Clothing & Gear for Forest School
At Firefly Forest School, we are firm believers that “there is no bad weather, only bad clothing (choices)!” Any child can happily enjoy the outdoors for many hours, even in cold or rainy weather, if equipped with the right clothing to keep them warm and dry. Besides the rain gear that we have for all of our students to borrow, it is important to outfit your child with the right layers to set them up for success. What follows is our recommended clothing choices for cold/rainy/snowy weather, with links to follow to brands that we like.
Notes:
One full “forest school” outfit is plenty—we don’t mind if they come to school wearing the same thing every day! Do not feel the need to buy multiples of these items unless you want to.
You will see the phrase “NO COTTON” repeated often below—that is because cotton absorbs sweat/moisture and when wet, does not insulate! During the colder months, please do not send your child in cotton sweatpants/sweatshirts, as it will not do a good job keeping them warm and dry while they are busy exploring and playing outside.
Please label your child’s clothing! This makes it much easier for us to return your clothing to you when it gets lost. You can purchase custom name labels or just write your child’s name in their clothes.
Secondhand Shopping Tips:
Buying kids’ outdoor gear secondhand is a fantastic way to get high-quality gear for a more accessible price!
Poshmark, Facebook Marketplace, Mercari, and eBay all have great options online, and the local thrift stores and kids’ resale shops are excellent options, too.
Outdoor School Shop, an online retailer for all things forest school, has a used gear section!
Brands to search for secondhand online: LL Bean, Patagonia, Columbia, Burton, Reima, Didriksons, Polarn O Pyret, Helly Hansen, REI, The North Face, Lands End, Bogs, Kamik
Layer One: BASE LAYER
Your child should have synthetic (polyester, polypropylene) or wool long underwear to go under their clothes and wool socks to keep their feet warm. Do NOT buy cotton for winter socks or long underwear, as cotton does not insulate well.
Our recommendations:
LL Bean Synthetic Long Underwear Set
Ella’s Wool Long Underwear Set (we have a discount code with Ella’s Wool! 10% off if you use FIREFLYFOREST2526 at check out)
Helly Hansen Merino Wool Long Underwear Set
Reima Synthetic Base Layer Set
Smartwool Socks
LL Bean Kids Socks
LL Bean Toddler Socks
Layer two: fleece layer
Your child should have a pair of warm fleece pants and a fleece pullover or zip-up jacket. These layers can be worn alone or under rain gear during the fall, and underneath their insulation layers in the winter! Again, NO cotton—a cotton or cotton/poly blend sweatshirt will not keep them warm enough.
Our recommendations:
LL Bean Fleece Jacket
Patagonia Fleece Jacket
Didriksons Fleece Set
Reima Fleece Set
REI Fleece Pants
REI Fleece Jacket
LL Bean Fleece Pants
Didriksons Fleece Pants
layer three: insulation layer
Your child should have a down or synthetic puffy jacket (or ski coat) and a pair of snow pants OR a one-piece snow suit for days when it is especially cold or snowy. (Note: we’re big fans of the one-piece snow suits! They are much simpler than dealing with all the zippers and straps of a jacket and pants.) Snow gear can be worn on its own or under a Muddy Buddy when it’s snowing or muddy and chilly.
Our recommendations:
LL Bean Puffy Jacket
LL Bean 3-in-1 Jacket
REI Ski Jacket
Patagonia One Piece Snow Suit
LL Bean One Piece Snow Suit
Reima One Piece Snow Suit
Helly Hansen Snow Suit
Lands End Snow Suit
layer four: head, hands, & Feet
Your child should have a fleece or wool hat, a fleece neck warmer, a pair of thin fleece, wool, or synthetic gloves, a pair of waterproof mittens, and a good pair of snow/cold weather boots. Your child’s waterproof mittens should have a cuff large enough to go OVER their jacket.
Our recommendations:
Skida Fleece Hat
Didriksons Trapper Hat (covers ears!)
Skida Neck Warmer
Turtlefur Neck Warmer
MCTi Mittens (large cuff to fit over jacket)
Snow Stopper Mittens (large, stretchy cuff to fit over jacket)
Reima Mittens (or here on Outdoor School Shop) — these are our top choice!
DO NOT BUY mittens with a very small cuff, or a small zipper cuff (Head from Costco, The North Face are the two main brands we see of this style)! They are very hard to get back on once your child has taken them off to eat/go to the bathroom/etc, and the cuff isn’t large enough to keep snow out.
Target Liner Mittens — lightweight knit mittens are great for spring and fall, and work perfectly as a liner mitten underneath waterproof insulated mittens for when it’s especially cold
LL Bean Northwoods Boots
Bogs Neo-Classic Boots
Kamik Snowbuster Boots
Kamik Kids Boots
Didriksons Boots
BONUS: Hand and Toe Warmers
Hands: For kids whose hands get very chilly in the winter, we recommend a two-part hand covering system! Use a thin, knit pair of gloves or mittens as the base layer (“magic mittens”-style). Then, on top of the thin gloves/mittens, put a large, insulated, waterproof pair of mittens with a cuff large enough to go over their jacket. This method allows for a few things: 1) for their hands to be covered always, even when they take their big mittens off to draw/write/eat a snack, etc, and 2) for a hand warmer to be safely slipped in to the big mittens without having a hand warmer on bare skin (not recommended).
Toes: Many boots will make big claims about how warm they will keep your child’s toes, but nothing works as well as toe warmers. If your kid is prone to cold toes, we recommend starting the day with toe warmers already in their boots.
Rain Gear
A one-piece or two-piece rain set is an essential forest school item. We especially love the two-piece bib and jacket combinations that have become more popular lately, or the one-piece suits from Oaki. If you are enrolled in a Firefly class, we have rain gear for you to borrow!
Our recommendations
Helly Hansen Rain Set
Reima Rain Set
Didriksons Rain Set
Oaki Rain Suit
Accessories: Backpacks, Water bottles, Snack Containers
The #1 most important quality in a good backpack/water bottle/snack container is kid-friendliness. ALL of these items should be easily opened by your child, independently of an adult. If you have your heart set on a certain item and your child struggles with it, please give them time to practice using it at home before sending it to class with them.
our backpack recommendations:
Your child needs a backpack that is large enough to fit their extra layers (their rain gear, a fleece, hat, mittens, etc) and a snack, and has an external water bottle pocket.
LL Bean Junior Original Pack
Deuter Pack
REI Pack
our water bottle recommendations:
A water bottle for school can be pretty simple! Just make sure that your child can open it on their own, ideally with mittens on.
Yeti Rambler Jr Water Bottle
Klean Kanteen Kid Classic
Camelbak Kids
Our snack container recommendations:
Your child’s snack for forest school does not need to be anything big or elaborate—some dried fruit or nuts, an applesauce/fruit pouch, a granola bar, or some cheese and crackers is plenty. Their snack container should fit INSIDE their backpack and should be something they can open on their own.
Stasher Bag
Munchkin Snack Catcher
Bentgo Snack Box
Planet Box
Easy Lunchboxes
Insect-Proof Clothing
Insect Shield provides two different products that are great for forest school families—bug repellent-treated clothing for sale, as well as the option to have your child’s clothing sent away and treated with bug repellent. Insect Shield uses permethrin, which is a safe and effective repellent against mosquitoes and ticks.
outdoor school shop
If you are looking for a “one-stop shop” experience, we recommend checking out the Outdoor School Shop online at www.outdoorschoolshop.com. They work directly with forest schools to curate their selection and have great stuff!