Mental models are personal representations of external reality that people use to interact with the world around them. They are constructed by individuals based on their unique life experiences, perceptions and understanding of the world. They are used to reason and make decisions, which can be the basis for individual behavior. Using the Contextual Model of Learning, which assumes that learning is inextricably linked to the context in which it occurs, this research addresses the relationship between the formation of children's mental models about the forest and children's experience of nature. The project's main objective was to determine the change in children's mental models about the forest held by first-grade elementary school students, emerging from drawings before and after their personal experience of nature, which took place at weekly nature meetings lasting one school term. Changes in the perception of the forest highlighted, among other things, the consideration of the social function of the forest, as well as the perception of its greater biodiversity. The main rationale for this topic is to determine the changes that should take place in the formation of the framework of educational practice and the formal organization of the learning environment in a systemic approach to the formation of children's beliefs about nature, which, on the one hand, are expected to lead to real changes in thinking about the environment and taking concrete action to protect it, and on the other hand, will result from the personal beliefs of the individual, rather than imposed legal regulations.