About Forest Schools & Other Unlicensed Programs for Ages 0-5

BPN does not accept posts about unlicensed programs for children under 5. 

In California, all care and supervision of young children under 5 that takes place outside their home is required to be inspected and licensed by the state. Regulations specify the adult-to-child ratio based on the number of children and their ages, basic child safety on site such as availability of shade in the play area and absence of hazardous objects, how food is stored, and whether drinking water is easily accessible by children.  CPR classes, background checks, and some immunizations are required for all adults who supervise the children. If requirements are met, a childcare license is issued that must be displayed publicly, and there is a process for parents to make complaints. Unannounced visits are performed every year or when there is a complaint to make sure the site is still in compliance.  For more information about the licensing process see BPN's FAQ "About Childcare Licensing in California."

Forest schools and other outdoor programs

Programs for young children that take place exclusively outdoors are often called "forest schools." Typically, children are dropped off at a local park for organized activities with a leader/teacher, rain or shine.  These programs are usually unlicensed, either because they don't want to go through the licensing process, or they don't think they need a license. Some programs attempt to get a license, but they may be told they can't get a license or they don't need one.  The problem is that licensing regulations are based on the assumption that there is a physical site that can be inspected by the State, and if there is no site besides a park, the State sees itself as having no role.  The concept of forest schools is a relatively new development and was not anticipated when the regulations were conceived.  BPN has written to the state several times over the years to request that the state devise a way to license outdoor programs for pre-schoolers, because they are increasingly popular and many parents desire them. But we have never received a response.  Presumably it would require the state legislature to create new regulations for this new type of program. 

In the meantime, when an outdoor program requests to be represented on BPN, we recommend that they identify an indoor space where children can meet before heading to the park, and to eat, sleep,and  use the toilet, and obtain a license for that. A teacher's home can be licensed as a home daycare, or the forest school could partner with an organization near a park that already has a childcare license, such as a preschool, school, church, or other institutional program.

A caution about unlicensed programs

BPN recommends that parents use only licensed programs for their young children. Otherwise, basic protections cannot be assured and parents must rely on whatever the staff chooses to tell them. Over the years, we've seen parents post glowing reviews of unlicensed programs that turned out to FAR exceed acceptable adult-child ratio, including a popular unlicensed summer program that accepted babies as young as 6 months. In one 2024 case, parents at a long-running "community-focused" outdoor program were disturbed to discover that the director's brother, who'd been participating in the program, had a record of child sexual assault and child porography. If this program had applied for a license, the brother would have been subject to a background check and wouldn't have been allowed on site.  This is why BPN doesn't accept unlicensed programs, and why every one of the 600+ programs that have reviews on the BPN website have a license number on their profile page that links to their record in the state database. This way, parents can be informed before choosing care for their young child.