Rooms

The nature nursery has a heatable forest wagon on a free meadow area at its disposal. The forest wagon is equipped according to the needs of the nature nursery with tables, benches, material cabinets, a wood stove and a wardrobe and is thermally insulated.
Materials such as spare clothes, picture books and non-fiction books, painting and craft materials, experiment materials, research tools, carving knives, tools, ropes, puzzles and games, etc. are also stored here.
The forest wagon serves as a meeting place, retreat and shelter in bad weather and is protected by a lightning rod.
If the weather is completely unpredictable and there is a threat of danger, the municipality provides us with rooms (Bürgersaal in Birndorf) which we can use and which offer us safety. For this we use our mobile suitcase which is equipped with handicraft materials, books and games. The emergency room also offers plenty of space for motor activities. Toilets can also be used.
In addition, we have a tepee tent with a diameter of 6 meters on our meadow property. It is suitable for the morning circle, for celebrating festivities and targeted activities. The teepee creates a cozy atmosphere and awakens the spirit of adventure.
There are two compostable toilets on the meadow property of the kindergarten.
Another sitting circle with a fire pit rounds out the forest meadow offerings.
The adjoining forest offers different terrains and vegetation. Flat and open areas, mountains and hills of varying steepness, a stream and deciduous and coniferous trees of varying heights invite children to discover and play.

Outdoor Facilities

The construction trailer is located on a piece of meadow belonging to the municipality of Albbruck at the edge of the forest below the district of Birndorf. The advantages of open spaces in nature as well as appealing forest areas can be used equally by the children and the pedagogical staff. The Mühlebach with its element of water complements the natural environment.

Daily Schedule

Daily schedule
8:00 am to 9:00 am arrival time
Arrival at the forest meadow, personal greeting, free play on the forest meadow

9:00 am to 9:30 am Morning circle.
We start the day with welcoming rituals, our annual clock, songs and games.

9:30 am to 10:00 am Breakfast
Depending on the weather, we choose a comfortable place to eat. This can be outside on the forest meadow, if necessary in the shade or in the morning sun, in the comfortably warm construction trailer or in the dry teepee. We get in the mood for breakfast by singing a song or saying a table verse together.

10:00 a.m. Departure to the forest
Together the whole group goes into the forest. Now it's time to discover, observe, experiment, explore, experience adventure, find peace.....be a child.....

12:00 Return to the forest meadow
Together we walk back to the forest meadow.

12:15 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Snack time.
Common snack break and small conclusion in the form of reading time.

13:00 to 14:00 Pick-up time

Parents arrive, we say goodbye to the children and parents. The morning comes to an end.
Once a week we stay in the forest meadow and do not go into the forest. On this day there is time for specific activities with individual children or in small groups. Portfolio work and preschool can also find space on this day.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Basics

Nature and the forest offer the children a large and direct field of experience. The pedagogical work in the nature and forest kindergarten is reliably oriented to the seasonal rhythm of the natural cycle.
Goals and content are drawn from the possibilities that nature offers us.
Weather, seasons, life, growth, death constantly change the structures of the space. Every day new observations will shape and expand the child's structure.
The children can linger over an activity in nature or an observation in the forest or by the water, according to their individual needs. Disturbing factors such as noise and spatial confinement are eliminated. The diversity of the natural environment is discovered with all the senses. Feeling, hearing, smelling, seeing and tasting are addressed in nature in all their differentiation. The children learn primarily by doing, experimenting, exploring and observing on their own. They want to see, experience and touch in order to stimulate developmental processes.
By largely dispensing with play materials, a particularly intensive form of learning culture is created. The children can concentrate on the essentials. Silence is made tangible, the children have the opportunity to come to rest and to concentrate completely on themselves.
Movement is a basic need of children, which can be lived out in many ways in nature and in the forest. Spatial movements have endless space and possibilities in the natural environment. Climbing, running, jumping, crawling, creeping, hopping, swinging, balancing and sliding promote healthy motor development. The children experience their physical possibilities and limits every day. Psychomotor development also takes place under ideal conditions. The development of the body and that of the mind are closely related. The children can live out their freedom of movement in the forest. Experiencing limits in the physical area creates a stable foundation for dealing with stressful situations later in life.
The children's imagination can also develop freely. Without prefabricated materials, individual play opportunities arise and the children's role play offers great variety. A stick becomes a tool or a magic wand, a stone becomes a table, and leaves are used to cook. Every day, the children can immerse themselves in the world of fairy tales and stories. The forest offers an inexhaustible wealth of stimuli.
The artistic - aesthetic education takes a high value. Nature offers us valuable stimuli to discover and live out our own creativity again and again. The natural materials give the children impulses and tickle creativity processes awake.
A high degree of social competence is required in the forest. The children are with their teachers in a fixed group. Reliability and trust are very important pillars for social interaction. To recognize own interests and to
Nature nursery WALDzeit Albbruck
This is just as important as helping each other, showing consideration and understanding. Communication rules and language are further basics for a common togetherness in nature and are promoted by various offers.
Teaching basic knowledge of nature, animals and plants is very important to us. The children learn the names of plants, animals and trees.
The four elements of water, earth, fire and air accompany us daily in the development of pedagogical goals and shape our everyday life for the children and educators: inside exciting and varied.
Exercise in the fresh air at any time of the year strengthens the immune system and the children become more resilient and their health is strengthened in the long term.
Respect for nature and the forest or creation and the understanding of one's own self as part of the whole, strengthen the child in its responsibility for life.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Employee

Kindergarten management:
Carolina Wasmer, kindergarten teacher and specialist for elementary education in the natural environment.

Other specialists:
Natascha Kerep, educator and specialist for inclusion
Silke Werne, educator and specialist for language and language support

Projects

Festivals and celebrations in the annual cycle
Throughout our kindergarten year, many smaller and larger occasions arise to celebrate with one another.

Traditional celebrations:

    Thanksgiving
    Lantern Festival/St. Martin
    Forest Santa Claus
    Advent and Christmas
    Carnival
    Spring Festival/Easter
    Mother's Day/Father's Day (Parents' Day)

Festivals we would also like to celebrate:

    Welcome parties for new forest families
    Family celebrations
    Farewell parties for the school children
    Celebrations that result from projects and are actively prepared

These celebrations are planned each year by the teachers and children, and in some cases also by the parents.