A mind must wander

Most everyone loves to swing. Even adults. That’s why we have hammocks and porch swings. They are associated with relaxation, rest, and contentment. Maybe that’s why kids love to swing too. That and the amazing physical feeling of flying. Swings were always my play structure of choice. I could just concentrate on the movement, the…

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You wanna bring what into this house?!

Here is a little story for you. One day, after an afternoon at the creek, a little girl tells her mom, “I brought something home from school today.” “Ok dear”, says Mom nonchalantly, expecting a stick maybe or a handful of leaves. “It’s in my shoe”, says the little girl. They get out of the…

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The Guide Beside

One of the best benefits of forest school is knowledge of nature. We sometimes think that kids will automatically understand night and day, seasons, plants, and animals, but they need to truly experience these things in ways that are meaningful to them in order to connect. Sounds good right? But in practice, really grabbing hold of a child’s attention,…

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labels stick

There is something about the outdoors that breaks you down to your core. It makes us fearful, in a way, to be in the wild, yet strangely comfortable, like we are fulfilling some primitive part of ourselves. Adventures outdoors show us what we are truly made of, instead of how others see us. Kids feel…

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Ma Moo – The Ultimate Guide to Forest Kindergartens in the US

Forest kindergarten or nature school is often referred to a “classroom without walls” where young children spend their time outdoors in nature creating toys with found objects and experiencing little adventures with their imaginations. In Germany, Waldkindergraten (forest kindergraten) is common. And lately, in America, the popularity of “out of the classroom and into the woods” preschools and kindergartens is growing as…

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Nature Schooling – Worldmind Nature Immersion School

On a recent trip to Colorado we were invited to join Worldmind Nature Immersion School for a session of their Child-Caregiver Forest School at Chatfield Botanical Gardens in Denver. They hold child-caregiver groups for children 0-8, ecological awareness drop off classes for children 4-10, as well as family camping trips seasonally. Aside from this location…

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GOR-TEX – THE RISE OF THE FOREST KINDERGARTEN

Stream-side schooling? Read how some curriculum is ditching stuffy classrooms for lessons and learning completely outdoors. This is kindergarten redefined. “Your home?” 3-year-old Aiden asks, looking nervously at the slippery slope between him and his friend. As he starts making his way down, he steps and then falls, but he doesn’t cry. Instead, he slips…

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