Introduction/specifics

In our Waldkindergarten (a day care in the woods), children can romp, muddy, climb and splash in brooks to their heart's content, but also lie under trees, watch the clouds, listen to the wind and birds, feel nature and experience the seasons. We sing, laugh, craft with natural materials and go on many excursions, e.B. to other exciting places in nature, to the theater or museum. The children find it particularly nice that our area is located right next to the wildlife park in Haibach and that they are greeted by fallow deer in the morning.

Regular stay in nature promotes health and both physical and mental balance. The children learn the importance and value of conserving the natural environment at a very early age and thus contribute to its protection. The kindergarten's concept is based on an attitude of mindfulness with which we attend ourselves and our environment (i.e. the people around us as well as nature). This attitude is respectful, appreciative and attentive to fellow human beings, animals and plants.

With this, we use nature as a basis for future-oriented educational work. Nature and the environment serve as an educational partner and point of orientation through individual experience, learning and enjoyment.

The kindergarten is (classically-traditionally) run by a parents' initiative, which has come together under the umbrella of the association "Entdecke die Nature e.V. (Discover Nature)". This means that the parents contribute accordingly within the familiar community and contribute their part to the kindergarten operation and club life.

Rooms

Our trailer is our central point of contact and serves as a shelter for us in extreme weather conditions. In winter and when it rains, we eat in the trailer, which can be heated with a gas stove. In addition, materials, changing clothes of the children etc. are stored here. For regular cleaning, we rely on the support of the parents.

Outdoor Facilities

The municipality of Haibach has provided us with a piece of forest south of the wildlife park, which is called the "Höll" among Haibachers, but are actually the "fisherman's hedges". This is where our construction trucks are located. It is important to us that the children can experience, discover and experience the diversity of the forest and nature. At any time of the year, plants, trees, soil, light, air and animals can be observed and experienced differently. This allows the children to experience a wide variety of sensory experiences, such as experiencing peace, colors and moods that are unique, of deep value and of fundamental importance for the mental and physical development of each child. The basic idea of our forest kindergarten is to give the children a (nature) space in which they can make holistic experiences and build a natural relationship to nature. Continuous contact with nature sensitizes the children and promotes a careful and mindful approach to every kind of life. The children learn to see themselves as part of the whole and to understand the connections of nature. We also want to get to know and practice the principle of sustainability with the children.

Daily Schedule

The childcare time starts at 7.30 a.m. and ends at 2.00 p.m. at the Waldfriedhof car park. Between 7.30 and 8.30 a.m., the children can play freely near our starting point outside the forest. At 8.30 a.m. we all start together to the trailers and start our day there or already on the way with the morning circle. Afterwards we have breakfast together and are on the way in the forest until about 12.15 pm. We call this time (free) play – but often we also use this time for smaller or larger excursions. Tidying up together, a little voluntary strengthening and our graduation group end the kindergarten core time. For the longer stayers there are then again various offers or employment opportunities. At 14:00 the last ones finish the last day of kindergarten and look forward to the next one.

The children can be brought either at 07:30 or 08:30 and picked up again either at 13:00 or at 14:00. 

Basics

Forest and Nature Education

The forest is a near-natural habitat, probably even the most natural in urbanized Central Europe. Forest fascinates and awakens sensations. Forests are dynamic and vibrant. In the forest there is always a natural carpet of sounds and smells with rustling of leaves and bird songs in the background and influences the subconscious.

Forest education seeks the balance between living and learning, between play and work and between education and teaching. She wants to bring together the emotional and the cognitive in the experience. Forest educators use these framework conditions and support people to become active themselves and to discover nature and its beauty.

The focus is on the forest, the human being and the human and natural relationships to each other. The forest is a play, experience, sensory and learning space, it is a place for cooperation, a place for adventure and fairy tales, it is the source of creativity and imagination, it is an oasis of peace and it is open to all people....

A maple leaf becomes a sail, a piece of bark becomes a boat and a child becomes a captain. The fallen tree trunk becomes a suspension bridge and the steep slope becomes a slide into adventure land. There is running, climbing, listening, feeling, mating and dreaming.

Squirrels, foxes, butterflies and stone crawlers, but also fairies, elves and dwarves cavort here. It smells, chirps, crashes and splashes, greens and blooms, grows and passes.

(Free) Play

This is the most important time in the morning. It usually lasts from 9:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Together with the children, we decide where we want to go. After the morning circle we are on the road with the children or stay at the place. Now the children themselves choose where, what and with whom they want to play. In order for the children to find a contact person, the pedagogical staff is always nearby, so that the children can approach us at any time. We deliberately do not offer a finished program during this time, so that the children have plenty of time to occupy themselves independently and autonomously. In doing so, we consider the dedication and self-forgetfulness with which the children "sink" into their games to be extremely valuable for the development process. In addition, children in the forest do not need constant guidance or instructions from us. In this phase, we have the opportunity to observe children and document individual developmental steps.

Specifics

Mindfulness

We understand mindfulness to mean that we meet ourselves and our environment (i.e. the people around us as well as nature) in a certain attitude. This attitude is respectful, appreciative and attentive to fellow human beings, animals and plants. We are open to the views and opinions of others and open in our views and opinions.

Sustainability, nature conservation, environmental education and future orientation

The "Council for Sustainable Development" appointed by the German Federal Government summarizes the basic ideas of the sustainability concept with the words: "Sustainable development means taking environmental aspects into account on an equal footing with social and economic aspects. Sustainable management therefore means that we must leave our children and grandchildren an intact ecological, social and economic structure. You can't have one without the other." We want to teach our children the importance of nature for our lives and thus the need to preserve it by protecting them and helping them to regenerate. This is especially important for the future of our children.  The forest is our educational partner, with whom we recognize the connections and from whom we learn how to preserve it. The mindfulness anchored in everyday kindergarten life leads to a social coexistence, which lays the foundation for a corresponding value orientation in the children. We run our kindergarten and association in an ecological, social and economic way in a sustainable and thus future-oriented way.

Participation

"Participation" comes from Latin and means i.e. to get something that others also have. The term is used especially when describing coexistence in a democratic society. Decisions that need to be taken in participatory structures are not taken by individuals, but by the community.

We implement participation as participating in everyday life: the children are allowed, if this is possible and makes sense, to have a say in decision-making (e.g., at which place they play or which song is sung). And everyone gets the opportunity to get involved and contribute something (ideas and thoughts as well as the interests of the children are taken up).