The Second Day Exploring Waldkindergartens

Another Beautiful Day in the Woods- Los Geht's-(Let's go!)

This piece of bark says it all... we love the forest!  It was a piece of bark that a child found and decided to use it as a piece of paper.  I'm not sure but I think she is enjoying her educational experience. ​

The location
This Waldkindergarten is located in the village of Wachenheim.  This school is located, like the one in Speyer, in a public park ran by the city.  The park was large and had several natural springs that people collect and bring home as special drinking water.  This park is beautiful and has many locations for learning and play.

The terrain of this property was quite hilly, had kilometers of trails, community areas with benches and tables, and a creek which as the teacher stated, gives the children a place to play, cool down and do experiments (such as floating a leave or digging for salamanders).

The Journey is the Destination

That is the best way to describe this Waldkindergarten.  With the large number of trails a major part of their day is traveling to one location and to the next.  As it was explained to me, no day is the same, the are always switching where they will do the day's activity and lessons.  There are large hills and is part of the children's responsibility to get the wagon with the supplies and lunches to where they are going.  They take turns pushing and pulling working as a team, and coming up with new ways to get the wagon to the destination.

The Mystery Bag
While in a circle the children took turns putting their hand in a bag to feel its contents.  They could not make a comment until everyone had touched it.  Then they described what they felt, still not telling what they think it may be.  Then they made guesses. This helped with language skills, and helping the children who were not native German speakers communicate with their peers.  BTW- the object was a plastic spider... Yes I participated and yes, I guessed correctly. That is why the photo is from google and not actually from the woods.  Sorry, I missed the photo-op, I was too into the activity to snap a picture. (photo credit http://www.howwemontessori.com/) 

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The Bauwagon
Ladies and gentlemen, the one thing that really differs from the Speyer location is that there are no buildings here.  This is the Bauwagon (work trailor).  It has the supplies, a toilet, and just enough space to cram the children in if it is lightening.

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Yoga in the Woods
There were 13 children in this group and two teachers.  The five older children were treated to yoga in the woods.  First they laid out their mats in a circle. Then they gathered object such as sticks, leaves, acorns and rocks in the woods to make a mandela (a circular pattern) in the center.  They created poses to represent animals and objects in a story the teacher wrote.  The children created poses for trees (below) a bear, a snake, the sun, a butterfly, a bird and a little bird.  This assists with large motor skills and helps the children gain control of their bodies and understand how it moves.

Creative Activities
While the older children were doing yoga, the younger children created boats, drew, socialized in a hammock, and role played in the lean-to.  This worked on their fine motor skills. Keep in mind, not a single child was bored, or asked to do a worksheet.

The Teepee & Manela
The children built a lean-to where they roll play, read books, eat snacks, and basically anything.  The children call it their teepee.  The photo below does not give it justice.  The photo on the right is a mandela the children created earlier in the week.

Other Activities Today
I also got the chance to visit a REAL German bakery.  OMG! Have you seen anything so beautiful?   I also found some penguin friends at the Landau Zoo.  They told me to tell my son, "Guten tag!"