Forest Kindergarten:  outdoor and woodland learning environments, otherwise known as outdoor nurseries, nature kindergarten, nature preschools or forest nurseries.

Here at the Rotunda HQ we’re witnessing a wonderful outdoor learning movement weaving it’s way through our early years education system and this blog is about the rise of the “Forest Kindergarten”.    Forest Kindergarten models a Forest School approach for the Early Years, and is based around child-centred learning through play.

Now, it’s apparently a Swedish philosophy; “Skogsmulle” (there is a wonderfully informative report on Swedish Forest Schools by Juliet Robinson available here).
Within this document it does state that the first Forest School in Sweden was founded in 1985 by Siew Linde but other sources also indicate that the first known “open-air nursery” in the UK was established in 1914, by the socialist political activists Rachel and Margaret McMillan (Rachel McMillan Open-Air Nursery School).
On researching this experiment, it would appear that they really were the absolute pioneers of Outdoor learning; with their primary objective being to improve child health.

The McMillan Nursery School website cites that “Margaret developed very precise opinions about the best layout of the buildings so that ‘once inside the child comes under the influence of the great healers, earth, sun, air, sleep and joy.’  The gardens were very important, and, in her opinion, ‘the buildings should face south or south east, and in order to have this, the line of the rooms or shelters must be straight, the walls at either end shaped in butterfly form to catch all the sunshine possible.’ Roof lights and movable walls ensure that there is maximum light and access to the outdoors and fresh air all year round.”

If you’ve not yet read anything of Margaret McMillan, you certainly must; she’s an inspiration.

George Bernard Shaw said of Margaret “She was not only one of the best women of her time, but also one of the most cantankerous and she owed a great deal of her effectiveness to the latter useful quality”.

For many of us who see with passion and clarity on this subject it seems apparent that increasing urbanisation and an uneasy awareness of nature deficit disorder (a phrase used to describe the hypothesis that behavioural problems in human beings are attributed to people (especially children) spending less time outdoors) may be the recent catalyst for many contemporary changes in stance on outdoor education.

A distinctive feature of forest kindergartens is the emphasis on play with toys that are fashioned out of objects that can be found in nature, rather than commercial toys. Despite these differences, forest kindergartens are meant to fulfill the same basic purpose as other nurseries, namely, to care for, stimulate, and educate young children.

There is a beautiful example of an outstanding Forest Kindergarten (shown in the below video clip) of “The Secret Garden Outdoor Nursery ” which is based in a 25 acre woodland north of Letham village in Fife and opened its invisible doors in September 2008, receiving  the Nancy Ovens Award for Play ‘Outstanding Contribution to Play’ and from Play Scotland ‘Best Practice in Action’.

 

A recent Scottish press article (below) about Kelvinside Academy Nursery’s recently-introduced Forest Kindergarten, cites:

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“Tracy Nugent, head of Nursery, said: “There are so many benefits to allowing children to play freely in woodland.  As well as increased physical activity, the outdoors is a great place to learn as the children witness nature first-hand and discover more independence through real-life experiences

Research has shown that concentration levels are improved for children who learn outside. In fairy tales, forests are often a scary place, think of the ‘big, bad wolf’ in Little Red Riding Hood. This allows us to show children what a diverse and beautiful place the forest is and encourages them to take an interest in the environment and biodiversity from a young age.”

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As mentioned in our ‘eco-tourism’ blogs in the summer, the public psyche in the UK seems to be shifting focus from the mindless consumerism of the 1990’s to a more idealistic vision, of re-establishing our connection to nature. This would appear as if it’s reflected in the UK Leisure industry (Glamping anyone?!) to the rise of our organic and locally sourced foods, and, the changes to education.   This is hugely exciting! We hope this is not just a phase but a trend, which (from our perspective) looks set to continue, to benefit us all, as a civilisation.

Well, cheers to that!

So, let’s toast the start of 2017 and to a brighter, fresher, more natural and grass-roots Early Years Education System.

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Our next blog will be moving from Margaret McMillan to one of the most recent Forest Kindergarten pioneers, Sarah Blackwell, the Chairman of the Archimedes group of companies who’s been pioneering Forest Schools learning and training in the UK for the past 15  years…

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