Our Story
Little Wild Tribe was founded by two local mothers who dreamed of providing timeless childhood adventures for their own children – tree climbing, den building, pond dipping, gardening, fishing, paddling, foraging, raft building and rolling in mud to name but a few… where creativity, curiosity and learning could flourish all the while making magical, happy memories. Both with children of pre-school age, they saw a real need in the local area for a nature nursery in which children could learn through uninhibited play in the natural world and craved these alfresco adventures for their own little ones.
As fate would have it, both mums are also experienced, qualified teachers with a passion for research-based approaches to education… So after some study into the tried and tested Scandinavian approaches to outdoor ‘forest kindergartens’, they embarked on the journey of qualifying as official Forest School Leaders too, with a determination to create the nurturing provision they dreamed of for their own local community. And so Little Wild Tribe was born.
At Little Wild Tribe, our core purpose is to provide healthy, natural childcare that is rooted in educational research and evidence, coupled with a gentle, attachment-rich approach to ensuring happy, smiling and contented little ones. We are passionate about creating experiences in the natural environment that instil the joy of learning in each and every child, using their natural curiosity to discover the fun in learning and to equip them with a genuine life-long love of learning.
Little Wild Tribe was set up an ethical Social Enterprise as we have a strong moral purpose to enable as many children as possible to experience wild outdoor adventures. We have therefore committed to reinvesting profit in order to provide extended enrichment services to the wider community as well providing a limited number of free places beyond the government entitlement to eligible children. For further information on the availability of these places, please do contact us. Little Wild Tribe is also a key delivery partner with Active Essex, who are the strategic lead for physical activity and sport across the county and is supported by Essex County Council and Sport England. Together, we are working together to support the physical health and wellbeing of children and the wider community within the region. For more information on this partnership, please see here.
According to Ofsted, when outdoor experiences are well planned, safely managed and personalised to meet the needs of every child, they can:
- Improve academic achievement
- Develop skills and independence in a widening range of environments
- Develop active citizens and stewards of the environment
- Nurture creativity
- Stimulate, inspire and improve motivation
- Develop the ability to deal with uncertainty
- Provide challenge and the opportunity to take acceptable levels of risk
- Improve young people’s attitudes to learning
Little Wild Tribe is a proud member of the National Association of Day Nurseries and is recognised as a certified ‘business for good’ by Social Enterprise UK.
