Forest Kindy
Why an outdoorsy educational approach is so good for preschoolers.
BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE
Little adventurers love forest kindy!
This educational offering puts preschoolers in beautiful natural areas where they’re encouraged to play, explore, take risks and grow their love for the great outdoors.
Activities like raft-building, tree-climbing, wand-making and camp-cooking are all possible, and there’s a real freedom in the way children get to choose their own challenges and test the bounds of what they can – and want – to do.
Educators offer instruction in things like fire-lighting and wood-whittling, but mostly, they stand back and give children the space and time to lead their own learning.
This has developmental upsides for preschoolers’ brains and bodies.
Forest kindy empowers kids to think, decide and do in lots of different ways, and Amanda England knows first-hand how awesome forest kindy is for young learners’ development.
Amanda is busy writing a PhD all about forest learning, and she’s the Brisbane Area Manager for Wildlings Forest School, which provides weekly forest kindy sessions for ages three to six (and their siblings).
Amanda finds that no session is exactly the same, but every moment in the bush is beneficial.
For starters, forest kindy boosts children’s language and social skills.
Young learners have loads of opportunities to communicate, collaborate and compromise as they play in nature, and this increases their language skills, builds their vocabulary and develops important social skills.
Amanda says, “Children wonder aloud and share their opinions as they work and play. They learn new words, like ‘canopy’ and ‘flint,’ and conversation flows freely during socio-dramatic play.”
“For example, children might take turns ‘driving’ a thick log that reminds them of a car, talking about their pretend route and errands as they go.”
There’s plenty of time to pursue all avenues and go deep with ideas.
The slower pace of nature play increases the flow of children’s creativity and imagination, and forest kindy offers long, uninterrupted periods of child-led play.
Amanda says, “This gives learners lots of time to conceptualise and create their own play using natural materials.”
“So, instead of having just enough time to build a cubby house with sticks, they can launch into pretend play in its kitchen, using loose parts, like rocks, leaves and seedpods, to role-play cooking and eating.”
Forest kindy also encourages children to think for themselves, because sessions are child-led.
Preschoolers gain self-awareness, independence and confidence as they try new things, and Amanda sees lots of children building self-trust and courage in the forest.
Tree-climbing is a great example of this.
She says, “Children test the branches to make sure they’re safe before they climb. Then as they climb, they show self-awareness by only climbing as high as they feel comfortable. This builds trust within themselves, which empowers them to keep trying to reach the top on their own.”
Along the way, they build resilience – that all-important ability to bounce back when the going gets tough.
At forest kindy, children are given the freedom to take risks in a safe space and learning new skills, like sawing and drilling, requires perseverance.
Amanda says, “We teach preschoolers that they need to keep trying to succeed, and they’re given opportunities to work on their skills over and over again, building resilience as they grapple with risky endeavours, like woodwork.”
Forest kindy also strengthens preschoolers’ fine and gross motor skills.
The little muscles in children’s fingers and wrists get a work-out tying knots, striking flint and collecting leaves, while the big muscles in children’s arms and legs are used for climbing trees, clambering up hills, dragging rafts and wading through water.
Amanda explains that, “As they do all this, children learn how to coordinate their hands and eyes, and arms and legs. They improve their proprioceptive (body awareness) and vestibular (balance) development as they move, climb with grip, pivot without slipping, balance without falling and adjust to moving through different terrains.”
“And all of this helps kids to develop an understanding of their body, where it is in the space, and the way it moves, which sets them up for school and life.”
Then, there’s the feel-good factor!
Forest kindy increases children’s biophilia (love for nature), and their respect for the natural world grows as they identify flora and fauna, clear weeds, plant natives, conserve water and reflect on their place in the natural world.
Amanda says, “Playing in nature leads to improved mental health outcomes, such as lowered anxiety and stress levels,” and she sees children relax noticeably as dirt falls through their fingers.
The microbes children pick up in soil are also positive for their body.
Amanda explains that, “We have trillions of little resident microbes living in our gut and on our skin. These help us to digest foods, absorb nutrients, regulate our immune response and produce inflammation-fighting chemicals, and we pick them up through exposure to the microbes in soil.”
And let’s not forget that forest school is fun!
Children really look forward to their weekly Wildlings sessions (with lots of them wanting to come more often, or stay in the forest forever!), and all ages benefit from bush learning.
