West Fife's first outdoor nursery at Fordell Firs Scout Centre should be opening in the spring.

The forest kindergarten is the bright idea of Dalgety Bay teacher Louise Licznerski who has just been granted a certificate of lawlessness by Fife Council for her plans.

There has been huge interest in the Little Bugs Nursery with over 100 applications from interested families for the 30 spaces available.

The operation will see existing woodland at the National Scout Activity Centre near Hillend being used to offer outdoor education for children aged between two-and-a-half and five.

Activities will take place between 8am and 6pm with the option of full-day or half-day sessions.

Louise, 34, told the Press: "The forest kindergarten will mirror the activities that the scouts already do and a lot of people are really exited about what that will be like.

"It's taken a while to get to this point as planners had questions around not having a building.

"However, that is how the whole thing works!

"I can see now that a lot of councils around Scotland are getting more clear idea of what it means but it's obviously a new concept to them.

"There is a lot of support from the Scottish Government for outdoor learning and it's great to see.

"The nursery is not just about having one day outside, this is constantly full-time outside."

It was originally thought there would be three shipping containers for use too but Little Bugs will be starting off with a tent at first and then a yurt is likely to be used permanently in the future once planning permission is given.

"We hope to be ready for the spring or summer but we'll have to keep eye on lockdown restrictions and we're waiting for Care Inspectorate to look at our application," Louise said.

"We're recruiting at the moment but that's been quite difficult because it's such a practical job so we're having to be quite creative!

"The camp will be based next to the scout reception but we'll also be using other areas.

"And if there are any adverse weather conditions then we'll be using some of the scouts buildings but windy and rainy days will be fine because of the shelter from the trees."

Louise, who is qualified primary school teacher, first came up with the idea three years ago and began talks with the scouts in 2019 who are fully behind the idea.

She added: "Both me and my husband were in the guides and scouts and we loved it so we wanted to take that outdoor learning and bring it to an earlier age.

"It's been a really popular idea especially I think because a lot of toddler groups have been shut during the pandemic and parents can see the benefits.

"There is definitely been a shift in thinking to outdoors in the last year.

"As more outdoor learning is taking place at schools it just gets kids experienced from an early age."