Zauberwald

Stay in the forest

Take a child by the hand and let him guide you. Look at the stones he picks up and listen to what he tells you. As a reward, it will show you a world you had forgotten long ago.

In today’s world, where children are confronted with constant pressure to perform and can hardly experience nature at first hand, providing children with a suitable habitat in nature is becoming even more important. The forest and nature in general offer the children a new environment which they can perceive in a new way. This gives them the opportunity to explore independently and to develop themselves, to discover and experiment with and in new circumstances (new material, different circumstances, etc.). By bringing moral and ethical values closer to them in nature, the diversity is shown, conveyed and brought closer to them, thus the common forest place receives appreciation and recognition from the children. The forest offers the children a variety of play opportunities. The children give free rein to their imagination and experience the forest through play. Through nature, the children’s overall development is promoted, as these are of great importance for their health, body and well-being. Through contact with nature, the children also have the opportunity to let go of pent-up stress and to develop and gain new as well as their own experiences. A dwarf house is built from a tree stump and lovingly decorated with moss, sticks and stones. Nature materials are transformed into mobiles, which can be used by the little ones to help them fall asleep. In the forest, the children have the opportunity to run, climb and romp around. Experiencing nature is the foundation for environmentally conscious behaviour. Children who experience nature with all their senses develop respect for their natural environment. A responsible attitude is expressed through concrete action. Children can already actively do something for the environment, whether it is building winter quarters for small animals or helping to care for the resting place.

Learning objectives

The children learn respect for nature and living beings (trees, plants, animals). Observing nature and its sounds also promotes the auditory sense. The aim is to support the group of children in their developmental stage and to respond to needs.

We adhere to the four levels of forest education. This model helps to professionally observe and accompany the child on its way to its relationship with nature. It can be used as a planning aid and reflection tool. The child’s encounters with nature are divided into four levels, each of which is interdependent and builds on one another. The first level forms the foundation and is lived intensively.

Level: Arriving in nature playfully – and sensually

The child makes basic, fun and playful experiences with all senses. With games that arouse enthusiasm, the child is introduced to the forest habitat in order to get to know nature intensively. The child experiences itself in nature in a variety of ways. The child will move safely in the forest, slide down a hill, feel the warmth of the air, smell the damp earth and gradually develop a loving bond with the forest. The child plays with and in nature. They encounter nature in a positive and emotional way and slowly arrive in the experiential space. There are no expectations of factual knowledge. For this first level, a repetitive daily structure is important; it gives the child orientation and support. In the morning, we greet the forest, sing songs that match the weather and give the places their own names. The nature teacher creates a base of familiarity in the unstructured environment and gives the child the opportunity to feel comfortable in the new environment and to get to know the other children.

Level: Getting to know nature, discovering and exploring

The second level is characterised by an exploratory and discovering character. The child „does“ something with nature, changes it, plays with it, begins to acquire factual knowledge and recognises connections. Through knowledge about nature, the child can better deal with fears and uncertainties. This enables positive experiences and learning in nature. The child collects beechnuts, arranges them and discovers the tasty kernel inside. If a child jumps into a puddle, it splashes on all sides and they get wet. The water level sinks and the child experiences simple physical relationships. A bumblebee attracts the child’s attention. Where does it fly to and what is it doing in this hole in the ground? The child can see how the bumblebee disappears several times in this hole in the ground, it must live here. Together with the nature educator, the child looks up in books what kind of dwellings animals live here. In free play, the child discovers the most diverse phenomena of nature. The nature educator can pick up on specific aspects and deepen them. At this level, she can draw the child’s attention and arouse his curiosity through her own interest and enthusiasm. Often the child and the nature educator follow an exciting trail together. Questions are asked and answers are found together. The nature educator brings in methodological knowledge and leaves space and time for individual steps of discovery. The use of tools can also serve as an approach to discovering nature. The child digs in the soil and discovers the fine roots of a fir tree. Another access to nature at this level is learning handicraft techniques and outdoor skills such as cooking, making colours, weaving, carving and felting. When nettles are turned into chips, a handful of blackberries into blue paint, meadow grasses into a woven picture or a hazel stick into a magic wand, an intensive engagement with the natural material takes place.

Level: Engaging with nature, creative and focused

At this level, the relationship changes. Until now, the child „did with nature“. Now he or she gets involved to the extent that „nature does with him or her“. Sensory experiences are specifically deepened. The child catches its first snowflakes with its tongue. He stretches his face towards the snowflakes and feels the cold and the tender touch. A deepened sensory perception can be achieved by focussing on or blocking out individual senses. This usually takes place in guided sequences. Examples are a barefoot walk, sensory games or listening to a bird concert. In a creative process, the child and nature interact with each other. The child gives an old tree a face with clay. A falling leaf becomes a beard. A branch hole is discovered and turns into a nose. Creative aspects are often found in free play when the child designs with natural materials. A feeling of „letting oneself in“ to nature and „letting nature in“ arises. This can lead to a flow experience. The child is absorbed in the present moment.

Level: Identifying with nature, meditative and emotionally touched

The child experiences itself as part of nature and identifies with it. Time and space dissolve. He or she feels deeply connected to nature and feels safe and secure in it. This identification happens in a meditative encounter with nature or in an intensive playful immersion. When the child lies on the ground and looks upwards in amazement or sits on a tree and completely forgets himself, the boundary between the „I“ and nature dissolves. An intense feeling of security, happiness and love sets in. In its play, the child often slips into nature’s guise: As a wind-child, for example, he can fly over the meadow and feel carried and strong. Together with the howling storm, it raises its voice and becomes wild and free. Happy and exhausted, he lies down in the field and feels his breath. The child finds deep encounters with nature in free play. It is also possible that the nature educator leads a meditation and the child experiences this level with varying depth. The child may be encouraged to visit an old tree, to take care of a tree friend, to have a dialogue with it and become one with it. Strong positive emotions characterise the 4th level and become lifelong treasures from which caring interactions with nature emerge.

Daily schedule