campfire sessions, nature crafts, mini-adventures, and seasonal projects. These experiences build confidence, independence, and a deep connection with the natural environment.
At the end of each session, children take part in tidying their play areas and caring for the woodland, helping to clear away resources and “leave no trace.” This routine teaches responsibility, respect for nature, and pride in their shared environment.
Once everything is packed away, we gather as a group for a short reflection circle. Children are invited to share what they enjoyed, what they discovered, and what they’d like to explore next. These reflections help our staff plan future sessions that stay responsive to the children’s interests, ensuring our activities remain meaningful, engaging, and child-led.
Families are welcome to collect their children before 5:30pm directly from our outdoor woodland base.
At 5:30pm, we travel together back to the indoor base in our minibuses. From this time onward, all children should be collected from the indoor base, with final pickups available until 6:00pm, when our service closes.
All policies & risk assessments can be accessed through our administration team—please get in touch if you would like to view them.
Afterschool Care operates from 3pm to 6pm, Monday to Friday.
Unit 2, 173 Auchinairn Road, Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, UK
Open today | 07:30 – 18:00 |
Auchinairn Afterschool Care and Forest School