Inclusive environmental play sessions for children
An inclusive space that welcomes all members of the community to enjoy it as if it were their very own garden. We are a nature garden equipped with a wildlife pond, wooded areas, fire circle, wildflower meadow, mud kitchen, tree house and vegetable patch as well as other play structures.
Weekly Timetable
Closed Dates:
-Easter Bank Holiday Weekend
-May Bank Holiday Weekend
-August Bank Holiday Weekend
-Christmas Fortnight
Visit Nature Garden
The Oasisplay Nature Garden provides free, supervised, inclusive environmental play sessions for children aged 5-12 after school and in the school holidays; weekly term-time sessions for under 5s and their parents/carers and community Saturdays.
Young people aged 15-16 are welcome to become young volunteers. There is no need to book individual sessions, just turn up! We are open all year round.
Follow us on Instagram @oasisnaturegarden for our latest news, events and updates!
Visit Nature Garden
The Oasisplay Nature Garden provides: free, supervised, inclusive environmental play sessions for children aged 5-12 after school, and in the school holidays; weekly term time sessions for under 5s and their parent/carers; and community Saturdays.
Young people aged 15-16 are welcome to become young volunteers. Children under the age of 5 are welcome with a parent/carer over the age of 16 during all our sessions. There is no need to book individual sessions, just turn up! We are open all year round.
INDIVIDUALS
GROUPS
Environmental education and creative workshops are available for schools, and community groups and the garden is available for booking for private parties.
£165 for 2 hours, £50 deposit required.
Individual Sessions
After School Environmental Play
Term Time
Monday – Friday 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Holidays
We are open most school holidays for play sessions 10:30am -4pm with the exception of the Christmas holidays and the last week of the summer holidays (August 29th – Sept 2nd) when we will be closed.
All children staying for a full day visit need to bring a packed lunch. We are mainly an outdoor space (though we do also have a small building) so please ensure your child is dressed appropriately. We can provide wellies for muddy play.
As with after school club, free places are offered on a first come basis, on the day, until we reach capacity, if you need to book a place during holidays, or need childcare for extended hours, some spaces can be reserved for a moderate cost, for further details please get in touch.
(U5s) Foragers - term time only
Term Time Only
-Tuesdays 10am – 11:30am
-Under 5s, child must attend with a parent or guardian
-Please arrive on time as we have set activities
-£3 donation
The children have a sequence of connected activities each week that are based on outdoor, environmental learning for early years. Popular activities include nature trails, crafting, seed-planting, bug-hunting, pond-dipping and scavenger hunts. Please arrive within the first twenty minutes of the session to avoid disrupting the activities.
Under 5s Nature Play Group
Term time Friday
Session 1: 09:00 – 10:15 am
Session 2: 10:30 – 11:45 am
Please check holiday dates as this group runs during school term time only. You are welcome to join in with any other activities on site, please call or email for more information.
PLEASE NOTE: Our maximum number of children who can be left supervised by our staff is 25 (based on full staffing). For the under 5s group we also limit numbers to 25 children because of the limits on our space. We can become very busy and when we have reached capacity we are not able to allow any more children on to site and therefore may not be able to let you in. Please arrive early to ensure you get a place!
Friday Stay and Play (U5s) - term time only
Term time Friday
-Fridays 9:30am – 12pm
-Under 5s, child must attend with a parent or guardian
-£3 donation
This session is a drop-in Stay and Play, so is ideal for families who don’t want to be tied to a fixed start time. It is a free-play session, allowing the children to explore the garden in their own way. Each week ends with a group storytime.
Please check school holiday dates as the above groups only run during school term -time. During the holiday play-schemes, under 5s are welcome on Saturdays only.
Saturday Community Days
10:30am – 4pm year round
The Nature Garden will be open for all to enjoy. This means we will not be taking responsibility for unaccompanied children, but adults will now be able to enjoy the garden too! Come picnic, pond dip, garden, cook, potter, read the paper or join in with workshops teaching woodwork, gardening, bush craft skills and more.
In the mornings we operate a gardening club teaching and enjoying organic gardening and gardening for wildlife. In the afternoons we offer free workshops focusing on a wide variety of skills.
Saturday Family Day*
*all year round except on occasions when the site is closed, such as Bank Holiday weekends and Christmas.
-Saturdays 10:30am – 4pm
–Free play – no set activities
-All ages welcome – children must attend with a parent or guardian who must stay onsite throughout the visit.
-Donations very welcome
On Saturdays, we open up the space for families to enjoy together. Our staff do not do any childcare during this session but will be available to facilitate where possible any activities that visiting families would like to engage in. It is a very relaxed and social session; let the children explore and make friends while you enjoy a cuppa and a chat!
After-School club - term-time only
Term Time Only
-Monday – Friday
-3:30pm – 5:30pm
-Age 5 and over
-20 open access spaces (first come first served) donation
-Completed membership form on arrival
-Snack provided
-Free but donations welcome
-We are a fully outdoor service
Playscheme - Holidays
-Monday – Friday
-10:30am – 4pm
-Age 5 and over
-20 open access spaces (first come first served)
-Completed membership form on arrival
-Children to come with a packed lunch and a spare set of clothes
-Free but donations welcome
-We are a fully outdoor service
We are open during the school holidays for play sessions 10:30am – 4pm with the exception of the Christmas holidays and the last week of the summer holidays.
All children staying for a full day visit need to bring a packed lunch. We are an outdoor space so please ensure your child is dressed appropriately. We can provide wellies for muddy play.
As with the after-school club, free places are offered on a first -come-first-served basis on the day, until we reach capacity.
Under 5s Nature Play Group
Term time Friday
Session 1: 09:00 – 10:15 am
Session 2: 10:30 – 11:45 am
Please check holiday dates as this group runs during school term time only. You are welcome to join in with any other activities on site, please call or email for more information.
PLEASE NOTE: Our maximum number of children who can be left supervised by our staff is 25 (based on full staffing). For the under 5s group we also limit numbers to 25 children because of the limits on our space. We can become very busy and when we have reached capacity we are not able to allow any more children on to site and therefore may not be able to let you in. Please arrive early to ensure you get a place!
INDIVIDUALS
All individual sessions at the garden are free. Children staying for a full day need to bring a packed lunch.
No need to book, just turn up!
PLEASE NOTE: A child record form is required for each child attending. Please click the button below to download and print the form. Please bring the form with you to the session.
GROUPS
Environmental education and creative workshops are available for schools, and community groups and the garden is available for booking for private parties.
£182 for 2 hours, £50 deposit required.
PRIVATE BOOKINGS
Book Group Sessions
Private party bookings - all year round
• Sundays mornings or afternoons
• The cost is £182 for two hours, this includes one structured activity of your choice such as a treasure hunt, bug hunt, a craft, fire, etc. We will provide one member of staff and you will have access to our fridge/kitchen for any food you wish to provide. If you wish to book extra hours, they are charged at £76 an hour.
• Please contact Rebecca at education@oasisplay.org.uk for more details.
Private event bookings - all year round
• Friday or Saturday evenings / 6-10pm
•We have played host to acoustic gigs from The Nest Collective, workplace celebrations, spiritual gatherings and more. The space has a great atmosphere, particularly with the fire pit in use. We cannot have any amplified music but can have acoustic music and you can either provide your own food or we can provide a simple vegetarian dish cooked by the kids to go alongside your event.
• Please contact Rebecca at education@oasisplay.org.uk for more details.
School/educational bookings - term time only
• Schools can visit the garden in an unstructured session where they have the whole space to explore and bring their own resources. Or a structured lead session which would be run by two of our team (someone leading and someone supporting) and can be planned to be linked to their curriculum or be Forest School based.
• Prices are for One off sessions: **Free play- unstructured session- 1hr- £61- one member of our staff **Structured- 1.5hrs- £168- two members of our staff
Bulk bookings prices can be negotiated
We currently have no daytime availability.
“Forest School is my favourite kind of school” (yr 3 pupil, Larkhall Primary School).
• We have a level 3 trained Forest School leader, an education worker and a staff team experienced in leading environmental play. Our previous forest school and education sessions have included scavenger hunts, pond-dipping, bug hunting, planting, foraging, den-building, natural arts and crafts and imaginative play. All sessions fall within the forest school ethos of allowing children to explore in their own way, whilst maintaining a structured session. If there are any specific areas you would like us to cover, we have offered bespoke sessions in the past.
Positive, challenging and engaging; forest school sessions include activities such as shelter-building, tool use, fire-lighting, blindfold exploration, species identification and team games. Whilst containing many explicit links to the national curriculum, and teaching participants much about the world around them, the primary focus is on raising self-esteem and understanding, developing group work skills and contributing to physical and mental well-being.
All sessions include achievable challenges, a mix of individual and group activities, and provide the child with something to take home or back to school to stimulate conversation. Whole classes can be catered for but best results and more physically challenging activities are achieved with groups of up to 15.
Get In Touch
If you can’t find what you’re looking for or would like to know more please get in touch.