Most forest school kit lists sent home by schools are four lines long and assume you already know what they mean. "Waterproof coat and trousers. Wellies. Old clothes. Spare socks." Which is fine if you have done it before, and no help at all if this is your first September and you are standing in a shop wondering whether the coat you already own counts.
This is the longer version: what goes in the bag all year, what changes with the season, what to leave at home, and how to translate the vague phrases that appear on school lists into things you can actually buy. It applies to forest school, outdoor nursery, beach school and any school session that happens outdoors whatever the weather.
For why the session is so demanding on kit in the first place, and what to prioritise if the budget is tight, start with our guide to forest school waterproofs. This article is the list itself.
What's on this page
The core list works for most settings most of the year. Check it against whatever the school has sent, since some have specific requirements around fire and tool use.
How to use this list
Three principles before the list itself, because they matter more than any individual item.
One bag, packed, that lives packed. A dedicated forest school bag that stays assembled between sessions is the single arrangement most likely to survive a term. Kit that gets raided for a weekend walk and not returned is kit that is missing on Wednesday morning. If something has to come out, put it back the same day.
Assume it comes home wet and nothing dries at school. Most settings have nowhere to dry a soaked suit properly between sessions. Whatever goes out comes back in the state it finished in, so the drying happens at your house or it does not happen.
Buy for the session, not for the average day. A session runs in weather that would keep a family indoors, lasts a couple of hours, and involves a great deal of sitting on wet ground. Kit that suits a school run will disappoint here. Kit that suits a session will handle everything else.
One more thing worth doing before you buy anything: ask the leader what the setting provides. Some have spare suits and wellies on site, some ask for boots to stay at school, some have views about synthetic clothing near a fire. A five-minute conversation prevents a wasted purchase, and the Forest School Association is clear that sessions involve supported risk-taking with real tools and fire, so those views are usually well founded.
The core list, all year round
This is what goes in the bag every session, whatever the month.
| Item | What to look for | Why it earns its place |
|---|---|---|
| Full-body waterproof cover | One-piece rainsuit, or bib-and-brace with a jacket | Removes the waist gap, which is where children actually get wet when they crouch |
| Wellies or waterproof boots | Room for a thick sock; sized with that sock on | Trainers are wet through within twenty minutes on soaked grass |
| Non-cotton base layer | Wool or synthetic, long sleeved | Cotton holds sweat and cools the child once they stop moving |
| Mid layer | Thin fleece, easy to add or remove | Warmth comes from underneath; a shell provides none |
| Spare socks | Wool, in a sealed bag | Weighs nothing, prevents more early finishes than anything else |
| Old clothes underneath | Things you do not mind losing to sap or fire pits | Something will be permanently marked at some point |
| A bag for wet kit | Any strong carrier or dry bag | Stops what comes off soaking what is still dry |
| Something to sit on | Folded compost sack or cheap foam pad | Costs almost nothing and removes the main way children get wet |
The sit mat is the item most often missing and the one with the best return. Sitting on wet ground presses fabric into standing water under body weight, and pressure drives water through a waterproof far more effectively than falling rain. A barrier between child and ground solves it outright.
Note what is not on the core list: a school coat. It is worth keeping the school coat out of forest school entirely if you can, since it is the garment your child needs on the other four days.
Autumn and winter additions
From roughly October to March, add these. This is the period when children come home cold rather than wet, and the additions are mostly about warmth and daylight.
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A thicker or second mid layer. Sessions involve alternating between running about and sitting still, and the sitting still is when the cold arrives. A spare fleece in the bag, added when they settle, works better than one thick layer worn throughout.
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Thick wool socks, and wellies sized to fit them. A boot that fits a summer sock will be tight with a winter one, and a tight boot restricts circulation and makes a cold foot colder.
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Welly liners or lined boots. Wellies keep water out and insulate almost nothing, so dry feet can still be very cold feet in January.
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Hat. A thin one that fits under a hood. Not a bobble hat that stops the hood going up.
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Two pairs of cheap gloves rather than one good pair. Gloves get wet and get lost. A dry pair for the walk back matters more than warm hands throughout, since forest school needs hands free for tools and knots.
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A reflective element for the journey. By late October the walk to or from school happens in poor light. Bright fabric helps at dusk; reflective material is what works under headlights.
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A flask for the leader, if the setting welcomes it. Worth asking. Warm drinks change a cold session considerably.
The winter mistake worth avoiding is sending a child out already warm and heavily wrapped. They will overheat during the active part, and then sit in damp layers for the rest. Slightly cool at the start is the right target.
Spring and summer, which catches people out
Summer sessions are where kit lists get ignored, and they generate their own problems.
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Sun protection. Hat with a brim, and sun cream applied before school rather than sent in a bag. Woodland canopy is dappled rather than solid shade, so children burn under trees.
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Long sleeves and long trousers even in warm weather. Nettles, brambles, ticks and scratches. This is the recommendation children resist most and the one leaders most consistently make.
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Insect repellent, if the setting allows it. Worth asking rather than assuming.
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Closed footwear. Sandals and open shoes are usually not permitted, and are a poor idea near fire and tools regardless.
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Waterproofs anyway. A summer session still involves sitting on ground that is wet from overnight dew, and a British summer afternoon can turn quickly. Lighter cover rather than no cover.
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More water than you think. Children drink far more on an active outdoor afternoon than they do at school.
Ticks deserve a specific mention because awareness is patchy. In tick season, long trousers tucked into socks and a check of the child, particularly behind the knees, around the waist and along the hairline, is worth doing after woodland sessions. It takes a minute and it is the sort of thing nobody mentions until it matters.
The spares bag
Separate from the kit that gets worn, keep a small bag of spares that stays in the school bag all term. It does not need to be elaborate.
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A complete change of clothes: base layer, trousers, socks, underwear.
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A second pair of socks beyond that, because socks are the thing that gets used.
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A plastic bag for the wet set.
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A cheap spare pair of gloves in winter.
Check it once a month. Spares get used and not replaced, and a spares bag with nothing in it is worse than none, because you were relying on it.
Size matters here in a way people forget: a spare set packed in September will not fit by March. The seasonal audit is a good moment to swap it out.
What to leave at home
As useful as the list of what to send, and shorter.
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Anything cotton next to the skin. The single most common cause of a cold child. Cotton holds moisture and keeps drawing heat while it dries.
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The good school coat. It will come back marked, and your child needs it the next morning.
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Clothing with dangling cords or long ties. A snagging hazard around branches and play equipment, and children's outdoor clothing is regulated on exactly this point under BS EN 14682.
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Wellies that are too small. A tight boot makes a cold foot colder, and children hide outgrown wellies rather than mention them.
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Anything precious or favourite. Sap, mud, fire pits and brambles. Assume permanent marking.
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Umbrellas. Useless with hands full, and a poor idea near a group and a fire.
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Fussy fastenings. Anything a child cannot manage alone with cold wet hands will end up undone or unworn.
The thread through most of these is the same: kit that requires an adult, or requires care, will fail at a setting where neither is available in the moment.
Decoding a school kit list
School lists are short because they are written by people who already know what they mean. Here is the translation.
| What the list says | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| "Waterproof coat" | Genuinely waterproof, not shower-resistant. Most school coats are the latter. |
| "Waterproof coat and trousers" | Full lower-body cover expected. A one-piece satisfies this and often works better. |
| "Suitable footwear" | Wellies or waterproof boots. Trainers are not suitable, whatever the weather looks like. |
| "Old clothes" | Expect permanent marking, and do not send anything you mind losing. |
| "Layers" | Several thin ones they can add and remove, not one thick coat. |
| "Spare clothes" | The setting expects children to get wet. Take this as information about coverage. |
| "Long sleeves and trousers" | Nettles, brambles and ticks. Applies in summer too. |
| "Named" | Things will be put down and mixed up. Label the hood as well as the coat. |
Two phrases worth querying rather than guessing at. If a list says "waterproofs provided", ask whether that means all sizes and whether they are shared, because a shared suit that does not fit is not much use. And if it says "no synthetic clothing", that is about fire, and it needs a specific answer about what the child should wear instead.
Labelling, and the losing problem
More forest school kit is lost than worn out, and a few habits prevent most of it.
Label everything, including parts that detach. A hood in a lost property box is not identifiable, which is also a decent argument for choosing a fixed or roll-away hood rather than a detachable one on a child's outdoor jacket.
Write the size somewhere as well as the name. When the garment is outgrown and goes into a hand-me-down box, the size is what makes it findable in eighteen months; the name just makes it look like it belongs to somebody who no longer needs it.
Put the name inside wellies as well as on them. Wellies come off, get lined up together, and look identical.
Choose a colour your child can spot. This is a genuine practical argument for bright colours that has nothing to do with visibility to traffic: a child who can find their own coat in a pile brings it home.
And keep the two halves of a two-piece together, in the same bag, always. Separated, they become two unmatched items and neither survives the term.
Doing it cheaply
A full kit list looks expensive written down. It does not need to be.
The genuinely important purchases are two: full-body waterproof cover, and boots that fit with a thick sock. Get those right and the rest can be improvised, inherited or bought cheaply.
Base and mid layers do not need to be technical. Any non-cotton long-sleeved top works. Supermarket thermal tops are perfectly adequate, and a fleece from anywhere is a fleece.
The sit mat is free. A folded compost sack, an old rubber-backed mat, a cut-down camping roll.
Buy second hand for the outer layers. Children outgrow waterproofs long before they wear them out, so used kit in this category is often barely used. School and nursery second-hand sales, local selling groups and hand-me-downs from a year group above all work well. Check the seams and the zip, and avoid anything that smells musty, since mildew inside a coating does not wash out.
Ask the setting. Many keep spares, and many run their own swap arrangements. It is a normal thing to ask about.
What not to economise on: boots that fit properly, and anything that has to be pulled on and off by a child alone. Both cause problems that cost more than the saving.
Frequently asked questions
What is on a standard forest school kit list?
Full-body waterproof cover, wellies or waterproof boots, non-cotton base and mid layers, spare socks, old clothes underneath, a bag for wet kit, and something waterproof to sit on. Winter adds a hat, gloves and a warmer mid layer; summer adds sun protection and keeps long sleeves.
Do they need a rainsuit or will a coat and trousers do?
Both work, but a one-piece or a bib-and-brace removes the waist join, which is where children actually get wet when they crouch and sit. That happens constantly at forest school. Separate trousers and a jacket are the weakest configuration for this specific setting, though fine for a school run.
What should my child wear under their waterproofs?
A non-cotton base layer next to the skin and a thin fleece over it. Avoid cotton, which holds sweat and cools the child once they stop moving. Send them slightly cool rather than warm, since they will heat up quickly during the active part of the session.
Are wellies or walking boots better?
Wellies are more waterproof and easier for a child to get on alone. Walking boots give better grip and ankle support and are warmer, but wet through in deep mud. Most settings are fine with either. Wellies with a thick wool sock is the usual answer for primary-aged children.
What do I send for an outdoor nursery?
Broadly the same list, with more spares and simpler fastenings, because staff are dressing a group rather than one child. A fleece-lined one-piece is often more practical than three separate layers at this age, since it is one garment to manage rather than several.
How many spare sets should I send?
One complete change plus an extra pair of socks, kept in the bag all term. Check it monthly, because spares get used and not replaced, and swap the sizes when the seasons change since a set packed in September will not fit by spring.
Can we do this on a budget?
Yes. Spend on full-body waterproof cover and boots that fit with a thick sock; improvise everything else. Base layers do not need to be technical, and outer layers are worth buying second hand because children outgrow them long before they wear them out.
More from our resource library
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Why the session is so demanding, and what to prioritise: forest school waterproofs.
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Clothing and layering in detail: what to wear to forest school.
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Younger children in a nursery setting: nursery and preschool waterproofs.
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The daily walk rather than the session: waterproofs for the school run.
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The wider category: the complete kids rainwear buyer's guide.
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Kitting out a whole household: over trouser waterproofs for the family.
Working through the list? Browse our children's all-in-one rainsuits, over-trousers, pack-away jackets and matched sets. Size charts, full specifications and care instructions are on each product page.
The Wet Weather Kids Editorial Team
We are a UK retailer specialising in unisex rainwear for families: pack-away jackets, waterproof over-trousers and all-in-one rainsuits for school runs, forest school and standing on wet touchlines. This guide is general buying advice. For the specification of any particular garment, see its product page.
