Outside is free!

The nation’s forests are packed full of great activities for the family to enjoy and most of them are free! May half term for most UK schools is Monday 30 May to Friday 3rd June with the spring bank holidays falling on 2nd and 3rd of June). 

Read our other articles with Forestry England here:

• Want to run in a forest? 
• Be a forest superhero
• UK camping revamp 

Here is Forestry England’s list of family-friendly activities and fun things to do:

Enjoy a Superworm activity trail 

Set off on a forest adventure this half term and enjoy an activity trail based on Julia Donaldson’s much-loved book, Superworm. With lots of fun activities to complete, the trail will encourage children to become superheroes of the forest themselves. 

Click here to follow the Superworm trail

Become a forest rider

Cycling is an excellent way to experience the outdoors and can be enjoyed by the whole family. Ride your way to adventure this half term with Forestry England’s new Forest Rider packs. The packs have been designed to challenge children to complete a series of off-road rides, build their confidence and to enjoy the fantastic network of trails the nation’s forest have to offer.

Click here to find your forest rider packs and activities.

Challenge your family to some ActiviTrees!

Keep your children active and learning this half term with Forestry England’s ActiviTree challenge. Free to download, there are five activities sheets that explore the life cycle of a tree whilst keeping your family active in nature.

Keep your kids active with the ActiviTrees ideas. Click here for inspiration.

Look for wildlife

Give a prize to whoever can tick off the most animals on the spotter sheet during your half term visit. Forestry England’s colourful spotter sheet is a great introduction to recording wildlife, from beautiful butterflies to roe deer, there is a lot of wildlife to spot in the nation’s forests.

Click here for a wildlife spotter activity sheet.

Play in the forest

Get the whole family involved this half term as you scramble, slide and swing your way around forests and woodlands! From adventure play zones to natural equipment, our amazing play areas are great for kids and adults alike to burn off some steam.

Click here for Gruffalo sculptures, adventure kits and picnic ideas.

With adventurous play areas, safe off-road family cycling, activity trails and more, the nations forests offer a fantastic family day out. Visit www.forestryengland.uk for further information.

All photos credited to Forestry England/ Crown copyright

About Forestry England

Forestry England manages and cares for the nation’s 1,500 woods and forests, with over 296 million visits per year. As England’s largest land manager, we shape landscapes and enhance forests for people to enjoy, wildlife to flourish and businesses to grow. We are continuing the work we have already started to make the nation’s forests resilient to climate change and by 2026 we will:

• create at least 6,000 more hectares where we integrate wilding activities in our productive forests.
• increase the diversity of visitors to the nation’s forests and have one million hours of high-quality volunteer time given to the nation’s forests
• plant at least 2,000 hectares of new, high quality, predominantly broadleaf woodlands
• For more information visit forestryengland.uk Forestry England is an agency of the Forestry Commission.