Herbal syrups have to be one of the most loved herbal medicines by all, especially children. They are simple and fun to make whilst having a naturally sweet and beautiful taste. Syrups are a brilliant way to carry herbs that also captures their unique taste profile, where alcohol preparations such as tinctures may overpower.

Syrups can be made using honey, maple syrup or cane sugar. Cane sugar is a simple carbohydrate that can be used 2:1 (two parts sugar to one parts herb) whereas honey would need a higher ratio of 3:1 to act as an effective preservative.

Syrups are made from strong teas or decoctions that have been gently concentrated through a process of slow and gentle simmering. Follow the steps below to make a herbal syrup.

Herbal syrup instructions

1. For floral or herbaceous plant parts a strong tea infusion is made simmering on a low, gentle heat for 20 minutes (roots, fruits or barks would need a longer simmer of up to 1.5 hours). Usually enough water is added to cover the herb (dried or fresh herb can be used), the ratio would be so the herb is covered but also so the bottom of the pan would not be visible whilst moving a spoon through the mixture.
2. During simmering, stir occasionally with a wooden spoon (if using berries or roots use a potato masher to press the plant material, extracting more of the goodness for your medicine).
3. After simmering for the appropriate time, remove from heat and strain the infusion/ decoction using a muslin cloth on a fine sieve into a sterile container.
4. Return the infusion/ decoction to a clean pan and on the lowest heat setting add the appropriate ratio of sugar or honey until dissolved.
5. Cool the syrup, store and label in sterile glass bottle/ container in the fridge. A syrup can last between 6 months to a year in the fridge.

Calming chamomile honey syrup

Ingredients

• Chamomile (dried) 100g
• Lavender (dried) 100g
• Purified / Spring water approx 200ml (enough to cover herb well)
• Honey (approx 2 x 500g jars)

How to make chamomile honey syrup

To make this syrup follow the above instructions. Chamomile and lavender work both on the nervous and digestive systems. This sweet syrup would be helpful for anxious children who may be experiencing related digestive issues.

This same method can be used for herbs such as i.e. thyme and marshmallow (for respiratory support) or elderberry and rosehips (for immune support), experiment with blends of different plants to build up your home apothecary!

The chamomile and lavender syrup can be taken by the teaspoon up to 3 times daily. The honey syrups can be taken according to herb dosage instructions as per tinctures (see herb monographs for specific information on each herb).

Tinctures are made using either alcohol or glycerin. Vegetable glycerin is a clear, odorless liquid with a syrup-like consistency. It is usually made from vegetable oils such as soy, palm or coconut oil using high temperature and pressure, that splits the glycerin molecule from the fatty acids.

While sweet, it is not metabolised by the body like sugar. Look for an organic, sustainably harvested, non-GMO glycerin to use in medicine making (check the Resources section at the bottom).

The benefit of using glycerin is both for those wishing to avoid alcohol consumption, but an added bonus for using glycerin is that it is an excellent preservative of fresh plant juices, particularly for aromatic plants such as lemon balm, rose, violet etc. Glycerin however, is not as effective in extracting compounds from dried herb matter as an alcohol tincture.

Read our article How to make a herbal tincture.

Glycerite tincture instructions

1. Fill a clean (sterile) jar with, chopped fresh plant material or half-full of dried plant material (dried material will expand as the glycerin is absorbed).
2. A glycerite tincture should contain a minimum of 55% glycerin to herb ratio. For fresh plants, add enough glycerin to fully cover the plant matter, filling the jar to within one inch of the top. For dried herb, dilute glycerin with distilled water in a 3:1 ratio (3 parts glycerin to one part water) and fill the jar with mixture to within one inch of the top
3. Use the end of a clean wooden spoon to gently press the herb under the glycerin to ensure release of air bubbles and allow maximum coverage of materials.
4. Replace the lid and label jar.
5. Macerate or infuse the tincture for between 4-6 weeks, gently shaking the bottle every two days. Top up with glycerin as necessary if plant material is too exposed above the glycerin.
6. After 4-6 weeks, strain the tincture into a clean bowl using a muslin cloth (coffee filter paper works but very slowly; nut milk bags are also effective). With clean hands, gather corners of muslin cloth together, squeezing the tincture out until there is barely a drop left. The last few squeezes will have add some very potent mixture to the final tincture so don’t give up squeezing too quickly!
7. Finally, bottle and label your glycerite tincture. It stays in date for up to a year.

Lemon balm glycerite tincture

Ingredients

• Lemon balm (fresh leaves)
• Vegetable glycerin

How to make lemon balm tincture

Lemon balm is gently nervine and works to support our nervous system through stressful times. It is also indicated for digestive upsets and in respiratory complaints. The lemon balm tincture can be taken by the teaspoon up to twice daily.

Herbal infused or ‘macerated’ oils are a wonderful way to preserve herbs for use in topical conditions. They are also quick and incredibly simple to make and diverse in their applications.

There are a number of different methods to make herbal oils both for use in medicine and for culinary use. This method is called the solar infusion and relies on a warm sunny window.

Herbal infused oils can be used neat or can be made into salves or ointments and also blended into creams, so they are a fantastic base from which to explore other herbal preparations.

For best results use dried herbs (fresh herbs add a water element to oil, which can lead to spoiling), there are different methodologies for fresh herb oils.

Carrier oils that are ideal for topical use include sunflower and olive oils, both excellent carriers whilst offering some resistance to oxidation and rancidity. Herbs that are commonly used in herbal infused oils include calendula, St John’s wort, chickweed and plantain, all having their own unique medicinal qualities.

The most simple way to make an infused oil is as follows.

Herbal-infused oil instructions

1. Add dried herbs in a dry, sterilised container and cover with your chosen carrier oil; usually, the oil should sit 1 inch above the top of the herbs.
2. Use a spoon to press and mix the herb/ oil so that all surfaces of the herb matter is coated and no air bubbles remain.
3. Place a square piece of natural waxed paper or greaseproof paper on top of the jar, then seal jar with a tightly fitting lid.
4. Place the jar in a sunny window for between 4-6 weeks to infuse. The warmth of the sunlight will help to extract the compounds from the herbs into the oil. Stir or shake the mixture every few days.
5. When the infusion time is up, line a sieve with of muslin cloth (folded to layer up) and filter. the mixture into a clean bowl. Gather the corners of the cloth up and squeeze strongly, squeezing as much oil from the herb as possible
6. Cover and let aside overnight in a cool, dark location to allow for any herb sediment to settle at the bottom of the jar. You can also strain the oil through an unbleached coffee filter to remove fine sediment.
7. Pour the oil into dry, sterilised, dark-coloured glass bottles. You can add a couple of drops of Vitamin E into your final oil to slow down the oxidisation process, giving the oil a shelf life of around 1 year.
8. Label your infused oil, and store in a cool, dark place.

Calendula-infused oil

Ingredients

• Calendula petals
• Sunflower oil

How to make an oil infused with calendula

Calendula infused oil can be used directly on the skin to treat all manner of skin inflammations and in first aid for minor cuts, grazes, bruises, sprains and strains. Calendula oil is also useful for slow healing wounds and for the healing of minor burns. This blend can be used as and when needed, up to 3 times a day.

A herbal balm is made from a herbal infused oil, simply adding a wax element such as beeswax or (vegan) carnauba wax. Balms and salves are subsets of an ointment. Salves are typically softer, where as a balm or ointment is more solid. The benefit of infusing a wax into an oil to create balms/ salves/ ointments is that it increases binding to the skin, more successfully than an oil alone, they are also potentially, slightly less messy to use than oils.

Learn more about How to make a herbal balm.

Herbal balm instructions

1. Using a double boiler/ Bain Marie or a water bath method, on a gentle heat. Add your infused oil into the clean pan.
2. Add around 8- 12 % beeswax and gently stir with a silicone or wooden spoon until the wax has fully dissolved into the oil. Remove from the heat.
3. You can add an essential oil at this stage if desired; approx 10 drops (depending what is being used). Essential oils act as a preservative but also help to assist circulation and better absorption into the skin.
4. Slowly pour the mixture into a clean, dark glass jar. Cover but do not close the lid firmly until the balm has fully set/ solidified.
5. Label your jar and close the lid firmly. Store in a cool, dark place. Balms/ Salves/ Ointments should last for unto a year.

Calendula balm

Ingredients

• Calendula-infused oil
• Sweet orange or chamomile pure essential oil
• Beeswax (unfiltered pellets or solid form)

How to make calendula balm

Calendula balm can be used directly on the skin to treat all manner of skin inflammations and in first aid for minor cuts, grazes, bruises, sprains and strains. Calendula is also useful for slow healing wounds and for the healing of minor burns. This balm can be used as and when needed, up to 3 times a day.

For more information on uses of the herbs discussed in this article or other herbs you may wish to explore in medicine making using these recipes, visit our Herbs section.

Medicine making books and other resources

• The Handmade Apothecary by Vicky Chown and Kim Walker
• Hedgerow Remedies by Julie Barlett Bruton and Matthew Seal
• A Herbal Book of Making and Taking by Christopher Hedley
• The Herbal Medicine-Maker’s Handbook: A Home Manual by James Green
• The Herbarium is also a fantastic resource for medicine-making instructions and recipes.
• Earth Song Seeds also provides some very useful information on how to prepare herbs under the “How to…” section

Until recently, the uterus and the placenta were thought to be germ-free and sterile to keep the baby safe from infection. But at just one week old, babies have a complex collection of microbes in their guts. It was thought that a baby received its first dose of bacteria as it passed through the vagina or from the mother’s skin if the child was born via C-section.

We now know that there are microbial inhabitants in the placenta (which nourishes the growing foetus through the umbilical cord) and these closely resemble those that live in the mouth (1). Also, that a disturbance of these bacteria may well be responsible for pre-eclampsia during pregnancy.

A broad range of bacteria are present, including those necessary for metabolising some of the vitamins and nutrients needed by the foetus. The acquisition of the microbiota continues over the first few years of life, and in fact an infant’s GI tract microbiome begins to resemble that of an adult as early as 1 year old. 

Although it was previously thought that the infant gut microbiota would resemble that of an adult by the age of 3, recent studies indicate that the microbiota continues to evolve in both pre-adolescents and 20-year-olds (2). The adult microbiome consists of over a trillion bacterial cells and up to an estimated 1,000 different bacterial species, communities of symbiotic, commensal and pathogenic bacteria along with fungi and viruses.

The predominant organisms found in healthy human large intestine are Gram-negative Bacteroidetes and Gram-positive low-GC Firmicutes, but this varies greatly between individuals. Once established, the composition of the gut microbiota is relatively stable throughout adulthood but can be altered as a result of bacterial infections, antibiotic treatment, lifestyle, surgical, and a long-term change in diet (3).

Common complaints in babies and children include digestive disorders, infections, respiratory problems, skin conditions, nervous or cognitive disorders, allergies and auto-immune disorders.  All these may well have something in common:

• Gut dysbiosis: An altered microbial state in the gut, either lack of bacterial biodiversity or overgrowth of pathogenic microorganisms (SIBO) 
• Leaky gut syndrome: A healthy GI tract serves as a barrier preventing undigested food particles, microbes, toxins and other unwanted substances from entering the body through the bloodstream. When the intestinal epithelium becomes damaged, substances can ‘leak’ into the body where they are attacked by the immune system, which leads to inflammation.

These can affect digestion and absorption of nutrients, disturb immune function and trigger inflammation.

Antibiotics

Even a single dose of antibiotics can create permanent changes in our gut flora, and sometimes the healthy bacteria never fully recover from strong rounds of antibiotics.

The state of the mother’s gut flora during pregnancy and birth

Some bacterial species are more common and others less common in women who give birth prematurely – before 37 weeks of pregnancy – than the typical bacterial profile of the women who go full term.

It has been found that gum disease raises the risk of premature birth. Oral bacteria from diseased and bleeding gums can allow harmful bacteria to reach and colonise the placenta, potentially triggering premature birth (4).

The microbiota that an infant begins to acquire depends strongly on mode of delivery. Twenty minutes after birth, the microbiota of vaginally delivered infants resembles the microbiota of their mother’s vagina, while infants delivered via Caesarean section harbour more microbial communities typically found on human skin.

Nutrition during the first few years of a child’s life

• Diets high in sugar, refined carbohydrates and processed foods and low in fermentable fibre (prebiotics) can contribute to small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). Avoiding foods that feed pathogenic bacteria, and consuming fibre-rich foods that feed commensal bacteria can help restore the balance.
• Eating a diet too high in protein, especially if that animal protein has been treated with antibiotics, can disrupt the microbiota.

The Importance of breastfeeding

Every mother produces complex sugars (oligosaccharides). More than 200 human milk oligosaccharides (H.M.O.s) have been identified. They are the third-most plentiful ingredient in human milk, after lactose and fats, and their structure ought to make them a rich source of energy for growing babies—but babies cannot digest them.  

H.M.O.s pass through the stom­ach and the small intestine unharmed, landing in the large intestine, where most of our bacteria live. If babies cannot digest them, they must be food for the microbes!

Bifidobacteria are more com­mon in the stools of breast-fed infants than bottle-fed ones. Human milk contains several oligosaccharides that cow milk does not.

Poor digestion

If our digestive energy is low, enzymes are not secreted as they should be, and food can remain partially digested in the gut, ferment and promote dysbiosis and leaky gut syndrome which can lower resistance to disease.

Mento-emotional state

Stress can severely compromise the quality of our digestive function. We now know that there is a direct connection between the central nervous system and the enteric nervous system in the gut that has been coined the “gut-brain axis”.  When we are stressed, mentally, emotionally or physically, the sympathetic nervous system overrides the functions of the parasympathetic nervous system.

Digestion gets deprioritised because it is less vital to our immediate survival. These factors work together to affect the gut flora, impair nutrient absorption and predispose to leaky gut syndrome.

It is thought that changes in dietary patterns over the last few decades combined with overuse of antibiotics could result in each generation beginning life with a smaller population of ancient microbes than the last as well as being a primary contributor to the epidemic of obesity, diabetes, IBS and allergies that we see today.

This firstly involves taking a detailed case history of the child and examining the body, paying attention to their build, skin and hair type, body temperature, digestion and bowel function, as well as temperament. Tongue and pulse diagnosis are valuable diagnostic tools.

Re-establishing homeostasis in the gut can bring profound healing to the entire body, relieving digestive symptoms as well as disorders of the immune system, nervous system and skin.

Herbal medicines provide us with the solution to many problems in babies and children associated with disruption of the microbiome. We have…

Herbal antimicrobials to prevent the use of allopathic antibiotics:

• Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea/angustifolia)
• Turmeric (Curcuma longa)
• Elder (Sambucus nigra)
• Pau d’arco (Tabebuia impetiginosa)
• Sage (Salvia officinalis)
• Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)
• Burdock (Arctium lappa)
• Cat’s claw (Uncaria tomentosa)
• Andrographis (Andrographis paniculata)
• Basil (Ocimum spp)
• Oregano (Origanum vulgaris)
• Garlic (Allium sativum)

Digestives and carminatives to enhance appetite, digestion, absorption and prevent fermentation in the gut.

Spices such as ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, coriander, clove and black pepper are some of the best remedies for the digestion and for increasing immunity. These can be added to cooking and made into tasty hot teas for all the family.

Take ginger for example. Its pungency warms and strengthens digestion, stimulates the flow of digestive juices and invigorates the whole body. It is highly antiseptic, activates immunity, dispels bacterial and viral infections.

A hot cup of ginger tea is an excellent remedy for the first signs of colds, coughs or flu and will help to clear catarrh. 2-3 cups can be sipped through the day.

Antimicrobial digestives to inhibit and combat small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO):

• Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
• Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)
• Cinnamon (Cinnamomum spp)
• Cardamom (Elletaria cardamomum)
• Long pepper (Piper longum)
• Garlic, onion (Allium spp)
• Ginger (Zingiberis off)
• Elecampane (Inula helenium)
• Turmeric (Curcuma longa)
• Cumin (Cumin cuminum)
• Chamomile (Chamomilla recutita)

Astringent herbs to restore the gut wall in leaky gut syndrome:

• Marigold (Calendula off)
• Plantain (Plantago spp)
• Rose (Rosa spp)
• Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
• Raspberry and blackberry leaves (Rubus spp)
• Tormentil (Potentilla spp)
• Oak bark (Quercus robur)
• Agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria)
• Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria)
• Elderflower (Sambucus nigra)
• Pomegranate (Punica granatum)

Nervines and relaxants to balance the nervous system:

• Chamomile (Chamomilla recutita)
• California poppy (Eschscholzia californica)
• Lemon balm (Melissa officinallis)
• Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)
• Rose (Rosa spp)
• Bacopa (Bacopa monieri)
• Lavender (Lavendula spp)
• Lime flower (Tilia europea)
• Wild oat (Avena sativa)

The ways of prescribing herbal medicines vary considerably according to the condition being treated, the herbs employed, the age and build of the child, their constitution, even the time of year. The easiest way is in food.

Babies

• Umbilical powdered herbs
• Teas in bottles/off the spoon
• Teas/dilute tinctures/glycerites/hydrosols in syringes
• Baths/sponging
• Oils/massage including foot massage
• Burners in rooms/on radiators/lights

Children

• Hot/cold infusions and decoctions
• Syrups
• Powders rolled in honey, fruit concentrate, ghee, smoothies, warm water/milk
• Tinctures and glycerites
• Herbal baths – dilute essential oils, infusions, fresh herbs in muslin
• Tablets/capsules for older children
• Hand & foot baths
• Inhalations
• Massage – dilute oils/liniments, chest rubs etc
• Ointments, lotions and creams
• Compresses
• Hydrosols
• Suppositories

Chronic conditions generally require mild herbal remedies which can safely be given, generally 3 times daily, over months at a time if necessary.

Acute conditions may require stronger herbs given up to every 2 hours.

For example, dandelion root has mild laxative properties which can be given to regulate digestion and elimination over a period, while senna root or castor oil have stronger laxative action for acute constipation or to clear heat quickly during a fever.

Some conditions, particularly fevers, colds, catarrh and problems associated with cold, require herbs to be given in hot preparations. Others such as urinary problems are better suited to cool preparations.

Skin problems may improve more rapidly with herbal teas as opposed to tinctures, while tinctures may be preferable when more concentrated medicines are required such as the treatment of a virulent infection.

1. Olaniyi KS, Moodley J, Mahabeer Y and Mackraj I (2020) Placental Microbial Colonization and Its Association With Pre-eclampsia. Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol. 10:413. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.00413
2. Hollister EB, Riehle K, Luna RA, et al. Structure and function of the healthy pre-adolescent pediatric gut microbiome. Microbiome. 2015; 3:36. doi: 10.1186/s40168-015-0101-x.
3. Juan Miguel RodrÍguez, Kiera Murphy, Catherine Stanton, R. Paul Ross, Olivia I. Kober, Nathalie Juge, Ekaterina Avershina, Knut Rudi, Arjan Narbad, Maria C. Jenmalm, Julian R. Marchesi & Maria Carmen Collado (2015) The composition of the gut microbiota throughout life, with an emphasis on early life, Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease, 26:1, DOI: 10.3402/mehd.v26.26050
4. Saini R, Saini S, Saini SR. Periodontitis: A risk for delivery of premature labor and low-birth-weight infants. J Nat Sci Biol Med. 2010 Jul;1(1):40-2. doi: 10.4103/0976-9668.71672. PMID: 22096335; PMCID: PMC3217279.

The term Nature Deficit Disorder (NDD) was originally coined by Richard Louv, a journalist and author of numerous books on the connection between family, nature and community, in which he investigates the relationship of humans and the natural world in both current and historical contexts. The possible outcomes that result from this disconnection or alienation from nature are varied, and may be identified or perceived by those whose lives are typically distanced from green spaces and experiences in nature.

NDD is a description of the human costs of alienation from nature. Note: that NDD is currently not a recognised medical diagnosis but a means to explain the link between health imbalance and nature deprivation and the possible outcomes. Some of the outcomes are understood to be both having a negative effect on physical and emotional health and may include symptoms such as; a diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, dissociation and higher rates mental illness. In children symptoms are thought to sometimes include hyperactivity, low mood or motivation and lack of attention.

Humans have evolved in the natural world, we come from primitive beginnings where understanding and interacting with the natural environment was a necessity for survival and wellbeing. It is in the wild that we evolved physically, mentally and intellectually.

The relationship between mankind and nature is an oxymoron, mankind ‘is’ nature or is part of nature – we have just forgotten it. When we remember this fact, and remember our ancestors (even those not so distant as we may think), we can see how far removed we are from the world that we are part of. 

Now, in the modern world where our food, medicine, resources etc are produced or manufactured industrially, where we are able to access information at the click of a button – we ‘need’ less to have the connection to natural rhythms.

We can use the internet to check the weather (where we would once have understood the conditions and natural events). We can rely on technological world for almost everything that we would have once understood and depended upon from our direct understanding and connection to nature.

There are a number of reasons that we are spending more time away from nature. Louv describes that as of 2008, for the first time in human history, more people are living in cities than in the countryside. The issue is more the absence of nature and green spaces in cities, rather than the cities themselves. It has been shown that the wellbeing rates in communities where there are more trees and green spaces is higher (5). Among the above mentioned, the following are also factors that may be contributing to the cause of NDD:

Biodiversity and habitat loss

Of course it cannot be ignored that the loss of habitats and biodiversity is a factor. The decline in biodiversity directly reduces our exposure and consequently reduces our value in nature.

Biophobia

There are issues of ‘biophobia’ which is both linked to cultural fear of ‘risks’. There is also a link between biophobia and climate anxiety, where it is thought that children are conditioned at an early age to associate nature with environmental disasters.

Technology

Technology now dominates almost every aspect of our lives, children’s lives are over-programmed and immersed in the virtual world.

Louv describes that ‘as we spend more of our lives engaging in the technological world, our senses narrow; the more time we spend in the virtual world, the less alive we feel’.

The causes are rarely through fault of our own, all of the above are unfortunately side effects of the society that has been built around us, that we have grown up into. However, it is clear that this awareness is spreading and that changes need to be made on a wider scale to help change the course of our discord to nature, for the benefit of both people and the planet.

In most Western cultures we are now at our furthest point of disconnection from the natural world. Yet we have reached a point where we are starting to become acutely aware of the ‘symptoms’ created by this distance.

Many of us, who live in urban or suburban areas will have experienced the yearning that comes with time spent too long away from nature. However, now many are living in conditions so far removed from nature, in the depth of cities or towns, away from anything that resembles an undisturbed natural habitat, these simple experiences are directly inaccessible.

Often times people are so disconnected from nature they do not realize that is what they are actually missing. For example, a Londoner born and raised in the chaos of the city may not have had the privilege of spending extended time in nature and so may not know that this may chip away at their peace.

NDD can affect people whose work or personal life is distanced from nature. It is certainly a problem effecting children, arguably the most. Access to garden or outdoor space is a luxury, let alone having space to fully engage in hands on activities in nature such as growing food or foraging for medicine. Still even if one has a garden or local park, nothing can replace the experience of being in wild nature untouched and unkempt by humans.

Secondary to the more personal effects of NDD, there are of course implications with the wider issue of disassociation to nature and our value in the environment that essentially results in the disregard of it; what we do not connect to or understand we are less likely to care for. Therefore it could be argued that under-exposure to nature is also an environmental problem.

The initial questions asked by the scientific community are; how is this enhanced wellbeing by nature exposure measured, what are these wellbeing outcomes and then, what could the solutions to the health effects of under-exposure look like?

Much of the focus of research, particularly where children are involved, has been on both measuring connectedness to nature in an urban setting and related mental and cognitive functioning and wellbeing (4). The solutions are varied depending on demographic and who is being effected. However the research has identified that for those who are displaying symptoms of NDD, all forms and quantities of exposure are beneficial (1).

There are numerous papers that have evaluated the evidence and the findings are clear; Overall mental health, self-esteem, stress resilience, depression and overall health are found to have been improved by exposure to nature (2,3).

Learning settings that incorporate nature activities with accessible green spaces display significantly improved mental health outcomes in children (2,3), making a clear case for schools and other educational settings to improve access to nature activities and green spaces. See our articles for how forest schools can affect children’s development.

A mixed method pilot study of high school graduates attending a four-week wilderness camp was set up with the intention to investigate whether nature-based camp experiences would increase connection to nature and promote multiple elements of well-being. The study concluded that all well-being outcomes significantly improved, including perceived stress, relaxation, positive and negative emotions, sense of wholeness and social connections. These results can inform future research agendas and reinforce that nature immersion experiences could address the risk of nature-deficit disorder, improving health and social outcomes in young people (7).

In another paper, nine recommendations are drawn for addressing nature deficits at the population level. Some of these include bringing green everyday spaces and views closer to both work and educational settings, and bringing green activities and events into towns and cities. It also includes making green activity programs more accessible in communities, and to be considerate of barriers which can prohibit people starting green activities (1).

For the general population; the responsibilities for improving access to nature in towns and cities truly lies with the government and city/ town council to support better utilisation of public spaces for engaging in green activities and community growing projects. For workers; company owners may be encouraged to integrate nature into the work space or working life where possible, whether this be bringing indoor plants into offices or offering better working hours to allow for more time for workers to access and enjoy green spaces.

It is most clear that better nature education and improved green spaces in schools and educational settings is of upmost importance for the wellbeing of children.

As we have seen, there is a strong case for re-engaging with the outdoors, on a number of different levels- as a means of enhanced personal and environmental wellbeing. It is our natural biological connection to the surrounding ‘life’ that we are part of – which brings us wellbeing.

The issue of nature access is something we can all consider. As we can see, nature is not always directly accessible, particularly in heavily urban areas of cities. The first step is to spread the awareness of this issue whether you are directly effected or not, we can all play a part in supporting people in our communities.

Supporting or engaging with local community projects that offer forest school activities for children or community food growing projects in cities is a great way to help move nature closer to the communities that need it the most.

One can find out about projects that are bringing nature closer to cities by visiting the World Economic Forum ’15 innovations bringing nature back into our cities’ or contact your local school or council to find out if there is a way to support nature projects for children in your area.

We can see a clear link between the missing connection that is caused by a lack of interaction with the natural world and lower level of overall wellbeing, in both mind and body. When humans engage with the world more primitively through walking outdoors, gardening, community growing, foraging or working with natural resources; the value of the human – nature relationship also becomes more immediate, and its importance is realised.

The matter of nature connection is personal and societal but it is also environmental- with restored connection comes a true value for the natural world, a value that would mean we would want to care for it, because we are part of it – both preserving and sustaining it for the future generations and for all life on earth.

1. Ming” Kuo, F.E. (2013). Nature-deficit disorder: evidence, dosage, and treatment. Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, 5(2), pp.172–186. doi:10.1080/19407963.2013.793520.
2. Tillmann, S., Tobin, D., Avison, W. and Gilliland, J. (2018). Mental health benefits of interactions with nature in children and teenagers: a systematic review. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, [online] 72(10), pp.958–966. doi:10.1136/jech-2018-210436.
3. McCormick, R. (2017). Does Access to Green Space Impact the Mental Well-being of Children: A Systematic Review. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 37, pp.3–7. doi:10.1016/j.pedn.2017.08.027.
4. Sobko, T., Jia, Z. and Brown, G. (2018). Measuring connectedness to nature in preschool children in an urban setting and its relation to psychological functioning. PLOS ONE, 13(11), p.e0207057. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0207057.
5. Hunter, R.F., Cleland, C., Cleary, A., Droomers, M., Wheeler, B.W., Sinnett, D., Nieuwenhuijsen, M.J. and Braubach, M. (2019). Environmental, health, wellbeing, social and equity effects of urban green space interventions: A meta-narrative evidence synthesis. Environment International, 130, p.104923. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2019.104923.
6. World Economic Forum. (n.d.). 15 innovations that are bringing nature back into our cities. [online] Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/01/15-innovations-helping-cities-become-nature-positive-biodiverse-hubs/ [Accessed 9 Aug. 2022].
7. Warber, S.L., DeHudy, A.A., Bialko, M.F., Marselle, M.R. and Irvine, K.N. (2015). Addressing ‘Nature-Deficit Disorder’: A Mixed Methods Pilot Study of Young Adults Attending a Wilderness Camp. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, [online] 2015, pp.1–13. doi:10.1155/2015/651827.

When I was in my early twenties, I spent several months living in an eco-community in the desert in the South of Spain.

A beautiful, run-down, sun-baked valley peopled with food growers, permaculturists, hippies, turtles and stray cats. In the garden there was a hand-painted sign.

Created long ago, now chipped, it read: If you want to know if something is sustainable, ask yourself – can I do this forever?

For me, this question cuts through the greenwash, the jargon, the myriad ways with which this word is thrown around, to the very heart of the issue.

The etymology of the word sustain speaks to the concept of ‘giving support’, and ‘holding up’. Also a sense of enduring. It is these readings of the word sustain that colours the work that we do with children in the woods.

At our Forest School nursery, children enrol for a minimum of a year. However, most children join at the age of 2 ½, and stay for two years, before they go to school. Spending this formative time immersed in the woods is an experience that embeds itself in their developing psyches. It is the most experiential way to teach children about sustainability that I know.

The children begin their time in the woods in September, in mushroom season. They learn to spot fungi at the base of trees, to let their friends know what they’ve found, to check a guidebook to see if they can identify it. They learn that we do not touch mushrooms with our hands, only poke them gently with a stick. They learn the hard way what a puffball mushroom is, and what it does!

As the seasons change they learn about the changes to the light and the effect this has on the leaves. They learn what deciduous means, and play in the falling leaves. And they discover the value of the evergreens: playing in the safety of Ivy Palace in the depths of Highgate Woods when all of the other trees are bare; climbing its ladder of horizontal branches.

The children learn that the birds eat berries in deepest winter, and so we gather a few blackberries but leave the rest for the robins, crows, magpies that they learn to name. A robin visits us each morning at snacktime, so we sprinkle a few crumbs each day.

We play in the snow, and the slush after the snow, then the mud left after the slush is gone. We pull on waterproofs so that we can play in the woods in any weather, and we celebrate the rain by jumping in the puddles. We notice the buds on the blackthorn before anyone else, because we are in the woods each day down at toddler level, and we spot the hawthorn leaves unfurling early in the spring.

The children learn to spot each small change and to celebrate the changing of the seasons. With change comes loss, and the woods teaches us this too. As the trees become leafy once more the children discover they can no longer see across camp, and the landscape changes completely. The playscape changes as they develop: suddenly they can hide behind the bushy foliage, and so we must grow our trust in them, as they become more confident.

We miss the fungus in the summer, and so instead we gather flower petals for hapa zome, practising our fine motor skills and experiencing the magic of natural dyes. As is the gift of foraging, we understand the brief season of each plant, its finite nature, and we take only a little of each. And in exchange for the many ways that the woods sustains us, giving us resources and opportunities for play, we teach the children to reciprocate their care.

We leave most of the berries for the birds, most of the flowers for the insects. We offer sleepy bees water and we turn over the bugs who we find struggling on their backs. We bury dead birds with ceremony, and we test the branches we climb on with a small bounce to make sure they are strong enough to hold us without breaking. These children learn that they are a part of the woods.

They do not yet know of the innumerous cases of humans destroying natural environments. Nor have they received the message, perpetuated by many contemporary conservation efforts – that humans must stay away and leave nature to itself. Instead they learn each day that we are a part of this environment – that we always were and we always will be, if we can sustain these ancient woodlands and protect them for the future. These children discover that the woods is a place that gives them shelter from rain, shade from sun, wild food, animal friends and endless invitations to play.

As a part of their natural and healthy development, children play with their power. They play with the creative drive, and the drive to destruction. This is a vital part of development, of growing up and discovering the impact you can have in the world. The woods is the place to learn this.

Each child at some point builds a den. Perhaps their friend builds a den. And each child at some point must knock down their den. Perhaps their friend’s den too. Just to see what happens. To experience the thrill of the clatter of the logs, the collapse of the delicate structure. Their friend’s tears, even. Each child too will snap a flower off its stem. Rip every leaf off a stalk. Run after a bird and scare it out of camp. And therein lies the learning.

The den can be rebuilt, the friendship too, in time. But the bird will have to be coaxed back into camp with breadcrumbs, and the flower will not come back this season. Actions have consequences, and the woods is an interactive place in which to learn this. Cree and Rob conclude: ‘the familiar song of the robin is part of the Forest School community, and while we value its company, we need to respect its home and take care of the community. The reciprocal feeling with the robin has the comparable worth of a rainforest or coral reef’ (1).

We can extend our engagement with the woodland, and our discoveries of our own powers to create and destroy, using tools. The sight of toddlers wielding saws, hammers and axes is a sight you will never forget. The sight of two toddlers helping each other to use a bow saw to cut a log in half, or using a froe to split wood for the fire, reminds us that these children are the environmental stewards of the future.

We use only hand tools in the woods – flints and steels to light fires for cooking, mallets to hit pegs when we create shelters. In doing so, we engage more deeply with the woodland as a resource that can be renewable only if we do not exploit it. We remember that wood can be fuel, that stakes and binders from coppice woodlands can be fences, that a hedgerow is a habitat. Each of these acts of tool use is an act of transformation.

Cree and Robb write that ‘being able to make an item from a tree that you can harvest and then used to produce something of utility, while consciously honoring this, provides access to, and gives voice to the more-than-human world’(2).

These simple tools enable us to work with the woodland in a way that is sustainable, that factors in the delicate balance of its ecosystem, but that allows for an interaction with the woods where so much more can be learned than if we simply left alone. Including children in that work develops their relationship with the woodland profoundly. By teaching children to look after the woodland in reciprocation of the ways in which the woodland cares for them, we give them a message that humans can be forces for good within a habitat, if we proceed with care.

At the ages of 2 and 3 our brains and neural pathways are still forming. In later life we can consciously recall very little, if anything, from these years. And yet, the experiences we have during these years, and in particular the attachments that we make, form a key part of our development.

If we experience the reciprocal care of a woodland during these formative years, we carry this sense with us for the rest of our lives. While talking about the transformative potential of Forest School for young children, we must take a moment to look around us at our context.

As a result of rapid urbanisation of environments and the population over the twentieth and twenty first century, children’s access to the natural world has been shrinking correspondingly.

A culture of outdoor play in urban areas has been replaced with ‘stranger danger’, fears of traffic and an unwillingness or inability to give children hours of unstructured time to explore (3). So often this has a socio-economic correlation: parents working long hours on low wages are unable to supervise their children, who must then stay indoors; families living in polluted or built-up areas do not have access to local wild spaces.

While acknowledging the importance of access to outdoor space, and to curated, long-term experiences of nature connection, we must also consider which children have access, and which do not. Bringing Forest School to all primary schools, so that all children can participate in their early lives, is a vital part of developing the breadth and potential of this educational method (4).

Education for sustainability is a critical part of the work that needs to be done in these times. One element of making education sustainable, is to pass this knowledge on to children. This generation will grow up to discover the damage done to wild lands at the hands of humans, and will be well served to act differently when it is their turn to act, with the inherent knowledge of how to exist peacefully within an ecosystem, embedded in them at the age of 2. As David Sobel so eloquently writes: ‘If we want children to flourish, to be truly empowered, we must first allow them to love the earth before we can ask them to save it’.

1. Cree, Jon, and Marina Robb. The Essential Guide to Forest School and Nature Pedagogy. Routledge, 2021. p. 13
2. Cree, Jon, and Marina Robb. The Essential Guide to Forest School and Nature Pedagogy. Routledge, 2021. p. 296
3. Wilson, RA, and D.A. Simmons. “Helping Children Learn to Love the Earth Before We Ask Them to Save It:.” Dimensions Educational Research Foundation, https://dimensionsfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/helpingchildrenlovetheearth.pdf. Accessed 9 August 2022.
4. Knight, Sara, ed. 2011. Forest School for All. SAGE Publication
5. Sobel, David. Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart in Nature Education. Orion Society, 1996

There is an important distinction to make between risky play and dangerous play. At no point during a Forest School session are children in any danger. But at many points during a Forest School session the children are supported to take risks.

In any risk-taking we meet children exactly where they are at, and ensure that they are ready for, and keen to move towards their next steps. This can look like a child who is terrified of climbing trees, practising clambering onto a stump, and jumping off, over and over, holding our hands. And then again, without needing to hold hands any more.

It can be a child who is a confident tree climber, practising climbing up to 3 feet, then 4 feet, then 5 feet above our heads, once they have the skills to do so safely. This can look like handing a 3 year old a hammer and encouraging them to hit a billhook to split a log for firewood. Children show us in their own time, and their own ways, that they are ready to develop independence, balance, strength, and skill.

The great-grandfather, aged 8 in 1919, was able to walk 6 miles alone to go fishing. His son, aged 8 in 1950, could walk about a mile alone. His daughter could walk half a mile alone. And her son, aged 8 when this map was created in 2017, can walk only 300 yards to the end of his street. It goes without saying that urbanisation has changed the landscape dramatically, both physically and socially.

However this map reminds us of the stories our parents and grandparents tell us, about days spent in the wild, picking blackberries, fishing, playing, roaming. So often our favourite childhood memories are spent in nature, and so often, these memories have a quality of timelessness. Time passing unmarked, an entire summer holiday spent by a river, nowhere to get to, and no adults to hurry us along. It is this that is lost for contemporary children, and it is this that we can hand back to them, at Forest School.

Of course we know where the children are during our Forest School sessions, and we do not send them 6 miles down the road to go fishing! But by running child-led sessions, we can offer the children the opportunity to become deeply engrossed in the flow of play. For the children, being given autonomy over their time, and choices over what to do with it, has the direct result of building self-esteem.

In January, a little boy joined our Forest School Club. He was 4 years old. I will refer to him as M.

M was recommended to us after starting primary school, and promptly leaving it again. He struggled with sensory overload, and the intensity of sitting down all day in an over-stimulating environment. He used to run out of class screaming. He didn’t make friends, and came to believe that he couldn’t ‘do’ school. The school found it difficult to cope with him, and by Christmas he had left his reception class, refusing to go back.

When he arrived at Forest School, he was withdrawn and anxious. He wouldn’t sit with the group, and if we approached him he would run away, hit and spit. Over time, he would sit at the edge of camp at the base of an oak tree, and permit me to hover nearby. As we would sit there peacefully, we would spot birds and insects. He was incredibly observant, and began to learn their names.

Still he felt uncomfortable in the group, and would only sit on the peripheries of the circle. A few sessions in we introduced him to the hammock, which he loved, and in which he could spend hours. He would stare at the leafy canopy and tell me ‘faster, faster!’ I spent hours with him, rocking him in the hammock, and slowly began to get to know him.

After some time he would hold a butterfly identification guide in his hands and watch to see which butterflies flew by. He became calmer, and more trusting, and began to sit with the group during lunchtime.

One day we sat at the base of a cherry tree, and he spotted the resin seeping out and hardening. He asked about it, and I explained about resin, and about how it forms amber when compressed deep under the ground. I showed him my amber ring, and he said that he wanted to make one.

The boy who had never entered the tool circle, never picked up a tool, felt the intrinsic motivation to walk across camp and pick up the tool bag. Having taken time to observe the other children, he knew exactly what to do.

He used a small hack saw to remove a piece of resin. He used a bow saw to cut a disc of wood, and a palm drill to make a shallow hole inside it. He used wood glue to secure the resin to the disc, and tied a knot in the twine to tie it around his neck. He then showed the other children the source of the resin, and how to use the tools to make their own jewelry.

Over time I discovered that he was exceptional at maths – able to calculate the number of children in camp each day almost immediately. We saw him develop teamwork – whittling the bark from a length of hazel with another child, turning the log each time they’d completed one side. And I discovered the depth of his empathy the day that I sneezed, copiously, as the willow pollen blew across the woods. He asked me why I was sneezing, and I explained that it was allergies. He asked me, are you going to sneeze all day? He disappeared, and returned with a pocketful of tissues, saying: I think this will be enough for the whole day.

This is only one case study of many, that demonstrates the ways in which Forest School can be transformational for children in their developmental pathways. So often, children who struggle in a classroom come to believe that the problem lies with them, and that they simply cannot learn.

Often these children are problematised and blamed, by teachers who are themselves struggling with a class of 30 children with diverse needs. When these children are offered an alternative learning space in which they are given the tools to self-regulate, the support to take risks, and the space to build their self-esteem, they come to discover that they are both able, and in fact love, to learn.

Since the pandemic, teachers and Early Practitioners internationally have noted a significant rise in the number of children arriving at school with speech and language delays and social and emotional difficulties (4). For many, when access to school was limited to teaching online, and our access to the outdoors curbed to one walk per day, there was a deep realisation of how much we needed and valued both our learning communities, and our time in wild spaces.

‘Of more than 200 forest schools surveyed by the Forest School Association (FSA), about two-thirds said demand for their services had increased since March 2020.’(5). As part of this study, Forest School providers were asked why they believed that attendance had rocketed in this way. Amongst the reasons cited were ‘increased awareness of the benefits of the outdoors, especially in relation to stress and anxiety, Covid safety, and dissatisfaction with the school syllabus after months of pandemic homeschooling.’

In their discussion of Forest School as an alternative pedagogy, Goodenough and Waite consider the difficulties of integrating Forest School within the current English Education system; so often a system in which ‘children, parents and carers are positioned as customers, while progress is expected for all children and judged through outcomes rather than prescribed pedagogical approaches’ (6).

In such a context, it is challenging to integrate Forest School, particularly as you travel up from Early Years into Primary and Secondary School. Indeed, it is the attempt to integrate Forest School that so often sees the dilution of the key principles; a creeping need to cover curriculum adds a pressure to the sessions that distracts from the core principle that the sessions are child-led.

We must begin to consider which skills the children of today will require most in the coming years, and which educational methods can best give them the resilience, self-esteem and grounded-ness that they will need.

It is clear to me, from my time spent working in Forest Schools, that these spaces in which we are in community with one another, with the seasons, with the creatures of the forest and with the trees, offer children time and space to develop at their own pace. At Forest School, everything is relational.

Children learn alongside their peers, they help friends who are still learning, and they develop in the areas that they individually need most. It is astonishing to observe children arrive in the forest in September, so quickly show us their needs, and then gravitate to their own developmental pathway to address those needs. When we give children the space to do so, they can lead their own learning.

In this way, they discover an intrinsic motivation to learn, unfettered by praise or punishment, instead embracing learning for learning’s sake. For the children who experience this formative time in the woods, there will forever be a connection and a gratitude to the forest, giving these children the skills and the care to become the next generations’ environmental stewards.

1. What is Forest School? | Forest School Association. Forest School Association. https://forestschoolassociation.org/what-is-forest-school/. Published 2022. Accessed August 24, 2022.
2. Cree J, Robb M. The Essential Guide To Forest School And Nature Pedagogy. Routledge; 2021:16.
3. Skenazy L. How Children Lost The Right To Roam. Freerangekids.com. https://www.freerangekids.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/how-children-lost-the-right-to-roam-map.jpg. Published 2022. Accessed August 24, 2022.
4. Impact of COVID-19 on Early Childhood Education & Care. Post Parliament UK. https://post.parliament.uk/impact-of-covid-19-on-early-childhood-education-care/. Published 2021. Accessed August 24, 2022.
5. Forest schools flourish as youngsters log off and learn from nature. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/oct/31/forest-schools-flourish-as-youngsters-log-off-and-learn-from-nature. Published 2021. Accessed August 24, 2022.
6. Waite S, Goodenough A. What is different about Forest School? Creating a space for an alternative pedagogy in England. Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education. 2018;21(1):25-44. doi:10.1007/s42322-017-0005-2

Doses for sweet

• Low: Restores homeostasis
• Medium: Nourishes vata nervous system, has a mild laxative action and cools pitta via its anti-inflammatory effect
• High: Calms the CNS, alleviates vata and relieves pain whilst also aggravating kapha

Doses for sour

• Low: Stimulates the appetite but may aggravate pitta acidity
• Medium: Moistens dryness and benefits undernourished vata but aggravates pitta inflammatory tendency
• High: Contracts the organs

Doses for salty

• Low: Stimulates digestion and can aggravate pitta acidity
• Medium: Moistens dryness but can aggravate kapha tendency to fluid retention and is a mild laxative thus benefiting vata‘s tendency to dryness and constipation
• High: Breaks accumulations, can cause vomiting and diarrhoea and aggravates all three doshas

Doses for pungent

• Low: Stimulates digestion and increases digestive fire agni
• Medium: Stimulates circulation, penetrates the tissues and can aggravate pitta acidity
• High: Causes sweating, dries sticky ama and dries fluids, therefore aggravating vata and pitta

Doses for bitter

• Low: Stimulates digestion, clears stagnant kapha and awakens the nervous system
• Medium: Detoxifies the liver and blood
• High: Drains downwards through the bowel and bladder, cools the system, clears pitta, slows digestion and aggravates sensitive vata

Doses for astringent

• Low: Cleans the mucus membranes and clears kapha and pitta
• Medium: Holds tissues and organs in place
• High: Binds and constricts the movement of blood, liquids and prana in the channels, thus aggravating vata

Adults (12-60 years old)

Medicinal tea hot infusion (Phantha): 30-60ml of a 1:8 infusion 3 x daily. This means 5g of herbs in 40ml hot water infused with a lid on for an hour. Another method is a 1:16 ratio; soak 30g dried herbs in 500ml freshly boiled water and leave to infuse for 4+ house. Very good for nutrient dense herbs such as Nettles, Red clover, Clovers etc. For a regular cup of supportive herbal tea the ratio is 1:100 (2g in 200ml).

Medicinal tea cold infusion (Hima): 30-60ml of a 1:6 infusion 3 x daily. This is useful for mucilagenous plants such as marshmallow root and some aromatics.

Medicinal tea hot decoction (Kvatha): 30ml of a 1:16 reduced to 4 parts 3x daily. This method is best for roots, resins – and generally ta good way to take herbs. Main method used in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda.

Pills / tablets / gugguls: 250-500mg 2-3 x/day

Tincture: Average dose of 1-15ml of a 1:5 ratio 3x/day or 1-9ml of a 1:3 ratio 3x/day. A good method to extract a broad range of the polar and non-polar compounds from flavonoids to volatile oils to fatty-resins. Most common method used by Western herbalists and phytotherapists.

Children (5 – 12 years old)

There are some specific rules for determining dosages for children. Age is one consideration, weight is another, and physical constitution is another. Slight or frailer vata-like children require less. Heavy or robust more kapha-like children can use more. Use your intuition and their weight as guides. Dr. Clark’s Rule is very helpful:

To determine the appropriate fraction of an adult dose, divide the weight of the child in kilos by 75. Example: 25Kg child divided by 75 = 1/3. Therefore the child’s dose is 1/3 of the adult dosage.

Another method is Cowling’s dose: Divide the age at the next Birthday by 24 to determine the fraction of dose.

Rules of thumb doses for children:

• 12-year-olds get an adult dose
• 6-year-olds get ½ an adult dose
• 3-year-olds get a ¼ adult dose