When children enrol at our kindergartens, it’s usually the first time they will be leaving their parents or guardians and entering a completely different environment full of new experiences, people and challenges that they’ll need to learn to overcome. Understandably, some children can find this transition overwhelming whilst others consider it a little less tricky.
Kids Love Nature have a team of very thoughtful and caring staff members on board to make your child's first educational experience an extremely positive one. During their time at the outdoor kindergarten, we will nurture them into confident children that are ready to take on day-to-day life and prepare them for school.
Below we outline some of the key activities that teach children independence, freedom and confidence:
Teamwork
Encouraging teamwork both in and out of our forest kindergarten is key to a child's development at such a young age. Group activities where individuals have to work together to solve a problem can have many benefits including;
Improved communication
Cognitive skills
How to be polite and learn manners
Enhanced friendships
All our kindergartens regularly take part in team activities, sometimes without even really knowing it! Here is a lovely picture taken recently at our Marwell Zoo outdoor kindergarten, in which children are taking part in an obstacle course.
Learning from their mistakes
Trial and error are what makes all of us learn, and we encourage children to learn a lot on their own through this method. By learning from their mistakes, instead of being scared to give something a go, their confidence will naturally build up and they will quickly learn the difference between right and wrong. Our staff will be able to better understand how they deal with their emotions by observing them react to new tasks which may be harder to understand or get to grips with. They can then provide support, develop and encourage them in the most suitable way possible.
Being given the choice
This is a very important step to building a child’s independence and something we feel very strongly about at our kindergartens.
Children are shown how they can choose resources from any area in the indoor and outdoor spaces to follow their interests and test their ideas.
In other situations, instead of telling a child what to do next, we may give them a few ideas, this way they’ve still made the decision on their own, but we have had some influence over the direction of their learning.
Quiet time
Relaxing, sitting still and enjoying ‘alone time’ is sometimes the hardest challenge of all - but is very important in a child’s development. At all our outdoor kindergartens we have created both indoor and outdoor spaces where children can still and relax. Sleep spaces after lunch enable children to take their afternoon nap and we also encourage yoga sessions which children regularly take part in and love!
Encouraging exploration
This is usually an easy activity to encourage, but there are still some children who would prefer to watch and learn rather than get involved straight away. However, exploring their surroundings will assist with both learning from their own mistakes, increase their independence and to make decisions for themselves.
All our kindergartens give children regular opportunities to explore and we are lucky that all our locations have acres of space, meaning there is never a dull day, come rain or shine!
Ready to learn more?
We regularly update our blog and cover many subjects around your child’s development, as well as what’s happening at the Kids Love Nature Kindergartens. Some of our most popular articles include ‘Building a resilient child’, ‘How we help children to embrace nature’ and ‘Why forest kindergartens are best’. Take a look at our blog here.
If you are interested in an outdoor kindergarten, find your nearest location here and get in contact with the Kindergarten Manager who can inform you on extra details about the kindergarten such as our Outstanding Ofsted report, age of children we can take, and the capacity of each kindergarten.
We look forward to welcoming you and can’t wait for your child to join the adventure!