Escola Lá Fora is a place for forest-based play and learning. Similarly to other schools, we follow an educational model. Ours is known as Forest School. Unlike other schools, everything happens outdoors: playing, learning, eating and even napping! Our team comprises dedicated and qualified professionals with many years of experience in managing and implementing educational models in kindergartens and nurseries, child education, psychology and motricity. With this School, we want all the families that choose us to see their children gain a stronger connection with nature, more resilience, self-confidence, independence, and creativity.
We have a set of principles that rule our vision at Escola Lá Fora and what we hope to provide to our families. Every child has unique characteristics and a unique pace of development, and we respect that at every step. In our work with children, we see free-range play as the most comprehensive way to learn, respect the child’s freedom, and value creating a connection with nature and cooperation with others. Our mission is to enable children to develop in a natural context, with respect and harmony. With this in mind, we always act with respect for others, we defend the preservation of nature and all living beings, and we promote a harmonious environment of friendship, partnership, and cooperation among all the participants (professionals, children and families), and we promote inclusion and solidarity.
Enabling children to develop in a natural context of respect and harmony.
Helping raise children who are more independent, with an adequate level of physical, cognitive and emotional development and with more skills to be able to adapt to the future, at all levels. Additionally, promoting the use of educational practices that privilege the contact with nature, free play and a democratic spirit, enabling a change of paradigm regarding the massive use of a traditional model, and considering the unique features of every child, empowering the skills and qualities of every child and contributing to reinforcing the emotional balance of children and young people.
In the beginning, we were three. We gathered different experiences and created a full set of skills, which helped us shape this foray into nature-based learning, always with the same focus: creating opportunities to help develop happy and healthy children. Meanwhile, the team expanded (we're now more than 15!) and brought us more abilities and skills, always with the same objective.
A non-profit association created in 2019, with the purpose of:
Preparing, developing, implementing and managing projects that contribute to promoting a harmonious, balanced and happy development of children in a context of freedom and authenticity, promoting their independence and citizenship.
Associação Viver a Infância is a non-profit association created in September 2019 with the purpose of preparing, developing, implementing and managing projects that contribute to promoting a harmonious, balanced and happy development of children in a context of freedom and authenticity, promoting their independence and citizenship.
The Association is responsible for the development of the Escola Lá Fora project and Vamos Brincar na Rua, an initiative that was created in September 2018 with the purpose of reinforcing community living and creating happy and healthy children through opportunities for free range and unstructured play, outdoors.
Currently, these initiatives occur in the Alvalade neighbourhood, in Lisbon, and include monthly meet-ups in Play-friendly Locations, the locations identified as having the most potential for play and where it is more likely to find other play companions.
With Vamos Brincar na Rua, we aim for everyone to get to know the neighbourhood where they live better, as well as the people who live in it, so that children may play freely and safely, and to promote more physical, social, emotional, and motor activity.
Vamos Brincar na Rua is also on Facebook and Instagram and has been shown on TV programmes, podcasts and newspaper articles.