For the children who already know there's magic in the garden.

The leaf collectors. Potion makers. Garden investigators. Budding botanists.

The children who want to know why nettles sting, what that plant growing through the pavement is called, which flowers were once used as medicine — and whether they can make something with it themselves.

This is their world.

At The Thistleist, I create hands-on herbal experiences where children encounter plants through curiosity, story, taste, experimentation and making.

They learn to recognise the medicine growing around them. They discover folklore and traditional plant knowledge. They forage, investigate, formulate and make real herbal preparations with their own hands.

Because growing up in London doesn't have to mean growing away from the natural world.

Birthday parties for children who'd rather make potions than meet a princess.

An immersive herbal celebration created around your child and the plants, colours and curiosities they love.

For one afternoon, their fascination becomes the world everyone else gets invited into.

Expect medicinal plants, strange folklore, botanical experiments, sensory discoveries and real herbal creations to make and take home.

For the child who doesn't want the plant adventure to end.

The Junior Herbalist Club is a progressive herbal education programme where children build genuine botanical and medicine-making skills over time.

Across the course they learn plant identification, medicinal uses, ecology, folklore, growing and harvesting, first aid and how to make an extraordinary range of herbal preparations — from infused oils and poultices to cordials, balms, creams and more.

It's practical. It's rigorous. And it's full of the wonder that makes children want to keep learning.

I also create seasonal herbal experiences for schools, home-education communities, children's groups, community organisations, festivals and private gatherings.

From a one-hour introduction to medicinal plants to a fully immersive afternoon of foraging, folklore, experiments and medicine making, each experience can be shaped around your children, setting, season and purpose.

The Enchanted Apothecary is a one-off, completely bespoke birthday celebration.

Junior Herbalist Club is the deeper pathway for children who want to build their knowledge and skills over time.

Bespoke Workshops bring the experience to your own group or community.

And some children do both — because once they discover that the plants they've been walking past their whole lives have stories, chemistry, food and medicine inside them, there is always another question to ask.

My work is rooted in a simple belief:

Practical knowledge of plants belongs in the hands of ordinary families and communities.

When children learn the plants around them deeply, they're learning much more than herbalism.

They're learning observation.

Resourcefulness.

Ecology.

Care.

Confidence.

And a different relationship with the place they call home.

Come and make medicine with us. 🌿