Forest kindergarten is a type of preschool education for children between the ages of three and six that is held almost exclusively outdoors. Whatever the weather, children are encouraged to play, explore and learn in a forest environment. The adult supervision is meant to assist rather than lead. It is also known as Waldkindergarten (in German), outdoor nursery, or nature kindergarten. [1]
A forest kindergarten can be described as a kindergarten "without a ceiling or walls". The daycare staff and children spend their time outdoors, typically in a forest. A distinctive feature of forest kindergartens is the emphasis on play with objects that can be found in nature, rather than commercial toys. Despite these differences, forest kindergartens are meant to fulfill the same basic purpose as other nurseries, namely, to care for, stimulate, and educate young children.
Each forest kindergarten is different, partly because the organisations are independently minded. But typical activities and goals may include: [2] [3]
| Activity | Developmental benefit |
|---|---|
| Playing imaginative games using whatever resources and ideas come to mind | This helps children to explore their own thoughts without the guidance of a toy designer |
| Role play | Shared imagination, drama, teamwork, recollection of models of behaviour |
| Building shelters or other large structures from branches, with the help of other children and adults | This requires goal definition, planning, engineering, teamwork and perseverance |
| Counting objects or looking for mathematical patterns | Mathematics, visual recognition |
| Memory games using naturally available objects | Memory, naming objects |
| Listening to stories; singing songs and rhymes | Art, drama, concentration |
| Arranging items to make a picture, or building a toy | Art |
| Drawing scenes | Art, creativity, accurate inspection and copying |
| Climbing trees and exploring the forest | Improves strength, balance and physical awareness |
| Playing hide-and-seek with others | Develops children's theory of mind by rewarding accurate anticipation of the thoughts and actions of others |
| Walking to the woodland, from the building. | Improves strength and stamina; preparation (e.g., route selection) improves planning and communication skills |
| Exploring or reflecting alone | Aids self-awareness and character development |
| Resting | Aids consolidation of memories and facilitates activities later in the day |
Forest kindergartens operate mainly in woodland. There should be a building where children can shelter from extreme weather. They may also spend a small part of each day indoors, although that is more likely to be for administrative and organisational reasons, such as to provide a known location where parents can deliver and collect their children. If the woodland is too far away to walk, a vehicle might reluctantly be used for transport.[ citation needed ]
Children are encouraged to dress for the weather, with waterproof clothes and warm layers, according to the climate.[ citation needed ]
In rural areas, and historical times, access to nature has not been a problem. Over the last century, with increasing urbanisation and "nature deficit disorder", there have been many changes in stance on outdoor education.
The first forest kindergarten was created by Ella Flautau in Denmark in the early 1950s. The idea formed gradually as a result of her often spending time with her own and neighbors' children in a nearby forest, a form of daycare which elicited great interest among the neighborhood parents. The parents formed a group and created an initiative to establish the first forest kindergarten.
In Sweden in 1957, an ex-military man, Gösta Frohm, created the idea of "Skogsmulle". [4] "Skog" means wood in Swedish. "Mulle" is one of four fictional characters he created to teach children about nature, along with "Laxe" representing water, "Fjällfina" representing mountains and "Nova" representing an unpolluted nature. Forest schools based on Frohm's model, called "I Ur och Skur" (Rain or Shine Schools) moved the idea from occasional activities to formal nursery schools, being set up by Siw Linde in 1985. Juliet Robertson's review of Skogsmulle is a valuable modern-day summary. [2] [5]
Nature kindergartens have existed in Germany since 1968 but the first forest kindergarten was first officially recognized as a form of daycare in 1993, enabling state subsidies to reduce the daycare fees of children who attended forest kindergarten. Since then, the forest kindergartens have become increasingly popular. As of 2005 there were approximately 450 forest kindergartens in Germany, some of which offer a mix of forest kindergarten and traditional daycare, spending their mornings in the forest and afternoons inside. By late 2017, the number of forest kindergartens in Germany surpassed 1,500. [6]
In 2009, the Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) undertook a feasibility study to create a Forest Kindergarten pilot project in Glasgow and the Clyde Valley. This model is based upon empowering early years educators to lead weekly sessions in their local woodland or other greenspace using a child-centred approach. The first FCS Forest Kindergarten 3-day training took place in February 2012. In 2017 the course became a Scottish Qualification Award (SQA) at SCQF Level 7. This Forest Kindergarten training [7] has now been embedded in various Early Years College courses within Scotland and delivered by Learning through Landscapes across the UK. This qualification will soon operate in the rest of the UK under NOCN Accreditation.
Aotearoa New Zealand Enviroschools started in 2001, [8] and often incorporate a Māori perspective, [9] and Australia has bush or beach kinders (kindergartens) that provide an outdoor learning program. [10]
While there are similarities, it is important to note that Forest School and Forest Kindergarten are two distinct training programmes. LtL has produced a useful comparison of Forest Kindergarten and Forest School.
From 2018 on all forest kindergartens are invited to celebrate the International Day of Forest Kindergarten every year on 3 May.
The fact that most forest kindergartens do not provide commercial toys that have a predefined meaning or purpose supports the development of language skills, as children verbally create a common understanding of the objects used as toys in the context of their play. Forest kindergartens are also generally less noisy than closed rooms, and noise has been shown to be a factor in the stress level of children and daycare professionals.[ citation needed ] For inner-city girls, having sight of a green space from home improves self-discipline, while the same effect was not noted for boys in the study as they were more likely to play further from home. [11]
Playing outside for prolonged periods has been shown to have a positive impact on children's development, particularly in the areas of balance and agility, but also manual dexterity, physical coordination, tactile sensitivity, and depth perception. [12] [13] According to these studies, children who attend forest kindergartens experience fewer injuries due to accidents and are less likely to injure themselves in a fall. A child's ability to assess risks improves, [14] for example in handling fire and dangerous tools. Other studies have shown that spending time in nature improves attention and medical prognosis in women [15] (see Attention Restoration Theory). Playing outdoors is said to strengthen the immune systems of children and daycare professionals.[ citation needed ]
When children from German Waldkindergartens go to primary school, teachers observe a significant improvement in reading, writing, mathematics, social interactions and many other areas. [16] Forest kindergartens have been recommended for young boys, who may not yet demonstrate the same fluency in typical school tasks as their female counterparts, to prevent negative self-esteem and associations with school. [17]
Roland Gorges found [16] that children who had been to a forest kindergarten were above average, compared by teachers to those who had not, in all areas of skill tested. In order of advantage, these were:
| Improved skills |
|---|
| Knowledge and skills in specific subjects. |
| Reading |
| Mathematics |
| Constructive contributions to learning |
| Asking questions and interest in learning |
| Motivation |
| Sports |
| Music |
| Art and creativity |
| Positive social behaviour |
| Religion |
| Concentration |
| Handling writing and painting equipment |
[ citation needed ]
Helicopter parenting is becoming more clearly recognised in the culture of fear of today's risk averse society. [18] [19] While some parents rush to 'wrap their children in cotton wool', [20] others see outdoor play [21] and forest kindergartens as a way to develop a mature and healthy outlook on life, as well as practical skills and health. Doing this at a young age is hoped to bring lifelong benefits to the child. [14] It is consistent with the notions of slow parenting , [14] the "idle parent" [22] [23] and "free range kids". [24]
Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th century in Germany, Bavaria and Alsace to serve children whose parents both worked outside home. The term was coined by German pedagogue Friedrich Fröbel, whose approach globally influenced early-years education. Today, the term is used in many countries to describe a variety of educational institutions and learning spaces for children ranging from two to six years of age, based on a variety of teaching methods.
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Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), child care typically refers to the care provided by caregivers that are not the child's parents. Child care is a broad topic that covers a wide spectrum of professionals, institutions, contexts, activities, and social and cultural conventions. Early child care is an equally important and often overlooked component of child's developments.
A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school. It may be publicly or privately operated, and may be subsidized from public funds.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to childhood:
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Forest school is an outdoor education delivery model in which students visit natural spaces to learn personal, social and technical skills. It has been defined as "an inspirational process that offers children, young people and adults regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence through hands-on learning in a woodland environment". Forest school is both a pedagogy and a physical entity, with the use often being interchanged. The plural "schools" is often used when referring to a number of groups or sessions.
A pre-school playgroup, or in everyday usage just a playgroup, is an organised group providing care and socialisation for children under five. The term is widely used in the United Kingdom. Playgroups are the same as preschool education and nursery schools. They can provide full-time care, or operate for only a few hours a day during school term time or all year round. The business model of a playgroup has changed across the year and they are now very similar to pre-schools, nurseries and schools. They are staffed by nursery nurses, nursery teachers or qualified nursery practitioners, and are run by private individuals or charities, rather than by the state or companies.
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Presbyterian School is a private, coeducational Christian PreK-8 day school in the Museum District, Houston. Presbyterian School is composed of three divisions: an Early Childhood division, Alpha through Pre-kindergarten, a Lower School division, Kindergarten through grade four, and a Middle School division, fifth through eighth grade.
Nature-deficit disorder is the idea that human beings, especially children, are spending less time outdoors than they have in the past, and the belief that this change results in a wide range of behavioral problems.
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Garden-based learning (GBL) encompasses programs, activities and projects in which the garden is the foundation for integrated learning, in and across disciplines, through active, engaging, real-world experiences that have personal meaning for children, youth, adults and communities in an informal outside learning setting. Garden-based learning is an instructional strategy that utilizes the garden as a teaching tool.
Slow parenting is a parenting style in which few activities are organised for children. Instead, they are allowed to explore the world at their own pace. It is a response to concerted cultivation and the widespread trend for parents to schedule activities and classes after school; to solve problems on behalf of the children, and to buy services from commercial suppliers rather than letting nature take its course.
East Bay Waldorf School (EBWS) is an independent, non-sectarian Waldorf School in El Sobrante, California, on the east side of the San Francisco Bay. It is based on the principles of Waldorf education. Located on 91 acres of land, the school is adjacent to Wildcat Canyon, a regional park.
Early childhood education in the United States relates to the teaching of children from birth up to the age of eight. The education services are delivered via preschools and kindergartens.
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