An article on the BBC local news this evening showed nursery children out in a forest clearing. They were well wrapped up against the cold; they wore wellies to enable them to jump about in the mud (which they absolutely loved); they fell down on mud too; they were shown small insects at close quarters and even sawed small pieces off logs. They were having the whale of a time, and it is believed that these kind of experiences help build confidence.

All well and good .................. BUT the good being done was totally destroyed by an adult lighting a fire "because it was cold". Are they absolutely ignorant of the dangers of the bonfire smoke that continuously puthered out; the harm being caused to the childrens' tiny lungs; the carcinogenic emissions from wood smoke which contains 350 times as much cancer causing benzopyrenes as cigarette smoke?

Wood smoke has been found to be extremely polluting. I am horrified!

Good lord! Is that really the case? All those boy scout and girl guide camping holidays, with tales around the camp fire were actually harmful? All the wood burning stoves that became so trendy a few years ago are polluting their environment like the old coal fires? I had no idea.
I do agree it's nice to see children being allowed to be children and get mucky doing fun and interesting things. Far too much molly coddling these days!

Yes Andere, take a look on the net at wood smoke. Also, ordinary garden bonfires are very bad for your health; add other materials to the mix and it becomes even more toxic. We haven't lit a bonfire for many years now, being aware that in doing so you are not only poisoning yourselves, but your neighbours too.

There is a nursery near here and all of their sessions, come rain or shine, or freeze, take place in the woods. They have a long waiting list and invariably get high ratings fro Ofsted.

Lighting fires, and the precautions are part of life's learning curve.

The children were not being taught how to light a fire, and rightly so as they were no more than 4 years of age; they were being subject to breathing in a toxic cocktail of chemicals which may very well cause life threatening illnesses in later life and, at best, asthma and other breathing problems.

It's about time we put bonfires on a par with cigarette smoking!