Waldkindergarten in Germany

Originally appears in the Fall 2011 issue

The Waldkindergarten, or Forest Kindergartens, are outdoor schools for young children ages three (sometimes as young as two) to six. These schools have no walls; children are outside in the woods all day, in all seasons and in all weather. The focus is on play using only what is found in nature, thus nurturing fantasy play, creativity and a heightened sensitivity to the earth. The modern Waldkindergarten movement originated in the 1950s and gained widespread popularity in Denmark during the 1970s. Waldkindergarten are now found in Norway, Sweden and Germany. Since the 1990s, they have become very increasingly popular in Germany; about 700 now exist across the country.

Studies have found that, compared with those who attend traditional preschool/kindergarten, children who attend Waldkindergarten are healthier, have stronger immune systems and fewer allergies, develop a greater sense of self, and develop a greater sense of empathy towards nature and others (Gorges 2002). Proponents say that the focus on play, exploration and discovery without adult intervention or formal instruction helps children develop their inner self. Children are not distracted by what adults want them to learn, and concentrate instead on self-knowledge, self-confidence and self-reliance. Children plan, organize, investigate, and explore on their own. Children also learn to collaborate with their peers and develop a sense of community belonging and responsibility.

Most Walderkindergartens are parent-led, but those in Germany are also supported by the government as part of its childcare program. Still, families generally pay a small monthly fee to send children to Waldkindergarten, so lower income families often lack the resources to participate.

All Waldkindergarten schools have a similar schedule that usually consists of a morning circle, play, breakfast, more play, and then a closing circle. Some children stay until noon or 1 P.M.; others until 2:45 P.M. Each school has a shed used for shelter in case of extreme weather, and for storage. The sheds generally have a table and benches, shelves for art and craft materials, books, equipment such as magnifying glasses and flower presses, small shovels and rakes, and musical instruments. While such human-made materials are sometimes used for learning and play, the main focus of Waldkindergarten is on objects found in nature. Some sheds have a makeshift toilet and a small heater.

Our curiosity about these programs led us to the Dusseldorf area last February where we had the opportunity to visit several German Waldkindergartens. We went intentionally in the winter when weather conditions are not always ideal. As we observed children in their forest settings, we talked with them and with their teachers, and documented this fascinating glimpse into alternative early childhood education.

Our visits begin on a cold and sunny Monday morning. We arrive at the AWO Waldkindergarten in Burschied. Art made from nature materials hangs from the trees surrounding the shed.  We are greeted by 13 children and their two teachers. At their morning outdoor circle, the children decide where in the woods their play spot for the day will be. The play areas have inviting names that describe their physical features like “Climbing spot,” “See Saw,” and “Water Wheel”.

Before heading out for morning play, each student is assigned a job for the day. Jobs include counting the group before heading out to make sure everyone is present, checking the road to the play area for cars, being last in order to look behind for stragglers, carrying the tissue container, and, on the way back, carrying a bucket and larger tweezers to pick up any trash (tissues mostly) that may have dropped. These jobs reinforce the importance of belonging to, and being responsible to, the community, something that is especially important for these young children where there is not the structure of walls and a roof to give a sense of togetherness.

On this first sunny morning in many days, the children choose to go to the climbing area, a spot in the woods where there are several good trees for climbing. We remark on the beautiful day, and the teachers explain that rainy days are children’s favorites, because they love to play in the mud. Children know the rules for walking on the road–they are free to proceed at their own pace, but must stop at designated areas if they run ahead of the pack, to wait for the others. The most startling thing we notice is everyone’s energy and stamina. If children straggle, they do so to investigate and/or collect a stone, a leaf, a feather or a branch along the way. Several children stop to stomp their feet on the muddy path. A teacher and children pull a wagon with water, art supplies, diapers and foam cushions.

When we arrive at the climbing area, the children immediately begin their activities. They know the boundaries and no one goes out of sight of the group. Some children climb trees while others go with one of the teachers behind some bushes to “do their business.” They wash their hands and run off to climb and play while the teacher stays to cover up with dirt and leaves. The children climb high, but know they cannot go higher than adult arms can reach (just in case they may need help.) No one asks for help, though. Children climb freely, sit up in the branches and talk, switch positions, and, eventually maneuver their way down. They are developing gross motor and balance skills, and self-confidence.

There are no human-made toys in the woods. Children use their imaginations to create fantasy objects from natural objects. Some children have found evergreen branches and are pretending to paint a tree, using the branches as imaginary brushes. The branches are then transformed into brooms, and the children clean the forest floor. One child pushes a knob on a tree to sound an imaginary fire alarm, and others run for safety! Creative fantasy play, where objects are transformed in countless ways, is an essential component in these schools. This symbolic play develops abstract thinking and spatial relationships, skills that young children do not get from traditional pencil and paper tasks or from toys with predetermined meanings. They are role-playing and learning cooperative social skills, other important developmental tasks.

We find that this fantasy play is the primary purpose for learning in Waldkindergartens, and we quickly realize how this unfolds as an essential development task. When we ask a child about four years of age what the green moss on the tree trunk is, she says she doesn’t know. Waldkindergarten teachers are trained in pedagogy and first aid, but they go through a generic pre-school preparation program, not one that involves specific training in Waldkindergarten or in outdoor education. We can see so many ways to use the woods to build on concept development, but it is not their goal. The teachers want the children to play and explore on their own. We see happy, healthy, curious children, and we see the ability of those children to construct new knowledge through this transformative play.

We are struck by the children’s self-confidence, by their eagerness to take risks, and by their ability to make good decisions and self-regulate. The older children help the younger ones put on their mittens and get down from the trees. Mostly, we are impressed by the luxury of time these children have. They are unhurried and can explore and discover at their own pace and in their own way. All the while they are breathing fresh air and developing a healthy relationship with the earth.

We go next to a nearby Waldkindergarten that is located within a wildlife nature park and zoo in the town of Dormagen (Dormagen Waldkindergarten). We arrive just as the children are ready to venture into the woods. As we walk to the children’s first stop of the day, we pass fenced-in goats, deer, peacocks, eagles and other animals. The children stop at a grassy area for morning circle to choose individual jobs, sing a greeting to us and do some circle games.

As with the previous Waldkindergarten we visited, as these children go to the woods, they run ahead at their own pace but know to wait at designated stopping areas. Each child carries a backpack with breakfast and a drink. Attached to their backpacks are foam cushions they can rest upon when needed. These children will have their breakfast in the woods and play until around noon when some will go home, while others stay until two in the afternoon. As we talk with one of the leaders, children scurry off to play in the woods. We can see and hear them, and they come up periodically to show us matching feathers and different sizes of twigs. These children are developing observational skills by leading their own investigations of nature, while at the same time developing a profound sensitivity to their natural surroundings.

Our third visit also takes place at a nature park, this one at the Waldwichtel Waldkindergarten Bruck near the city of Cologne. As the children prepare to travel to their chosen spot, a spot they chose with us in mind, our guide Claudia takes us on a quick tour of the children’s other spots. First, she attaches the name of today’s play site along with a map on the side of the shed (this way parents know where the group will be). We walk down a path next to a stream where we see a heron. Someone has put bread in the water for the geese, but Claudia explains that this is not from Waldkindergarten children, because they do not feed human food to the geese. On the other side of the path is a site the children have named “Kingfisher Paradise” after sighting a rare kingfisher there. Other enticing names the children have chosen for their play areas are “Enchanted Wood,” “Airplane Square,” “Bat Hollow,” “Landslide Way,” and “Sandtrap.”

As we tour the areas, Claudia explains the school’s “weapon rules” to us. The teachers would rather the children not pretend to make weapons out of sticks, but realize that this is also part of transformative fantasy play. If the children choose to play with ‘weapons,’ however, it is only by mutual agreement—children aren’t allowed to pretend play with weapons with those who don’t want to. Claudia also explains that, for young children, nature is not taught explicitly. At Waldkindergarten schools, children do not learn the names of trees or memorize birds, but rather learn them as an integrated part of everyday activities. A command such as “Put your mittens over by the birch tree,” or “We will sit under the oak tree on the moss” integrates naming with ongoing activities.

At Christmas the families come with their children to Kingfisher Paradise for a special gift-giving time for the animals.  Children put special treats on one of the trees.  When they return from their vacation they go to the tree and see that the animals have received, and eaten, their gifts.  This helps children find deeper connections with nature and is a significant example of how they are developing empathy for the earth and its creatures.

We arrive at the top of a hill where the children are playing. Today is partly sunny. It is still very cold, but some of the children have taken off their mittens to craft mud balls. Two boys have woven their gloves and scarves into some branches they have stuck in a bench to create a space station. Children run and roll down the hill. Claudia gives us more examples of how resourcefulness and empathy are nourished by growing and playing in the woods. On rainy days when children are all muddy, they rinse their hands on water trickling from branches. A child sees another hurt by nettle and finds a soothing plant to rub on the sting.

Our final visit happens on a cold and cloudy Friday. The ground is wet and muddy from yesterday’s rain and the air feels raw. We travel to the Waldkobolde Waldkindergarten.  On Fridays, children at Waldkobolde spend the day in a special play area near the school’s shed that was built, and is maintained, by their parents. Most of the Waldkindergarten are run and maintained by parents, and here the parents have enhanced the play area. They have built a tree house and a large sand box, plus a teepee and tunnel made out of woven branches. They have also painted tires and hollowed out logs for planting gardens. Fridays, then, offer different opportunities for creative play. When it rains, children make channels, rivers and castles in the sand box. They dig, rake and sweep leaves, dirt and mud. They saw wood, hammer nails, examine things with magnifying glasses, water plants, and sing or do arts and crafts.

Today we see a child creating a pulley system with a rope slung over a branch. Tied to the rope is a lacrosse stick inside of which the child has put a ball. He pulls the rope, and the stick is raised up with the ball. Meanwhile, other creative and imaginative play is happening as four children transform a shopping cart from a vehicle into a little hut and then into a climbing wall. After, the children investigate the cart’s wheels. Wolfgang, one of the teachers, tells us about a wagon that had broken. When the wheels fell off, it was transformed into a sled. In the spring it became a boat. While children at this Waldkindergarten are using human-made objects in addition to those found in nature, they are manifesting their creativity through repurposing these items.

It is time for breakfast and the children line up to wash their hands. One teacher pours water over outstretched hands as another squirts soap. The children scrub and a teacher passes again with water to rinse the hands. No one seems to notice that it is freezing. Hands are dried and the children grab their backpacks to go to their breakfast spot just inside the woods. While they eat we tell them we would like to know why Waldkindergartens are so important, and they say it is because they learn so much!

We were thrilled with our week-long Waldkindergarten tour. Although in some instances we saw use of human-made objects for play, for the most part we witnessed the core Waldkindergarten principles play out in the everyday interactions between children and nature. We saw healthy, happy children embrace nature with both vigor and empathy. We saw children who were allowed to be children, with the time, space and environment to follow their natural curiosity and make sense of their world. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the Waldkindergarten teachers and parents. These enlightened adults trust that the best learning for young children unfolds naturally when children are guided and not ‘taught’, and who realize that growing up in the expanse of the natural world helps to create expansive, creative human beings.

England’s Forest Schools

Similar in purpose to the Waldkindergarten movement, the Forest School initiative in England allows children to experience nature in outdoor “classrooms.” Unlike Waldkindergarten however, Forest Schools are for all ages. At this stage in the Forest Schools initiative, schooling is often part-time, sometimes occurring over six to ten weeks with a few hours’ participation once a week. Unlike the Waldkindergarten, Forest Schools have adult-led as well as child-initiated activities. The adult-led component involves bringing learning in math, science, language arts, social studies and the arts outdoors, so that these subjects are integrated into the nature experience. England’s Forest Schools also differ from Waldkindergarten in that all Forest School leaders are specifically trained for outdoor learning.

Notes

Gorges R. Waldkindergartenkinder Im Ersten Schuljahr

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Amanda Kane is an early childhood educator who has taught at Burgundy Farm Country Day School in Alexandria, Virginia. This year she has explored different early childhood learning models, including the Reggio approach in Reggio Emilia, Italy; Waldkindergarten near Dusseldorf, Germany; and Forest Schools in Shropshire, England. Judy Kane is a retired teacher, and was also assistant head of school and curriculum director at Burgundy Farm Country Day School in Alexandria VA. She is interested in non-traditional approaches to learning, and in sharing ideas with fellow educators and parents about why and how children need to play, and of the importance of having opportunities to develop empathy, to learn conflict management skills, and to practice metacognition.