Treehoppers Forest Kindergarten

Forest School

Learn & Play Outdoors

Imagine your child’s day filled with adventure, laughter, and the wonders of the natural world!

Welcome to Treehoppers, where we believe the best classroom is the ‘great outdoors’. For children aged 2 and over in East Grinstead and Haywards Heath, our Forest Kindergartens offer a unique opportunity to learn, grow, and create lasting memories surrounded by nature.

Your little one can explore the changing seasons firsthand, build dens in the woods, splash in puddles and let their imagination soar. Our unique woodland setting provides an ever-changing ‘classroom’ filled with natural treasures that inspire curiosity and a deep respect for the environment. With lots of space to explore, children at Treehoppers have the freedom to run, discover, and learn at their own pace. Our natural resources spark creativity, encouraging imaginative play and problem-solving.

In a world increasingly dominated by technology, Treehoppers offers a space for ‘wild play and learning’. Our dedicated team fosters curiosity, independence, and a love for the environment.

We’re open 46 weeks a year, from 8 am to 4 pm, Monday to Friday & beyond our Forest Kindergartens, we also offer exciting holiday clubs for young adventurers up to the age of 8.

Nurture your child’s development and ignite their love for nature. Discover the magic of Treehoppers! Watch this West Sussex County Council video to find out more about the benefits of Early Years Education – you will see our East Grinstead Treehoppers & some of our team featured

Current Vacancies

Borde Hill, Haywards Heath:

In the summer term we have a few vacancies left for 2-3 year olds.

East Grinstead:

Very limited spaces for our 2-3 year olds this summer term but some spaces available for over 3’s.

We are also enrolling now for children starting in September 2026 for both settings and there are currently spaces across the age groups. Get in touch for more info, as vacancies change on a daily basis!

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Stay & Play Sessions

We run regular ‘stay & play’ sessions at our sites for families with children due to join our Kindergartens. If you can’t make one of these, we can arrange an individual show round with one of the team.

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Exciting Activities

Den building, bug hunting, art & crafts, songs, stories, foraging, campfire cooking, woodwork, group games and nature trails are some of the things we do regularly.

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Holiday Club

Our holiday club runs during the Easter holidays at our East Grinstead site and for 2-3 weeks of the Summer Holidays at both settings.

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Forest School East Grinstead
& Haywards Heath

Explore our locations

East Grinstead

Treehoppers at East Grinstead opened in 2018 and is set within woodland at East Grinstead Sports Club, Saint Hill. With 33 acres to explore the children have both woodland and fields as their outdoor classroom and can watch the steam trains of the Bluebell Railway go past too.

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Haywards Heath

Treehoppers at Borde Hill Gardens, Haywards Heath opened on the 4th May 2021! It is an enormous, wonderful space, very centrally located and accessible to families living in Cuckfield, Haywards Heath, Lindfield, Burgess Hill and surrounding villages. We take the children on regular visits to the gardens too.

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Forest School

Why choose us?

The majority of our staff are trained (or currently in training to be) Forest School Leaders. As a result woodwork & working with tools is important to us, we like to have campfires for cooking & keeping warm in the colder months & we embrace all the seasons! We have weekly visits from Tiny Tekkers who keep the children active & entertained with football skills. Over the last 2 years we have also formed a partnership with Dimensions, part of Outreach 3way charity in Crawley who support adults with learning disabilities & autism. We have a small group join us each week to help us with gardening & site maintenance on a Friday, and to come and play games with us on another day.

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Woodwork

Campfire cooking

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Gardening

Bug hunting

Outdoor music

Yoga

Sand & Mud Play

Messy play

Climbing & Balancing

Dimensions

Football

Testimonials

Hear from our parents

"We want to thank you so much for the wonderful experience and care he has had over the two years, it has most definitely helped shape his character, determination and creativity and set him up for his next adventure at ‘big school’. We love Treehoppers and think you are all brilliant, thank you for the wonderful memories he/ we have made over the past 3 1/2 years with both of our boys it truly is a very special setting."

"Treehoppers is a very caring, creative and confidence building space for children. The range of activities on offer and the ability for the kids to freely follow their interests is a unique element to the nursery. Initiatives like bucket time and helicopter stories show us as parents how committed the teachers are to help the kids to develop in themselves and in relationships to others. The staff are very experienced and thoughtful. We have been very happy with our time so far and look forward to the next couple of years as the girls grow and thrive there."

"Treehoppers is without question the best pre-school experience we could have picked for our daughter. Particularly as she considers almost anyone of any age a peer, so the dynamic of Treehoppers works very much towards her development. The advances seen since she joined will never leave me, nor will the understanding and support provided by the staff. Though our daughter is leaving (for school) and I am sad to see this happen, I will continue without hesitation to recommend Treehoppers whenever and wherever possible."

"I’ve been absolutely thrilled with Treehoppers since my son started there in Nov 2022. He had a wobbly start as it was his first nursery experience, but the staff were wonderful and got him settled in. He’s like a different little boy now. He is so much more confident and has developed his motor and language skills to the point that family friends have commented on the changes in him."

"Every single member of staff clearly cares above and beyond and get my boys. The relationship H has struck up with Hannah makes me so happy. He comes home chatty, full of ideas and lots of chat about his day. From the first moment Emma showed us round, I knew it was a special place, she took her time, talked through all options and showed us the magical setting. Thank you for providing such a very special place for children to be children!"

"The staff at Treehoppers have been wonderfully supportive helping my son settle into preschool. We've had some issues coming out of lockdown and I can't thank them enough for the efforts they've gone to to work with me to help my son. He's always very excited to go to Treehoppers and thoroughly enjoys his time there. We will be very sad to leave in a years time!"