Why a Forest Kindergarten?
Our kindergarten is an outdoor alternative to pre-school, a place where the ceiling and floor changes every day! A secure natural space where children can explore and develop their imagination, take risks and build on social and team building skills, confidence and self-esteem. With 20 acres of magical woodland to explore children have the freedom and space to be children, to run and hide, climb and balance. We build dens and light fires and support children in their natural curiosity and hands on understanding of the natural world. We sing, tell stories and cook on the campfire. Every day is different as the environment creates new learning opportunities with its ever changing seasons.
Fun
At My Little Explorers we are all big kids at heart and love to play in the woods, ‘lets go on a bear hunt’ or play hide and seek, “1,2, 3 where are you”. Playing games around the fire circle is a fun way teach children to stay safe by staying outside our circle of logs.
Self-esteem and confidence
We provide a safe and stimulating environment in which children can feel happy and secure, with our encouragement, praise and positive attitude children are keen to face new challenges and feel good about themselves.
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Independence and resilience
With our child initiated ethos and our encouragement to ‘have a go’ children build in confidence and if things don’t go right first time we are always on hand to praise and encourage. Falling over can become a game, children learn to become resilient, brush themselves down, pick themselves up and have another go.
Social and communication skills
Children become the risk assessors and are encouraged to team up and problem solve together, pulling the trolley through the woods and negotiating their path or building a pirate ship carrying different lengths of wood together. There are plenty of opportunities for children to use their imagination and communicate ideas and feelings in a variety of ways.