Waldkindergarten Forest Kindergarten

Do you feel tense whenever you see a young child playing video games and wonder if they even know where strawberries grow? You are not alone. More and more parents find themselves looking for a way to teach core values and environmental awareness to young children.

They find a perfect solution in Waldkindergarten, outdoor nurseries that focus on exposing young children to nature. In the busy world of globalization and smartphones, this education strategy is experiencing more popularity than ever.

Where did forest kindergartens come from?

In the early 1950s, Ella Flautau pioneered the concept of the first forest school in Denmark. The inspiration arose from her experiences with her own children and the local community's youngsters gathering informally in a nearby forest. This spontaneous form of daycare generated so much interest among parents in the area that they formed a collective and established the first forest kindergarten.

Around the same period in neighboring Sweden, Goesta Frohm, an ex-military man, introduced the concept of "Skogsmulle" in 1957 - four fictional characters designed to educate children about nature. The forest kindergarten model inspired by Frohm's concept, also referred to as "Rain or Shine Schools," evolved from occasional activities to formal nursery schools.

The concept gained traction in Germany during the 1960s, known locally as "Waldkindergarten" or "Waldkitas". The movement, inspired by the Danish and Swedish models, expanded across Germany, creating many officially recognized daycare centers.

Why are Germans drawn to outdoor education?

German children play imaginative games, climb, sing, and work on craft projects, free from the pressures of technology. Valuing nature and the environment is a recurring theme in German culture. During the Romantic movement in the 18th and 19th century, dozens of artists were inspired by the seasons, trees and plants around them. In medicine, time spent outdoors an der frischen Luft, ideally immersed in cold water was long considered the best way to stay in healthy and strong.

In the 1960s and 1970s, both East and West German political climates started seeing the rise of activist groups dedicated to peace, protecting the environment and eliminating nuclear power. The country is full of national parks, the green party has a lot of support, and many Germans buy bio (organic) products.

What is a Waldkindergarten exactly?

Forest kindergartens are designed for children between the ages of three and six, offering an educational experience that takes place predominantly outdoors, regardless of the weather. The philosophy can be summarized as "ein Kindergarten ohne Dach und Wande" - a kindergarten without a ceiling or walls. The emphasis is on play with natural objects.

Forest kindergartens typically do not provide commercial toys with a predefined meaning or purpose. Instead, they encourage spending time in which children verbally create their playing environment and collaborate to establish a common understanding of the basic purpose of the various objects used as toys within the context of their play. So, for many parents, the Waldkindergarten concept fits right into the idea of living a responsible life close to nature.

The idea is part of many other alternative movements in education, such as Montessori, Waldorf and Steiner schools. All of these recognize the benefits of open-ended free play in a natural environment, improving gross motor skills by playing outdoors, and encouraging exploration and child-driven activities.

What are the benefits of a forest kindergarten?

The concept of a Kindergarten ohne Dach und Wande has found significant support in the scientific community. Waldkindergarten are preschool centres, meaning they aim to socialise children, aid their development and gently prepare them for school life which typically starts at age six. Some of the benefits of being a forest child include:

Increased verbal and language development as children don't play with traditional toys. They are encouraged to create their own play environments using objects found in nature. This leads to better self-awareness and skills in social interactions, as kids have been found to talk to each other more as they create their play environments.

Lower exposure to noise and stress compared to a regular Kindergarten building with closed rooms. You may have experienced the noise level generated by 20 children in a closed room, and in fact this has been shown to create stress for the children, too. Daycare professionals and Wald kids running free are less affected by noise as they spend time in an open-air environment.

Increased fitness, agility and vision as the environment inspires children to run around, climb and play. The outside world is a space designed for human development, without right angles and even floors. This has been proven to increase the coordination development and depth perception of young children.

Better immune systems after spending prolonged periods of time outside. They also learn to dress for and withstand different kinds of weather conditions.

Independence and risk management: Forest schools typically maintain a greater ratio of teachers to children compared to traditional daycare. This ensures that children receive adequate support in an environment that may involve higher levels of carefully assessed risk, such as handling tools or fire. In fact, in most studies that compare Wald kids to their peers, they outperformed the kids educated in other nurseries and traditional environments in every aspect of testing.

All of these activities have shown to have a positive impact on children's development, language skills and their future academic success. This is probably why these forest kindergartens have become so popular in recent years.

Where can I find a Waldkindergarten?

If you are curious and want to find out more about the philosophy and availability of a Waldkindergarten (or Naturkindergarten) in Germany, the Bundesverband der Natur- und Waldkindergarten collects articles and contact information to get you started.

It also lists partner nurseries in other countries, many of which teach German children. Most forest schools are open throughout the entire year, allowing children to encounter and learn from the various seasons and weather conditions as valuable teachable moments.

Did you know that speaking to German children can help improve your German language skills? Check out my article here to find out how it works.