A while ago I recall reading a magazine article from Canadian Parents about outdoor childcare. Kids and care providers would hangout outside rain or shine so long as it was no colder than -10c. Sound ideal? It’s real.

Wood kindergartens or waulkindergardens originated in the Scandinavian Countries and have since migrated through to the UK and Germany.

They meet (their teachers) at the train station every morning at 8am and take the train two stops to just outside of town. From there they walk into the forest and spend the morning outside – breakfasting, playing, doing arts and crafts, running, jumping, rolling, inspecting plants and animals, learning about seasons and food, and just about anything kids usually do inside – just outside in the forest.

Around noon they head inside for lunch and a nap. In the afternoon they either stay inside and play (with trains, blocks, puzzles, paints, etc.) or they go outside and play on their playground (mainly a big sandbox). The kindergarten is open until 5pm.

Can you imagine dropping your child off to play in the forests? I wanna come. Man kids get to have all the fun.

Wanna read more about forest kindergartens?
Also waldkindergarten

A gal who tried it in her home town.

Class sizes are 15-20 children with 2-3 care providers. You would require a space to be in when the weather was cold or especially bad. Children love it they get to muck around in nature, have picnics, build forts it is a childhood dream come true.

Maybe I am biased. My babysitter lived on an acreage were there was a small grove of trees or ‘forests’. We learned what sap was, what bugs did or did not do, sneezed from sniffing a bunch of pollen, see frog eggs turn into tadpoles and then frogs. If my child’s care environment could be like that. I’d be on that like a fly on honey!

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