Ep 59 - Online Resources during Lockdown! W/ Nik Elvy and Charly Crump

In this reflective round-table episode of The Forest School Podcast, Lewis and Gemma invite long-time colleagues Nick (Curious School of the Wild, Cornwall) and Charlie (Devon-born, now Sheffield) to unpack the big question every outdoor educator is wrestling with under lockdown: “Should we be flooding the internet with Forest School content—or stepping back?”

Together they explore the sudden surge of free online activities, the ethics of “giving away” hard-won ideas, and the hidden inequities when children have wildly different access to space, tools or even a patch of grass. The conversation ranges from Corona-rage and grief, to CPD panic, to whether Forest School can (or should) survive on a screen. Along the way they share tiny-adventure hacks for families stuck indoors, ruefully compare Viking lesson plans to child-led wonder, and offer three closing messages for practitioners: lean on storytelling and song, celebrate tiny adventures, and build in daily reflection—for yourself as much as for the children. It’s an honest, funny and ultimately hopeful look at how a hands-on, muddy-kneed pedagogy adapts when everyone’s stuck at home.

⏱ Chapter Timings
00:00 – Patreon shout-out & guest introductions
04:24 – Content deluge: the two lockdown camps of outdoor educators
06:02 – Nick’s “Facebook suicide” post and the equity dilemma
08:08 – Why relationship beats activity: pancakes, Zoom chats & trust
12:27 – From Corona-rage to naming grief—coping with nature withdrawal
19:05 – Preparing for post-lockdown trauma and mental-health support
25:15 – “Starting from scratch”: accepting business reboot realities
29:33 – Lockdown CPD: books, PhDs, audiobooks and realistic bandwidth
48:15 – Foraging videos, safety gaps and online liability worries
1:03:45 – Final takeaways: storytelling, tiny adventures & reflective practice

🌲 Keywords: online Forest School resources, content overload, educational equity, grief in lockdown, tiny adventures, CPD at home, mental-health outdoors, relationship-centred practice, foraging safety, Scout vs Forest School, reflective leadership, trauma-informed play, digital ethics, playful families, community connection, post-pandemic reboot

🔖 Hashtags:
#ForestSchool #OutdoorEducation #LockdownLearning #TinyAdventures #CPD #MentalHealthOutdoors #ForagingSafety #CommunityConnection #Storytelling #ForestSchoolPodcast

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