Just imagine how sleepy these kids will be after an entire day out in the fresh air and being active. You put them into bed at six p.m. and won’t hear a peep until the morning! Clearly, a win-win situation for the parents, too!😊
(I am a german mom) My boy went to a forest kindergarden till he was ready for school. And I am planing to send my daughter too, when she is old enough (at least 2 years old). It gives them so much and I can see, that my son is different from the other kids (he is almost 7 years old) in playing. Often, other kids are bored because they don't know, what to play with al the plastic- brightly-colord- ready to play- toys you can buy in the shops. My boy for example sees a stick and a stone and immidiately his fantasy kicks in: He imagines a wild-west-setting, playing cowboy or native. He builds little huts from branches and declares them as his castly. Then he is a king in his own country. Of cause, he likes his TV-time. But which child doesn't? ;-) But most of the time he is out in the garden or the forest to conquer adventures, that only are set in his own mind. I love that
Boredom is also important for creativity. My favorite toy when we weren't outside was always LEGO. In town there was a nature reserve with reeds, dead trees where we built huts, and bows and arrows. One day I came home with 20 leeches on my legs. Mom almost fainted. 😂
Good for you. Well done. This is great way to teach little humans to use their natural instincts and learned behavior to form thought patterns for critical thinking. The kid in the tree..Yeh scary but maybe this is something he has worked up to, so teachers trust him more bc this is what he wants to naturally do, climb. My little american son while at a babysitters one Sunday morning bc had to work, climbed to the roof from her second story balcony. Everyone there looks for him when suddenly felt must look up and there he was sitting there watching us. Then the fireman came and got him down. He was always climbing things and I never stopped. Nature with nurture means discovering who you are with the confidence to go on. ..ps..my lesson.. never worked another Sunday and never had another babysitter ever.
@@JU-pq6qureally? My parents gave me a little pocket knife when I was still in kindergarden and I was helping to cut vegetables for dinner at a very young age.
@J U the UK has it's national healt insurance for every one. So are the rest of the European countrys. As a European you are automatically insured by your taxes.
I live in Denmark. My grandson was a shy, clumsy boy who hated his kindergarten and just sat in the corner. My son put him into a forest kindergarten and they never looked back. My grandson is thriving, he´s active, happy and playing with other kids and his mototric skills have improved 500%
I'm in the UK and I have an online Danish friend who I talk with every day. Sometimes I will say, 'oh it's raining' or 'oh it's too cold to go out' and she will ask me if I have a coat, gloves, a hat. I admit I do and then she shouts at me for not going out. 'Dress for the weather!' she will say. 'You won't melt if you get wet!'
@@Ati-MarcusS The truth! I am danish, and germans LIVE that rule, it is not just something they say - germans on the danish beaches in rainy weather? Yellow rain boots and perhaps a rain coat - we do it too :D Cheers to my german friends!!!
You can find these forest kindergartens everywhere in Germany. It was understood that independent children with good social and motor skills become responsible adults
Even in a normal kindergarten we had a weekly forest day and had to spend at least half of every day outside no matter what weather it was. What I always wondered about is, how they go about afternoon naps. I never got what the point of those was. I never slept, always just had to lie there and stare at the ceiling.
@J U sie’s positiv früher hätte er eine Handgranate bekommen 😅. Ich glaube aber wirklich das spitze Gegenstände garnicht so gefährlich sind wenn man es denn Kind früh auf die richtige Weise näher bringt sie korrekt und auch nur korrekt zu benutzen.
In many countries parents teach their children that nature is an enemy because it is dirty, dangerous, uncomfortable, wet and hurtful. As these children learn that nature is your friend, something that protects you, nourishes you, lets you breathe! What do you think, which children later have the better, more balanced life?
This was my childhood back in the 60s/early 70s - not at a forest kindergarten. We just spent a lot of time outdoors, climbing trees, making rope swings over streams, tad poling and building dens. At weekends we would be out all day without parents, and go home when our stomachs told us it was dinner time. We learned by playing, and if we fell, we learned to be more careful next time.
I'm English and I was brought up as a child just like this. As kids we roamed the countryside making camps and climbed trees, we spent hours outside in all weathers. If someone fell in a pond the other kids pulled them out!! It was WONDERFUL life.
5:22 "A horror movie vibe"?? Oh boy. That just shows what a fear-based culture there must be in the USA. When I was a kid playing outside in Scotland, a penknife was an essential tool for building a den in the woods.
Here you can see very well why children need so many different shoes. With just one pair of shoes you just don't get very far in the different weather conditions.
You can get by with only one pair, but your demands for those shoes are different.. They need to be waterproof, breathable, sturdy and comfy. Add wollen socks when in cold weather, and you are good!
It was fun to see your journy from your concerns because of children playing on a brickwall to appreciating forst kindergardens after only 3 videos. It is always interesting to see reactions from people that allow themselves to challenge their wordlview. Thats very rare
Wow, that was fast. I recommended this video yesterday, because my kids are attending a similar forest kindergarten in Germany. Thought it would be an intersting one for you. At first I was also a bit sceptical, but after 3 years I would never go back to a indoor one. My kids are loving it. A bit of information if you like. There are groups of twenty kids from age 3 to 6 together in the group. The older kids watch over the younger ones and teach them the do and dont's. To use the knifes you have to be five years old and absolve a little test. They are very proud when they pass and are very cautios and doing it consciously.
What the kids learn there was taught to my generation by our grandparents - oh my - almost 70 years ago. Today's grandparents and great-grandparents have other interests or live in nursing homes. That's why it's so nice to see that this knowledge is not dying out and the children are learning it again.
Fresh air gives energy to the brain. This certainly increases the processing of information. When the kids come home, nice dinner, talking about the day and tired enough to sleep well.
You actually do learn some physics, biology and chemistry when you are outside all the time as a kid. And you learn it through experience. The structure and maths of it all can come later - and they just might come easier for kids who had such experiences when they were little. Also: of course, motor skills and so on are a good basis to become an adult who still likes to work out in some way as an adult - - and stay healthier. Makes for less health care costs individually and for society as a whole. Just some aspects that make this approach really worth while!
As a danish pedagogue student with a profile in nature and sustainability we learn about the research in risky play and the importance of this. The kids learn so much about themselfs and their abilities when they overcome stuff and when they fail. When they learn exactly what is possible they get even more connected to themselfs and earn self esteem and much more. Other than that there is so much learning in the nature and they get skills for a life time during those years. Its also important to point out that the years in a forrest kindergarten getting an attention towards the nature will follow you the rest of your life.
I note one huge difference between the Danish forests and those in the UK/USA that are near to housing... I did not see a single piece of litter or trash anywhere. The places were so clean and well respected. Wonderful to see.
I bet there is some trash but if littering in a forest is as expensive in Denmark (fine-wise) as it is down here in Germany it's not that many people that do it. I've seen SCARY fine-amounts in the local newspaper even in the 90s for littering "in nature" ;)
@@peterpain6625 I don't think many "normal people" in Denmark think of fines when it comes to littering. I guess it's more the fear of social exclusion/condemnation if you litter. Fines are mostly for low-lifes with a litter-culture, where further social condemnation is not possible/has no effect.
@@JU-pq6qu Es war ziemlich teuer. Ich glaub €80 für die Kippen/geleerten Aschenbecher (Naturschutzgebiet) und €200 für "offenes Feuer in einer Brandzone". Aber die waren auch ned das erste mal da. Permanenten Platzverweiss gabs auch gleich ;)
@J U Cigarettes, cans and so on would be a small problem in the US. Watch US TV shows with people living off grid, in rural places or even the outskirts. The properties are often filled with collapsed sheds, broken cars, destroyed machines, fridges and the list goes on and on. You rarly see this kind of trash on peoples properties in Europe.
What's so unusual to you about kids climbing trees and playing outdoors !? It's just a natural way of growing up ! I did it as a kid in the UK, as did everyone I grew up with. We would leave the house in the morning and come home in time for our evening meal. Happy days !
We live in a small village in Germany and have wonderful nature right on our doorstep. A great adventure playground. But you don't see a single child. They all play indoors. From an early age they are told that bacteria in the mud, parasites in the meadows and the fruit picked from the tree make you sick and that all animals in general are dangerous. I often have to pull myself together not to kick these parents' a..
@Anemde Same as! Lol I swear we were almost Ferrell but in a good way. By the time we had got home, we looked like we had crawled through the hedge backwards after taking a mud bath lol.
My son was 4 years old and played in a Dutch city park with a bunch of kids from his street. I don't remember if there was supervision. I was not there. I went to get him for lunch and did not see him at first. He was in the top of a tree just like in the first minutes of this video ON WOODEN SHOES! I was quite amused as he said to me that he had difficulty coming down. Well, I said. Figure it out slowly. You came up, so you can come down too. It cost some effort to calm him down and think about the return way from the ground where I was. But eventually he saw he did not have a choice, and came down, very slowly. He felt so proud and learned that he had to make a mind map when climbing trees in order to be able to come down. He climbed trees every day since then (yes, with wooden shoes) and never had any problems to return safely to the ground.
Hoi Ronald, prima gedaan! Jaren geleden zei ik altijd tegen mijn dochtertje van 3, 4 jaar oud: 'je mag op alles klimmen waar je zonder hulp naar boven komt. Als je het je lukt omhoog te klimmen, weet je ook hoe je weer omlaag moet komen.' Ze is nooit ergens van afgedonderd. 🙂
I'm 61 years old . . . traveled to over 30 countries, and it NEVER ceases to AMAZE me how there is SO MUCH we can all learn from each other . . . this is BRILLIANT, if only more people kept an open mind. To quote one of my favorite lines from a movie; *"Life is a Banquet, and Most Poor Suckers Are Starving to Death"* [Auntie Mame, 1958]
I highly recommend the movie by the way, just be ready for it as it is a bit on the long side, back when peoples' attention span was a bit more than it is now LOL (2h23m with an intermission about half way through)
Hey Joel, the Old Brit here again! What a great video; never even knew these existed...! what a fantastic way for kids to learn, getting muddy, climbing trees splashing in water and learning by experience! It doesn't get much better than that!!! Yeah clothes get dirty, hands n face get dirty, cold, wet, scrapes, bruises etc but it looks a lot more fun than sitting in front of a screen watching moustachioed Go-karter's! Brought back a fond memory of coming home after a long productive day of of damming a stream in our local woods... absolutely covered in mud, torn jeans and T-Shirt and fully expecting mum to go ballistic! She took one look at me and burst out laughing! Said "I'm NOT washing those! Get in the bath..." when I got out she just put my clothes in the bin (Trash can!) and talked about what we'd been up to... One of my mates (a lot less muddier than me) didn't fair quite so well... he was banned for a month from playing out with me and my best friend... that was over 50 YEARS AGO! Just goes to show how the happiest memories linger... thanks for posting this, put a real smile on my face! Take care mate!
I'm German and i was in a forest kindergarten very similar to that. we had a small trailer with a roof and a dixie toilet for if the weather was too horrible, but honestly we spent most of the time outside. we also have a forest behind my home and i spent most of my childhood running around and exploring the forest with my siblings. we would often spend hours in the forest without adult supervision. if we ever got hurt we would help each other home. if someone got stuck in a tree we would run to get a parent. the only real threat was the wild boar, but we always kept a respectful distance and there was never an issue. before we were allowed to be in the forest unsupervised, my parents made sure that we knew all the main pathways between our village and the next closest 2 villages. there was never an issue of us getting lost. if we ever didn't know where we were, all we had to do was find a larger path and follow it for a while before we knew where we were again. last week, my dad and i walked home, through the forest, from the next village over, in the dark, after having 7 beers each. we knew exactly where we were and how to get home for the entire walk. we even intentionally took several detours because we were enjoying ourselves and the night was pleasantly mild.
Our kids went to Montessori School in preschool in the U.S. and they were taught to use authentic materials inside and outside the classroom. I was shocked when I walked in one day to watched my very rambunctious 3 year old cutting carrots with a real kitchen knife and cleaning up, serving his classmates, and pouring water from a porcelain pitcher and walk around to each classmate. Outside they had a play yard filled with woods, and other natural play structures.
I love your mind transformation because you are ready to learn. You are an outstandning example of what Americans could learn if they were a little bit open to what happens outside their small universes (USA, State, Countys). Thanks for giving me a little confidence that Americans might change!
This is amazing! I work in Early Childhood in Australia and it is over-regulated!! And so many parents want their children to be bubble wrapped. And we have to take photos all day long. And write observations and learning stories to show what we are teaching them. And summative assessments (reports). It's exhausting with all the caring duties we have to do to.
Yeah same here in Europe. It's getting worse. I could carve wood with a knife without cutting off important parts off myself at 7-ish. Now kids seem to need special dulled knifes to not cut their fingers off when cutting anything. It's ridiculous. I grew up in the sticks though. Our mums had to basically hose us off with the garden-hose to tell us apart at dinner/supper time when i was young :D
@@peterpain6625 Exactly. When a mother tells me that because her son is learning to roll over, I have to place cushions all around him?? So how is this child supposed to learn to crawl??
The very idea of this is frightening to me. No wonder the whole world is going crazy. I am now a great-grandmother and we have always made sure that our children and grandchildren have close contact with nature and learn for themselves. Even if it wasn't "hot" right now. I think it's great that the young generation is so open to so many different paths
Well... In Australia, with all that extrem toxic animals, it could be make more sense, than in Europe, where all the really dangerous animals are anhilated in the neighbourhood...
That`s a great Kindergarten in the middle of the nature in Denmark. Here in Germany there`s a saying that there`s no such thing as bad weather only bad clothing. And it`s true it`s so important that the children can play outside in nature and let their energy out. Climb in the trees etc., we did that in our childhood and it didn`t do any harm.😊💙
Have you ever heard about the zero emission recycling power plant in the center of Copenhagen, that has a public park and a ski slope on its roof? Denmark has many aternativve energy solutions, green planning and a very interesting biking culture too.
Hahaha so normal for Germany, I remember climbing on high trees everyday when I was child and it never was a problem for my parents or other adults. Often times alone with friends outside with no adults around as my parents gave me the trust to know myself and what I am capable of.
I'm 51 now. But I grew up in a VERY rural area in Norway. With a grandfather that was a local butcher and a lumberjack. My father was/is a carpenter and a hunter (and earlier Home Guard, as in military) and a knife smith. My other grandfather was a WW2 veteran. I grew up with meat, knifes and guns. Playing in the forest, climbing trees...using knifes. If you do it the rigth way, there is nothing to be scared of. And it teaches you a whole lot of things in the process. :)
I was born in 1964 and I was amazed by your amazement at the kid in the top of the tree at the start of the video. That was everyday play for kids of my era. Good times.
Same here ^^ (born 66) during our holidays and weekends there was not a single day we spend inside... Breakfast and than have fun outside: climbing the highest trees we could find, building huts out of wooden sticks and leafs, playing with mud, collecting insects, ..... Wish, i can have these times back! 😅
JP, we have those kind of kindergardens here in Germany, too. And I do love this concept. I was born 1980 in the former GDR and in my kindergarden I was outside daily for 3-4 hours. Being outside if its raining, snowing or sunny improves the immune defense system so much and we learnt so much about the nature. We build things in groups, we had outside competitions and the funny thing is, I never had any of the childhood illnesses because my immune system got really strong. I only had colds. And believe me, you can't compare the time you spent inside to the time outside. For a kid, the creativity just flows and everyday you see new things.
(I am a german dad) When I was a child (about 6 to 10 years) it was absolutly normal for me to climb on trees much higher than the one in the beginning of the video. We trained jumping from 2 to 3 meeters to figure out how far we can go till it's getting tough to land. I also had a knife which l took into the woods on my own, when I was 6 or 7, no big deal. My parents simply showed me how to use it safely before I was allowed to take it with me alone. Today, as a parent of three, it is actually very hard for me to give my children the same freedom. As a parent you often see only danger not the opportunity to grow. I always try to remember how I was raised to overcome the urge to overprotect my children.
We have a few 'Forest Schools' in England now - particularly for pre-school age children. A lot of primary (elementary) schools have a 'Forest School' element to thir curriculum, where they spend some time each week (throughout the year) in a natural environment. It's great for physical development obviously, as well as teaching teamwork, investigative skills, and risk assessment, in addition to learning about nature and the environment itself. There are a lot of concerns generally these days that we are bringing up kids who don't know how to assess risk appropriately, because we have taken away all responsibility from them and made their world too 'safe'. With older children it's a great way to teach the traditional subjects like reading writing and math(s) in a stimulating and real-world context.
We have always had nature walks and nature studies in our schools in the UK. Also when I was a kid we would play down by the brook, catch bully heads and crayfish, climb trees, polevault across the brook just to name a few things, go camping, and survival training, make and build things together, I was also very lucky in the fact that one of my grandfathers was a gamekeeper and pest controller as well, so we would go with him on his jobs, we also had little chicken chasers when I was 10yrs old, and we had to fix it ourselves if it broke down (bodge jobs as a temporary solution) we would run through the fields barefoot, shooting, skinning and gutting, almost like a Ferrell wild child but with manners and respect for the animals and nature and people. It taught us how to appreciate and respect everything you had, know exactly where everything you ate came from and the process from beginning to the end. Many times we would go home with cuts and grazes and bruises, and the random lost or injured animals and birds lol We sometimes looked like we had crawled through the hedge backwards, but great fun and a great feeling of freedom and free to use our imagination when playing.
We have a few forest kindergartens in Slovakia too, but even in our regular kindergartens the kids go out everyday. If the weather is too bad, like heavily snowing or raining, they don't. My kindergarten was right next to a forest and we were going there almost every day. I remember playing there with sticks, leaves, acorns... I still remember that mushroomy smell of the forest. It was nice. Kids from kindergartens usually go play outside the building on a playground or they go for a walk in the streets.
Dane here. I went to a forest kindergarten as a child and it taught me so much about nature and animals! I’m getting quite nostalgic while watching this lol. It’s been over 15 years now, but I have a specific memory of when me and a friend actually smuggled ourselves out (unsupervised) and walked across a road (where cars would pass by) to walk over to the forest to play. When we were done, we walked right back to the kindergarten and the caregivers were flabbergasted. They hadn’t even noticed we had been gone (we were only 3-4 years old)😂 oh and the carving wood with knives is another thing! We all got taught how to use the knife and not a single kid (while I was there) got hurt. The only time I’ve witnessed someone getting hurt like that was when one of the adults/caregivers accidentally cut themself on a knife and had to be taken to the hospital.
I'm so glad I grew up in the Bavarian Forest in the 1970s and, as the name of the region implies, the forest WAS our kindergarten, as there were no official kindergartens back then. We got instructed by our parents about things like, do not make a camp fire when it's dry, leave ant hills alone, and don't eat mushrooms you don't know, come home when the church bell rings. Now, in 2023, where our forest was is a huge hotel with a "foresty" interior, and the remains of our playground forest are really sad to look at.
Although this idea originated in Denmark, there are currently forest kindergartens also in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, Sweden, the UK, Italy, and Germany. There are also over 250 "nature preschools" operating in the US, though their regimes are generally less rugged.
We are all a little envious of Denmark! 🤣 No, really: they're great and we love them! Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden... they're doing some things right up there and Germany is lucky to be so close. It's even easier to pick something up there! 😅 Oh well, actually with all our neighbors (so also Switzerland, Netherlands, etc.). The ones in the north are just especially great! ❤️
No reason to be envious, because in Schleswig - Holstein we have quite a lot of Waldkindergarten, and most of the normal ones in villages at least keep the kids playing outside even if the weather is nice. Or they take them to the beaches where they can learn and experience a lot. If only our schools were quite like the Danish ones....
We used to have field trips every Friday into the backwoods of our school back in the 70's and 80's. Gods, I miss that. Climbing trees, catching salamanders and frogs, whittling sticks, starting camp fires, growing moss and fern gardens.
I‘m so grateful my parents put me in a kindergarten where I was in the woods 24/7 made me learn a lot about nature and respect it more and not be disgusted by mud, bad weather or insects…they put a lot of trust in us kids and I think that made most of us very brave and independent
What a magnificent concept to prepare children for the real life, teach them what they need to know, and let them have fun at the same time, isn't it? Well done, Denmark! I'm glad we also have these "outdoor" kindergartens here in Germany.
Thats why I love the north of my land. The north of Germany. in Schleswig Holstein and in the south of Dänemark children learn Deutsch and Danish at school. ....and english. Germans love these Vikings. I love the scandinavian people. ❤
We have a lot of these forest kindergartens here in the Czech Republic, too, both of my children attended it and we never regretted it. I think it’s very good and healthy :) US have a lot to learn :)
Thanks for your reaction to this, I knew you would like it. I am from austria and we have this also here and in germany too. My daughter visited a "normal" kindergarden, but we have a weekend cabin in the mountains and she learned also at the age of three, four skiing, swimming, ice skating, climbing.....from/with us parents! She is now 24, spending her free time mainly in the nature (forest, mountain, lake...) and learns for her studies as an animal doctor sometimes sitting in a tree if possible!!😁
I didn’t go to a forest kindergarten, but climbing trees was my favourite pastime as a kid. When my mom picked me up from kindergarten, the adults would tell her I was in a tree and she would yell for me to come down and wait by the door so she didn’t have to see me do the climb. I never got hurt. I get why especially parents might be worried, but I also think kids are more resilient than we give them credit for.
My son and daughter were both in forest kindergarten. The best thing there is for children. It stimulates the imagination, they learn respect for nature. Live every season. The children are more balanced. I can only recommend it to everyone
Such a great video. I am all for children spending as much time in their formative years outdoors learning about the natural world. Far better than on a games console I think.
In the US, kids go from nursery to kindergarten after nursery at age 5. In most of Europe, kindergarteners are 3 and up or even younger. My grandson graduated to handling a knife to sharpen sticks for toasting marshmallows over an open fire a week before is fourth birthday. Readiness was determined by behaviour and skills, not age.
A kindergarten in the US, is not the same as one in Denmark or other European countries. An American kindergarten is a kind of preschool, whereas in Denmark its a kind of nursery, followed by a 1 year pre+school, called børnehaveklasse.
Another great reaction. :) For somethingelse thoughtprovoking, I would recommend to watch videos about prisons in Germany/ Scandinavia/ Finnland. Of course I don't know how you think about the prison system in the US and prisoners/ criminals in general but from my experience US Americans are shocked most of the time when they hear about and see prison systems where the focus is on rehabilitation and not punishment, so it might also be interesting for you. :)
As a German mom I’m still sad I couldn’t get a my child into a Forest kindergarten and had to send it to a normal kindergarten (where they only spend about four to five hours a day outdoors). Edit: And I wasn’t worried even once watching this video. 😉
Hi Jenny, I'm German too with 8 year old twins (bavaria). You're in lucky position, because my childrens were only in the garden by nice weather. The reason was "Some parents aren't glad if there kids had muddy clothes", of course the kids had extra rubber boots and splash pants, but the adults were to lazy to clean the kids shoes. In wintertime sometimes they were only outside for 1 hour per week. So I ask myself why I had to buy all the stuff for nasty weather (also for 2 kids at once).
Same here... There was a new Waldkindergarten in our area when my kids were that age, but they'd only cover the morning hours, not the afternoon, which wouldn't have worked for us. Thankfully the regular Kita started a forest project shortly after. They had a small Bauwagen in a nearby forest, where each group would spend one day of the week. Better than nothing at all...
@@Kristina_S-Othat's great. The forest kindergarden near my house is only open for 5 hours (6 if the kid eats there), too. It's a pitty that this makes it only an option for parents who don't have to work that much.
many germans move to denmark with their kids these years.. some of them do it for the home schooling, that gives you the option of having much of the school outside also for example
Our kids (Germany) had a forest week every now and then. Spending whole days out in the forest. And by the way - there are many many good reasons to envy Denmark.
Dude...thats exactly how we use to play when I was a kid in the 60's (in the US). My Grandfather gave me my first knife when I was 6yrs old (my Mom got mad but my Dad let me keep it). Those are old school values being taught.
We have this in Sweden to, our kids spends most of the time outdoors. When my sons were in kindergarden i would pick them up at the beach during the warmer season of the year. That's true freedom.
Common in Germany too. My daughter went to a Beach Kindergarten. About the same, but they also had the local beach (baltic sea) to go. Building sandcastles, fishing for small critters and observing them (and release them safely afterwards). They had small huts for each group though and sanitary facilities (that's what I didn't like about "regular" forrest kindergartens).
I was brought up in 50s England, outskirts of London. We played like this naturally. Climbing trees, playing in the rivers. But even my cousins in central London played outside, lots of great parks and of course bomb sites in London. I am surprised the woman from England was shocked
I think when kids learn how to handle knives etc they learn to be responsible and know their limits. Noone is putting a group of children in this environment unprepared. They get help initially and then they get guidance and encouragement but can develop freely. Beautiful concept! When I was young, these just became a thing, so very rare. I was so envious and would have loved to be in one but it was expensive and very hard to find an open spot. They've gotten more and more popular and I love to see it! I meet them often when walking my dog and they're always respectful and keep their distance. When other children often run or scream around it or go to pet it without asking..
Dude that kid in top of the tree we used to do that all the time with friends. I'm from Lithuania. Few things to know, you can scale the whole tree patch leaning from one tree to another if the trees are young. It's a fall winter attraction since leafs and bugs makes it unpleasant in summer. The ground underneath is covered with dead leaves, wines, moss and other foliage plus its usually quite wet land around forest in Europe so ground is actually soft. Me and many have fallen from similar nights and you just shake it off as a child, thats a different story when you're heavy and rusty adult. Another method used to be climb to the top of lean tree and move the center of mass that is your body to one side and smoothly land on the ground with the tree top. Now if you picked a wrong tree you'd endup handing few meters above the ground crying until eventually you get tired and can't hold onto the tree anymore and drop down. Rins and repeat :D
There are also forest kindergartens in Germany. There, the children learn how to deal with nature. They also learn how to handle knives and fire. This helps them to better understand how to handle knives and fire correctly.
I remember document of british children playing on ruins after WW2. Someone said that children have native risk meter and when surrounding is too safe, the children adjust it by becoming more careless and then they also stay careless.
I love walking through Wimbledon Common seeing the kids in their woodland classes, no matter the weather, none of them complaining, it’s clear they thrive on it!
Parents also gets more quality time with their kids. Pick them up from an indoor kindergarden and the kids are tired and grumpy. At home it's arguing and crying. In outdoors kindergarden the kids are more relaxed and happy when their parents pick them up. Also the family learn to appreciate outdoors life together in the weekends.
Norway has these too. Kids growing up active, breathing fresh air, learning to trust themselves, and play in nature, respecting nature. 100% better than 12 kids locked up in a room all day.
It was me who suggested the video! I am happy you watched it! And I'm really glad you saw what an amazing way it is to learn skills and build confidence in themselves as young children.
My son goes to a forestry nursery and is just covered head to toe in mud daily and he just loves it hahaha just dress them appropriately for the weather and its fine. We're in the UK in the Midlands. Also, my son has his own working tools like hand drill, saw, plyers, etc and his own child safe Montessori knife to help chop vegetables and fruit for snack or dinner and hes 3. He climbs trees, accidentally falls in huge puddles and gets freezing, hes always getting random minor injuries like hit on the leg or whatever but theyre very safe. They cant join before 2 as far as im aware due to insurance but he loves it. We spend the weekends using the public footpaths through local fields or the Derbyshire dales and we just spend hours walking or he goes in the backpack carrier when he gets tired and we stop for a picnic or at a pub for lunch and its wonderful. He has an hour or so tv time or reading time during the day instead of a nap, but he just fidgets until he can get outside. I hope he always has this love of outdoors. We camp over winter with our log burner in our bell tent, all over the UK and as soon as hes old enough we will take him kayaking so we can start taking him down the canals and rivers with us on holidays. We did it with my dad and we hope he wants to carry this on as he gets older:)
I grew up in Poland in late 1980's - early 1990's, and this was our life. Outdoors, nature, testing yourself every day doing weird and often dangerous shit. And yes, I climbed the hell out of trees, me and my friends would spend hours 15 meters above the ground on these huge-ass pines. We'd make netting to make it safer, and sometimes take naps up there. In the spring and fall, with the winds, the swaying was insane, you'd fly a meter one way, two meters the other. I'd love to be 8 again :).
Norway has about 8 percent of outdoor daycares, but our weather is a bit more extreme than Denmarks. Many kindergartens have at least one day a week of going on excursions to the woods or seaside, and spent hours every day outdoors. In the North, with the sami people, it's quite common to include the kids in activities like the seasonal reindeer butchering and so on. Some kindergartens keep animals like hens, rabbits, pigs, or sheep. The kindergartens provide guidelines to the parents on how to dress the children appropriately for the weather and season, with dry clothes available if they get wet or need something warmer. In Norway, children are not expected to learn to read, write or do math before starting 1st grade - kindergarten is daycare, not school. Although a lot of kindergartens DO go through the letters and numbers from 0-10 or 20 at least, it's not a necessity and can easily be incorporated into play and outdoor activities - writing in the sand, counting rocks and sticks, naming stuff starting with a certain letter, measuring weight and sizes... (I grew up 10 meters from a fjord, my mother raised three kids living on the beach and we all had rules and followed them pretty well, no accidents more serious than "getting wet" ever happened. :) )
I'm glad you liked my suggestion. I'm German and there's a forest kindergarden 2 walking minutes away from my house, or maybe right behind my house if you count the whole forest. Unfortunately it's only open from 8am-2pm so anyone working more than 5 hours a day couldn't send their kid their. But I love the concept of the kindergarden itself.
For my 7th birthday I received a .22 rifle, to replace my old “Slug Gun”. I used to disappear at daylight and get home before dark. I’d take my rifle, put a few cartridges in my pocket and go wandering. I never shot a person, a domestic animal, a road sign etc. I bought home a lot of food and pelts. By the time I was 10, in late Spring through to mid winter, I made quite a bit of money from pelts. Enough so that I bought a very good truck when I got my license, enough to fund 3 degrees.
It was nice to see how you reacted to one of the things we do differently in Denmark. It is also good to see how much of an inspiration this was/is to you. Wonderful reaction. Like and subscribe, with much ❤ from Denmark. Michael
Ah forest school! The first time I saw the fire pit at my grandson’s nursery school, I was taken back. When I heard they were using axes I was taken back, now I just relax. Twice a week now at nursery school have forest school, & the teacher comes. Even Primary schools here in Devon all do a day of forest school, each week at some schools. Think it is the way forward. I spoke to a dad who’s child went to a proper forest school here in the UK. He drove past other nurseries which the children were indoors and he left his tiny one, on a freezing cold day to stay outsides, where they even sleep in hammocks in the trees. Thought it was awesome. Just remembered that near me there is a new forest school, through children have to be 2 to join .
I totally agree with this. As an Aussie mother of now, adult kids. If this was ever an option for me to send my kids to Forest Kindergarten, I definitely would have. These kids are learning life skills so important, IMHO . Well done Germany 🇩🇪
Young people wouldn't know but this is basically how children grew up for millions of years. When I was a kid we climbed trees all days of the week. I got my first knife at the age of 6.
To me, a person who grew up in Sweden. This seem completely normal! We don't have forest kindergartens but we spend ALOT of time outdoors. Learning how to cook, whittle sticks and learn about the forest and especially up here about the ice age and vikings. Which just spikes interest in learning and also being outdoors. In nature working with your hands and learning from failing and falling. Cuts, scuffs and bruises aren't something we worry about. It's just another day. Sure it's not for everyone and we still have that spoiled kid or scared kid who feels uncomfortable with the situation but that's how you adapt and learn and find what you like and don't like. More outdoors!
This was basically my experience as a child, without the supervision and time limits, admittedly I grew up on a beautiful farm and we knew our neighbours! We also learned from silly accidents and were aware of all our basic safety limits - including avoiding snakes! As long as we were home for dinner and our homework was done, we were free (until we were teens)! I remember I was tired one day and tried to take a shortcut through a barbed wire fence, I still have the leg scar to remind me! It was a wonderful life, and prepared me for living and surviving in a big busy city, confident to be unique and creative, and really explore the world and life with an open curious mind and open heart! Life's limits are simply personal choices, with a solid grounding in cause and effect! 🤗👍
I think that the concerns about them not being prepared for school are ridiculous itself. It´s a kindergarden - a place for young children to just be children. It´s not meant to be pre-school. There´s plenty of time to learn in a classroom after that. Just give them a place to have fun and be children and not a place to already put the pressure of growing up into an adult to them
we have these is some schools in Tasmania, Australia. Our old school had 'forest school' every week from Kinder to grade 6, in Autumn the students would make 'forts' with what the students had found during forest school, the students love it
I’m Demnmark you child is 6-7 years old before they start school until that they go to Kindergardens. The boy at the top of the tree didn’t start by climbing to the top he started maybe 1 meter up and the safer he feels the higher he can climb. We also leaves our children outside in the stroller to sleep even in winter until it hits about minus 20 degrees. And we often leaves our kids outside in strollers while we shop or go to a cafe.
That's practically how I grew up. Out in the woods, in the fields and wherever there were animals 😊 I loved climbing trees too. And yeah my mom often had heart attacks because of the things we got into ...
we built Treehouses, when we where children, in the top thirds of Larches. 15 to 20 Meters High, jeah, best childhood ever, learned how to adjust timing on 50cc mopeds with 8 to 9, learning how to drive a traktor same age or much earlier, how to use tools and much more, only 30 years back ;-) it was a very nice childhood :-) if i had kids, which I dont have (I Regret this most) , they would get a nice childhood, Kids need to explore try and learn :-)
Even in "normal" kindergardens in Germany they often have forrest weeks which are quite similar to a forrest kindergarden. My kids also used to play in forrest kindergardens during the weekend, because no fences. You see huts and fire places and defence walls made out of sticks, colourful art in the trees and games build from wood.
These kids are strong and hardly ever sick... From Denmark. Usually they have a little building or a bus they can go into if it gets really cold, but not always.
I have been told by several parents that have their kids in a forest kindergarden that their children sleep very very well at night. ;-) And they do not need tv to entertain themselves..
I am Danish, age 56, and the culture in my pre-school was very much the same, back 50 years ago, even before the designated forest kinder gartens came about. We used bow saws as 6 year olds, and anything short of bone fractures or needing stitches didn´t warrant being picked up by mum. During my schooldays only two contemporary children died in the vicinity of where I grew up, and NONE of them from play accidents: One was killed in traffic and one died from a hereditary heart ailment, that couldn´t be cured back then. As a bonus even the very few "fat" kids were not really fat by today´s standards but just a bit chubby. Obesity was something a few grown-ups with desk jobs suffered from. We got tough and learned not to be so bl..dy scared of everything. Death is inevitable, but life has to be conquered, and as the English proverb goes: "Faint heart never won fair maiden (really life itself).
From 18mth old, I lived in a house that backed onto a wood - we spent vast amounts of time in there (even though it was private and we shouldn't be in there) - playing hide and seek, climbing trees, playing in streams - it was a great place to grow up.
That's how we grou up in 60s without any superwisors and almost no ruls. We were out in the forest for all day. Coming home only to eat and clean 😂And today I'm a healthy grandma with 60+ years. We have some forest kindergarten in Slovenia too.
This is such a great idea - a lot of kids nowadays, especially city kids, have zero experience of nature and don't have much opportunities to play outside, it must be so beneficial for their development both physically and mentally, wonderful video.
Live by the beach in Sweden. The kids arrive at the carpark in the morning eat lunch in the bus but others wise outside all the time. Kids love it. There is no bad weather only bad clothing.
Just imagine how sleepy these kids will be after an entire day out in the fresh air and being active. You put them into bed at six p.m. and won’t hear a peep until the morning! Clearly, a win-win situation for the parents, too!😊
Parents can have fun too 😂
@@arnodobler1096 you get my jist!
@@Attirbful 😉
Ja das stimmt, wenn man die Kinder nicht müde macht wollen sie auch nicht schlafen
You are absolutely right. there are hardly any problems with children who don't want to sleep or don't have an appetite.
That is what we call freedom in Europe.
(I am a german mom) My boy went to a forest kindergarden till he was ready for school. And I am planing to send my daughter too, when she is old enough (at least 2 years old). It gives them so much and I can see, that my son is different from the other kids (he is almost 7 years old) in playing. Often, other kids are bored because they don't know, what to play with al the plastic- brightly-colord- ready to play- toys you can buy in the shops. My boy for example sees a stick and a stone and immidiately his fantasy kicks in: He imagines a wild-west-setting, playing cowboy or native. He builds little huts from branches and declares them as his castly. Then he is a king in his own country. Of cause, he likes his TV-time. But which child doesn't?
;-)
But most of the time he is out in the garden or the forest to conquer adventures, that only are set in his own mind. I love that
Ich finde das wirklich toll 👍🏻 zu meiner Zeit ( Jahrgang 1983 ) gab es das leider noch nicht in Deutschland wir waren aber auch so viel in der Natur
Boredom is also important for creativity. My favorite toy when we weren't outside was always LEGO. In town there was a nature reserve with reeds, dead trees where we built huts, and bows and arrows. One day I came home with 20 leeches on my legs. Mom almost fainted. 😂
Good for you. Well done. This is great way to teach little humans to use their natural instincts and learned behavior to form thought patterns for critical thinking.
The kid in the tree..Yeh scary but maybe this is something he has worked up to, so teachers trust him more bc this is what he wants to naturally do, climb.
My little american son while at a babysitters one Sunday morning bc had to work, climbed to the roof from her second story balcony.
Everyone there looks for him when suddenly felt must look up and there he was sitting there watching us. Then the fireman came and got him down.
He was always climbing things and I never stopped. Nature with nurture means discovering who you are with the confidence to go on. ..ps..my lesson.. never worked another Sunday and never had another babysitter ever.
Good for you, I hope both your children continue to enjoy the outdoors.
Gut gemacht Anne ❤
My nephew went to an outside school in the UK, his Mum is Dutch. He always came home covered in sh*t and with a big smile on his face.
Happy days....
@@JU-pq6qureally? My parents gave me a little pocket knife when I was still in kindergarden and I was helping to cut vegetables for dinner at a very young age.
@J U Everybody is automaitcally covered by the tax financed National Health Service.
@J U Forest Svhools in the UK have Public Liability Insurance
@J U the UK has it's national healt insurance for every one. So are the rest of the European countrys. As a European you are automatically insured by your taxes.
I live in Denmark. My grandson was a shy, clumsy boy who hated his kindergarten and just sat in the corner. My son put him into a forest kindergarten and they never looked back. My grandson is thriving, he´s active, happy and playing with other kids and his mototric skills have improved 500%
I'm in the UK and I have an online Danish friend who I talk with every day. Sometimes I will say, 'oh it's raining' or 'oh it's too cold to go out' and she will ask me if I have a coat, gloves, a hat. I admit I do and then she shouts at me for not going out. 'Dress for the weather!' she will say. 'You won't melt if you get wet!'
She is right @TukikoTroy there is no bad weather only bad clothing ... (i´m German...)
@@Ati-MarcusS The truth! I am danish, and germans LIVE that rule, it is not just something they say - germans on the danish beaches in rainy weather? Yellow rain boots and perhaps a rain coat - we do it too :D
Cheers to my german friends!!!
You can find these forest kindergartens everywhere in Germany. It was understood that independent children with good social and motor skills become responsible adults
exactly !!!!
@J U Das ist das Problem. Kinder lernen super schnell. Auch mit spitzen Gegenständen umzugehen.
Even in a normal kindergarten we had a weekly forest day and had to spend at least half of every day outside no matter what weather it was. What I always wondered about is, how they go about afternoon naps. I never got what the point of those was. I never slept, always just had to lie there and stare at the ceiling.
@J U sie’s positiv früher hätte er eine Handgranate bekommen 😅. Ich glaube aber wirklich das spitze Gegenstände garnicht so gefährlich sind wenn man es denn Kind früh auf die richtige Weise näher bringt sie korrekt und auch nur korrekt zu benutzen.
There are also in Czechia. Not so much but yes.
You think it's a kindergarden? It's a Viking Training Camp for our cool kids. 😊
😂
@ST H But no vikings...😆😆
@ST H 😆🇩🇰💕
@@natasamladenovic1765 He-he. It's legacy 😀🇩🇰💕
Absolutely Rigth 😂🇩🇰👍
In many countries parents teach their children that nature is an enemy because it is dirty, dangerous, uncomfortable, wet and hurtful.
As these children learn that nature is your friend, something that protects you, nourishes you, lets you breathe!
What do you think, which children later have the better, more balanced life?
This was my childhood back in the 60s/early 70s - not at a forest kindergarten. We just spent a lot of time outdoors, climbing trees, making rope swings over streams, tad poling and building dens. At weekends we would be out all day without parents, and go home when our stomachs told us it was dinner time. We learned by playing, and if we fell, we learned to be more careful next time.
I wrote something like that, too...
Me too
Me too, in the 70, 80. It was beautiful.
Me to, climbing trees, building Bow and arrows, robbing cherrys from neibours Gardens 🤣🤣🤣
Me too and my husband as well.
I'm English and I was brought up as a child just like this. As kids we roamed the countryside making camps and climbed trees, we spent hours outside in all weathers. If someone fell in a pond the other kids pulled them out!! It was WONDERFUL life.
5:22 "A horror movie vibe"?? Oh boy. That just shows what a fear-based culture there must be in the USA. When I was a kid playing outside in Scotland, a penknife was an essential tool for building a den in the woods.
he said that because of the birds were shown a scene before and bc of the eerie music when the kid took out his knife
Here you can see very well why children need so many different shoes. With just one pair of shoes you just don't get very far in the different weather conditions.
as a dane i see why one pair of shoes are needed.. we are not german 🤐
You can get by with only one pair, but your demands for those shoes are different..
They need to be waterproof, breathable, sturdy and comfy. Add wollen socks when in cold weather, and you are good!
It was fun to see your journy from your concerns because of children playing on a brickwall to appreciating forst kindergardens after only 3 videos. It is always interesting to see reactions from people that allow themselves to challenge their wordlview. Thats very rare
If you are in that age like Joel, your world view isn't made of the iron of the many years of live experience...
@@melchiorvonsternberg844 He is very very open-minded which I appreciate a lot!!!!
@@Winona493 You're right!
Wow, that was fast. I recommended this video yesterday, because my kids are attending a similar forest kindergarten in Germany. Thought it would be an intersting one for you. At first I was also a bit sceptical, but after 3 years I would never go back to a indoor one. My kids are loving it. A bit of information if you like. There are groups of twenty kids from age 3 to 6 together in the group. The older kids watch over the younger ones and teach them the do and dont's. To use the knifes you have to be five years old and absolve a little test. They are very proud when they pass and are very cautios and doing it consciously.
Thanks for recommending, it is a lovely and eye opening video...
"Schnitzen nur im Sitzen" whittle only when sitting down. Don´t run around with a knife in your hand. The Kids also learn to be careful with fire.
What the kids learn there was taught to my generation by our grandparents - oh my - almost 70 years ago.
Today's grandparents and great-grandparents have other interests or live in nursing homes. That's why it's so nice to see that this knowledge is not dying out and the children are learning it again.
Fantastic!
Fresh air gives energy to the brain. This certainly increases the processing of information. When the kids come home, nice dinner, talking about the day and tired enough to sleep well.
You actually do learn some physics, biology and chemistry when you are outside all the time as a kid. And you learn it through experience. The structure and maths of it all can come later - and they just might come easier for kids who had such experiences when they were little.
Also: of course, motor skills and so on are a good basis to become an adult who still likes to work out in some way as an adult - - and stay healthier. Makes for less health care costs individually and for society as a whole.
Just some aspects that make this approach really worth while!
And not to forget: the happy children who can report great experiences every day.
This is how they become mentally stable adults.
@J U immer positiv denken!
Die 80er bis 2000er waren schon ein Ausfall. Die heutige Generation ist immerhin ein Lichtblick. Hoffen wir das Beste! ;)
As a danish pedagogue student with a profile in nature and sustainability we learn about the research in risky play and the importance of this. The kids learn so much about themselfs and their abilities when they overcome stuff and when they fail. When they learn exactly what is possible they get even more connected to themselfs and earn self esteem and much more. Other than that there is so much learning in the nature and they get skills for a life time during those years. Its also important to point out that the years in a forrest kindergarten getting an attention towards the nature will follow you the rest of your life.
I note one huge difference between the Danish forests and those in the UK/USA that are near to housing... I did not see a single piece of litter or trash anywhere. The places were so clean and well respected. Wonderful to see.
I bet there is some trash but if littering in a forest is as expensive in Denmark (fine-wise) as it is down here in Germany it's not that many people that do it. I've seen SCARY fine-amounts in the local newspaper even in the 90s for littering "in nature" ;)
@@peterpain6625 I don't think many "normal people" in Denmark think of fines when it comes to littering. I guess it's more the fear of social exclusion/condemnation if you litter. Fines are mostly for low-lifes with a litter-culture, where further social condemnation is not possible/has no effect.
@@JU-pq6qu I've see people to pay through the nose for that though last year. With an additional fine because everything was so dry...
@@JU-pq6qu Es war ziemlich teuer. Ich glaub €80 für die Kippen/geleerten Aschenbecher (Naturschutzgebiet) und €200 für "offenes Feuer in einer Brandzone". Aber die waren auch ned das erste mal da. Permanenten Platzverweiss gabs auch gleich ;)
@J U Cigarettes, cans and so on would be a small problem in the US. Watch US TV shows with people living off grid, in rural places or even the outskirts. The properties are often filled with collapsed sheds, broken cars, destroyed machines, fridges and the list goes on and on. You rarly see this kind of trash on peoples properties in Europe.
What's so unusual to you about kids climbing trees and playing outdoors !?
It's just a natural way of growing up ! I did it as a kid in the UK, as did everyone I grew up with. We would leave the house in the morning and come home in time for our evening meal. Happy days !
We live in a small village in Germany and have wonderful nature right on our doorstep. A great adventure playground. But you don't see a single child. They all play indoors. From an early age they are told that bacteria in the mud, parasites in the meadows and the fruit picked from the tree make you sick and that all animals in general are dangerous.
I often have to pull myself together not to kick these parents' a..
@@dawi8929 lol... You're right!
@Anemde
Same as!
Lol I swear we were almost Ferrell but in a good way. By the time we had got home, we looked like we had crawled through the hedge backwards after taking a mud bath lol.
My son was 4 years old and played in a Dutch city park with a bunch of kids from his street. I don't remember if there was supervision. I was not there. I went to get him for lunch and did not see him at first. He was in the top of a tree just like in the first minutes of this video ON WOODEN SHOES! I was quite amused as he said to me that he had difficulty coming down. Well, I said. Figure it out slowly. You came up, so you can come down too. It cost some effort to calm him down and think about the return way from the ground where I was. But eventually he saw he did not have a choice, and came down, very slowly. He felt so proud and learned that he had to make a mind map when climbing trees in order to be able to come down. He climbed trees every day since then (yes, with wooden shoes) and never had any problems to return safely to the ground.
Hoi Ronald, prima gedaan! Jaren geleden zei ik altijd tegen mijn dochtertje van 3, 4 jaar oud: 'je mag op alles klimmen waar je zonder hulp naar boven komt. Als je het je lukt omhoog te klimmen, weet je ook hoe je weer omlaag moet komen.' Ze is nooit ergens van afgedonderd. 🙂
I'm 61 years old . . . traveled to over 30 countries, and it NEVER ceases to AMAZE me how there is SO MUCH we can all learn from each other . . . this is BRILLIANT, if only more people kept an open mind.
To quote one of my favorite lines from a movie; *"Life is a Banquet, and Most Poor Suckers Are Starving to Death"* [Auntie Mame, 1958]
I highly recommend the movie by the way, just be ready for it as it is a bit on the long side, back when peoples' attention span was a bit more than it is now LOL (2h23m with an intermission about half way through)
Hey Joel, the Old Brit here again! What a great video; never even knew these existed...! what a fantastic way for kids to learn, getting muddy, climbing trees splashing in water and learning by experience! It doesn't get much better than that!!! Yeah clothes get dirty, hands n face get dirty, cold, wet, scrapes, bruises etc but it looks a lot more fun than sitting in front of a screen watching moustachioed Go-karter's! Brought back a fond memory of coming home after a long productive day of of damming a stream in our local woods... absolutely covered in mud, torn jeans and T-Shirt and fully expecting mum to go ballistic! She took one look at me and burst out laughing! Said "I'm NOT washing those! Get in the bath..." when I got out she just put my clothes in the bin (Trash can!) and talked about what we'd been up to... One of my mates (a lot less muddier than me) didn't fair quite so well... he was banned for a month from playing out with me and my best friend... that was over 50 YEARS AGO! Just goes to show how the happiest memories linger... thanks for posting this, put a real smile on my face! Take care mate!
I'm German and i was in a forest kindergarten very similar to that. we had a small trailer with a roof and a dixie toilet for if the weather was too horrible, but honestly we spent most of the time outside. we also have a forest behind my home and i spent most of my childhood running around and exploring the forest with my siblings. we would often spend hours in the forest without adult supervision. if we ever got hurt we would help each other home. if someone got stuck in a tree we would run to get a parent. the only real threat was the wild boar, but we always kept a respectful distance and there was never an issue.
before we were allowed to be in the forest unsupervised, my parents made sure that we knew all the main pathways between our village and the next closest 2 villages. there was never an issue of us getting lost. if we ever didn't know where we were, all we had to do was find a larger path and follow it for a while before we knew where we were again. last week, my dad and i walked home, through the forest, from the next village over, in the dark, after having 7 beers each. we knew exactly where we were and how to get home for the entire walk. we even intentionally took several detours because we were enjoying ourselves and the night was pleasantly mild.
Our kids went to Montessori School in preschool in the U.S. and they were taught to use authentic materials inside and outside the classroom. I was shocked when I walked in one day to watched my very rambunctious 3 year old cutting carrots with a real kitchen knife and cleaning up, serving his classmates, and pouring water from a porcelain pitcher and walk around to each classmate. Outside they had a play yard filled with woods, and other natural play structures.
I love your mind transformation because you are ready to learn. You are an outstandning example of what Americans could learn if they were a little bit open to what happens outside their small universes (USA, State, Countys). Thanks for giving me a little confidence that Americans might change!
This is amazing! I work in Early Childhood in Australia and it is over-regulated!! And so many parents want their children to be bubble wrapped. And we have to take photos all day long. And write observations and learning stories to show what we are teaching them. And summative assessments (reports). It's exhausting with all the caring duties we have to do to.
Yeah same here in Europe. It's getting worse. I could carve wood with a knife without cutting off important parts off myself at 7-ish. Now kids seem to need special dulled knifes to not cut their fingers off when cutting anything. It's ridiculous.
I grew up in the sticks though. Our mums had to basically hose us off with the garden-hose to tell us apart at dinner/supper time when i was young :D
@@peterpain6625 Exactly. When a mother tells me that because her son is learning to roll over, I have to place cushions all around him?? So how is this child supposed to learn to crawl??
The very idea of this is frightening to me. No wonder the whole world is going crazy.
I am now a great-grandmother and we have always made sure that our children and grandchildren have close contact with nature and learn for themselves. Even if it wasn't "hot" right now.
I think it's great that the young generation is so open to so many different paths
Well... In Australia, with all that extrem toxic animals, it could be make more sense, than in Europe, where all the really dangerous animals are anhilated in the neighbourhood...
Yup im right there with ya! So much work, and so little pay!!
That`s a great Kindergarten in the middle of the nature in Denmark. Here in Germany there`s a saying that there`s no such thing as bad weather only bad clothing. And it`s true it`s so important that the children can play outside in nature and let their energy out. Climb in the trees etc., we did that in our childhood and it didn`t do any harm.😊💙
Have you ever heard about the zero emission recycling power plant in the center of Copenhagen, that has a public park and a ski slope on its roof? Denmark has many aternativve energy solutions, green planning and a very interesting biking culture too.
I went skiing there once - it's pretty amazing.
Hahaha so normal for Germany, I remember climbing on high trees everyday when I was child and it never was a problem for my parents or other adults. Often times alone with friends outside with no adults around as my parents gave me the trust to know myself and what I am capable of.
Wir haben immer die Kirschen gegessen 😂
Same in Norway. It's so cute to watch them running around the forest, like little dwarves.
I'm 51 now. But I grew up in a VERY rural area in Norway. With a grandfather that was a local butcher and a lumberjack. My father was/is a carpenter and a hunter (and earlier Home Guard, as in military) and a knife smith. My other grandfather was a WW2 veteran. I grew up with meat, knifes and guns. Playing in the forest, climbing trees...using knifes. If you do it the rigth way, there is nothing to be scared of. And it teaches you a whole lot of things in the process. :)
I was born in 1964 and I was amazed by your amazement at the kid in the top of the tree at the start of the video. That was everyday play for kids of my era. Good times.
Same here ^^ (born 66) during our holidays and weekends there was not a single day we spend inside... Breakfast and than have fun outside: climbing the highest trees we could find, building huts out of wooden sticks and leafs, playing with mud, collecting insects, ..... Wish, i can have these times back! 😅
That kid was really high in the trees tho...what happens if he falls
@@itiswhatitis141 We will never know, because hi did not. Neither will we know what happens if he eat the spider.
JP, we have those kind of kindergardens here in Germany, too. And I do love this concept. I was born 1980 in the former GDR and in my kindergarden I was outside daily for 3-4 hours. Being outside if its raining, snowing or sunny improves the immune defense system so much and we learnt so much about the nature. We build things in groups, we had outside competitions and the funny thing is, I never had any of the childhood illnesses because my immune system got really strong. I only had colds.
And believe me, you can't compare the time you spent inside to the time outside. For a kid, the creativity just flows and everyday you see new things.
(I am a german dad) When I was a child (about 6 to 10 years) it was absolutly normal for me to climb on trees much higher than the one in the beginning of the video. We trained jumping from 2 to 3 meeters to figure out how far we can go till it's getting tough to land. I also had a knife which l took into the woods on my own, when I was 6 or 7, no big deal. My parents simply showed me how to use it safely before I was allowed to take it with me alone.
Today, as a parent of three, it is actually very hard for me to give my children the same freedom. As a parent you often see only danger not the opportunity to grow. I always try to remember how I was raised to overcome the urge to overprotect my children.
We have a few 'Forest Schools' in England now - particularly for pre-school age children. A lot of primary (elementary) schools have a 'Forest School' element to thir curriculum, where they spend some time each week (throughout the year) in a natural environment. It's great for physical development obviously, as well as teaching teamwork, investigative skills, and risk assessment, in addition to learning about nature and the environment itself. There are a lot of concerns generally these days that we are bringing up kids who don't know how to assess risk appropriately, because we have taken away all responsibility from them and made their world too 'safe'. With older children it's a great way to teach the traditional subjects like reading writing and math(s) in a stimulating and real-world context.
We have always had nature walks and nature studies in our schools in the UK. Also when I was a kid we would play down by the brook, catch bully heads and crayfish, climb trees, polevault across the brook just to name a few things, go camping, and survival training,
make and build things together, I was also very lucky in the fact that one of my grandfathers was a gamekeeper and pest controller as well, so we would go with him on his jobs, we also had little chicken chasers when I was 10yrs old, and we had to fix it ourselves if it broke down (bodge jobs as a temporary solution) we would run through the fields barefoot, shooting, skinning and gutting, almost like a Ferrell wild child but with manners and respect for the animals and nature and people. It taught us how to appreciate and respect everything you had, know exactly where everything you ate came from and the process from beginning to the end. Many times we would go home with cuts and grazes and bruises, and the random lost or injured animals and birds lol
We sometimes looked like we had crawled through the hedge backwards, but great fun and a great feeling of freedom and free to use our imagination when playing.
Yeahh we're in the UK and my son's at forest nursery and he's 3. They can't go until 2 here because of insurance but it's amazing.
We have a few forest kindergartens in Slovakia too, but even in our regular kindergartens the kids go out everyday. If the weather is too bad, like heavily snowing or raining, they don't. My kindergarten was right next to a forest and we were going there almost every day. I remember playing there with sticks, leaves, acorns... I still remember that mushroomy smell of the forest. It was nice. Kids from kindergartens usually go play outside the building on a playground or they go for a walk in the streets.
Dane here. I went to a forest kindergarten as a child and it taught me so much about nature and animals! I’m getting quite nostalgic while watching this lol. It’s been over 15 years now, but I have a specific memory of when me and a friend actually smuggled ourselves out (unsupervised) and walked across a road (where cars would pass by) to walk over to the forest to play. When we were done, we walked right back to the kindergarten and the caregivers were flabbergasted. They hadn’t even noticed we had been gone (we were only 3-4 years old)😂 oh and the carving wood with knives is another thing! We all got taught how to use the knife and not a single kid (while I was there) got hurt. The only time I’ve witnessed someone getting hurt like that was when one of the adults/caregivers accidentally cut themself on a knife and had to be taken to the hospital.
climping in a treed is not dangerous. To have some guns in every houses are dangerous, or to have no full covered healthinsurence is dangeres.
I'm so glad I grew up in the Bavarian Forest in the 1970s and, as the name of the region implies, the forest WAS our kindergarten, as there were no official kindergartens back then. We got instructed by our parents about things like, do not make a camp fire when it's dry, leave ant hills alone, and don't eat mushrooms you don't know, come home when the church bell rings.
Now, in 2023, where our forest was is a huge hotel with a "foresty" interior, and the remains of our playground forest are really sad to look at.
Although this idea originated in Denmark, there are currently forest kindergartens also in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, Sweden, the UK, Italy, and Germany. There are also over 250 "nature preschools" operating in the US, though their regimes are generally less rugged.
We are all a little envious of Denmark! 🤣 No, really: they're great and we love them! Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden... they're doing some things right up there and Germany is lucky to be so close. It's even easier to pick something up there! 😅 Oh well, actually with all our neighbors (so also Switzerland, Netherlands, etc.). The ones in the north are just especially great! ❤️
No reason to be envious, because in Schleswig - Holstein we have quite a lot of Waldkindergarten, and most of the normal ones in villages at least keep the kids playing outside even if the weather is nice. Or they take them to the beaches where they can learn and experience a lot.
If only our schools were quite like the Danish ones....
We used to have field trips every Friday into the backwoods of our school back in the 70's and 80's. Gods, I miss that. Climbing trees, catching salamanders and frogs, whittling sticks, starting camp fires, growing moss and fern gardens.
I love how you're so reflective. Very interesting to hear that you question everything you have experienced.
I‘m so grateful my parents put me in a kindergarten where I was in the woods 24/7 made me learn a lot about nature and respect it more and not be disgusted by mud, bad weather or insects…they put a lot of trust in us kids and I think that made most of us very brave and independent
What a magnificent concept to prepare children for the real life, teach them what they need to know, and let them have fun at the same time, isn't it? Well done, Denmark! I'm glad we also have these "outdoor" kindergartens here in Germany.
Thats why I love the north of my land. The north of Germany. in Schleswig Holstein and in the south of Dänemark children learn Deutsch and Danish at school. ....and english. Germans love these Vikings. I love the scandinavian people. ❤
We have a lot of these forest kindergartens here in the Czech Republic, too, both of my children attended it and we never regretted it. I think it’s very good and healthy :) US have a lot to learn :)
Thanks for your reaction to this, I knew you would like it. I am from austria and we have this also here and in germany too. My daughter visited a "normal" kindergarden, but we have a weekend cabin in the mountains and she learned also at the age of three, four skiing, swimming, ice skating, climbing.....from/with us parents! She is now 24, spending her free time mainly in the nature (forest, mountain, lake...) and learns for her studies as an animal doctor sometimes sitting in a tree if possible!!😁
I didn’t go to a forest kindergarten, but climbing trees was my favourite pastime as a kid. When my mom picked me up from kindergarten, the adults would tell her I was in a tree and she would yell for me to come down and wait by the door so she didn’t have to see me do the climb. I never got hurt. I get why especially parents might be worried, but I also think kids are more resilient than we give them credit for.
My son and daughter were both in forest kindergarten. The best thing there is for children. It stimulates the imagination, they learn respect for nature. Live every season. The children are more balanced. I can only recommend it to everyone
And healthier? I think
@@arnodobler1096short term not always, but long term absolutely!
Such a great video. I am all for children spending as much time in their formative years outdoors learning about the natural world. Far better than on a games console I think.
In the US, kids go from nursery to kindergarten after nursery at age 5. In most of Europe, kindergarteners are 3 and up or even younger. My grandson graduated to handling a knife to sharpen sticks for toasting marshmallows over an open fire a week before is fourth birthday. Readiness was determined by behaviour and skills, not age.
A kindergarten in the US, is not the same as one in Denmark or other European countries. An American kindergarten is a kind of preschool, whereas in Denmark its a kind of nursery, followed by a 1 year pre+school, called børnehaveklasse.
Another great reaction. :) For somethingelse thoughtprovoking, I would recommend to watch videos about prisons in Germany/ Scandinavia/ Finnland. Of course I don't know how you think about the prison system in the US and prisoners/ criminals in general but from my experience US Americans are shocked most of the time when they hear about and see prison systems where the focus is on rehabilitation and not punishment, so it might also be interesting for you. :)
As a German mom I’m still sad I couldn’t get a my child into a Forest kindergarten and had to send it to a normal kindergarten (where they only spend about four to five hours a day outdoors).
Edit:
And I wasn’t worried even once watching this video. 😉
Hi Jenny, I'm German too with 8 year old twins (bavaria). You're in lucky position, because my childrens were only in the garden by nice weather. The reason was "Some parents aren't glad if there kids had muddy clothes", of course the kids had extra rubber boots and splash pants, but the adults were to lazy to clean the kids shoes.
In wintertime sometimes they were only outside for 1 hour per week. So I ask myself why I had to buy all the stuff for nasty weather (also for 2 kids at once).
Same here... There was a new Waldkindergarten in our area when my kids were that age, but they'd only cover the morning hours, not the afternoon, which wouldn't have worked for us. Thankfully the regular Kita started a forest project shortly after. They had a small Bauwagen in a nearby forest, where each group would spend one day of the week. Better than nothing at all...
@@Kristina_S-Othat's great. The forest kindergarden near my house is only open for 5 hours (6 if the kid eats there), too. It's a pitty that this makes it only an option for parents who don't have to work that much.
many germans move to denmark with their kids these years..
some of them do it for the home schooling, that gives you the option of having much of the school outside also for example
I know of a forest kindergarten that's placed in a suburb. They have their own bus, so they can take the children to the forest. 😊
Our kids (Germany) had a forest week every now and then. Spending whole days out in the forest.
And by the way - there are many many good reasons to envy Denmark.
Dude...thats exactly how we use to play when I was a kid in the 60's (in the US). My Grandfather gave me my first knife when I was 6yrs old (my Mom got mad but my Dad let me keep it).
Those are old school values being taught.
We have this in Sweden to, our kids spends most of the time outdoors. When my sons were in kindergarden i would pick them up at the beach during the warmer season of the year. That's true freedom.
Common in Germany too. My daughter went to a Beach Kindergarten. About the same, but they also had the local beach (baltic sea) to go. Building sandcastles, fishing for small critters and observing them (and release them safely afterwards). They had small huts for each group though and sanitary facilities (that's what I didn't like about "regular" forrest kindergartens).
I was brought up in 50s England, outskirts of London. We played like this naturally. Climbing trees, playing in the rivers. But even my cousins in central London played outside, lots of great parks and of course bomb sites in London. I am surprised the woman from England was shocked
They are learning, just not in a formal way.
I think when kids learn how to handle knives etc they learn to be responsible and know their limits. Noone is putting a group of children in this environment unprepared. They get help initially and then they get guidance and encouragement but can develop freely. Beautiful concept!
When I was young, these just became a thing, so very rare. I was so envious and would have loved to be in one but it was expensive and very hard to find an open spot. They've gotten more and more popular and I love to see it! I meet them often when walking my dog and they're always respectful and keep their distance. When other children often run or scream around it or go to pet it without asking..
Dude that kid in top of the tree we used to do that all the time with friends. I'm from Lithuania. Few things to know, you can scale the whole tree patch leaning from one tree to another if the trees are young. It's a fall winter attraction since leafs and bugs makes it unpleasant in summer. The ground underneath is covered with dead leaves, wines, moss and other foliage plus its usually quite wet land around forest in Europe so ground is actually soft. Me and many have fallen from similar nights and you just shake it off as a child, thats a different story when you're heavy and rusty adult.
Another method used to be climb to the top of lean tree and move the center of mass that is your body to one side and smoothly land on the ground with the tree top. Now if you picked a wrong tree you'd endup handing few meters above the ground crying until eventually you get tired and can't hold onto the tree anymore and drop down. Rins and repeat :D
There are also forest kindergartens in Germany. There, the children learn how to deal with nature. They also learn how to handle knives and fire.
This helps them to better understand how to handle knives and fire correctly.
I remember document of british children playing on ruins after WW2. Someone said that children have native risk meter and when surrounding is too safe, the children adjust it by becoming more careless and then they also stay careless.
I love walking through Wimbledon Common seeing the kids in their woodland classes, no matter the weather, none of them complaining, it’s clear they thrive on it!
Parents also gets more quality time with their kids. Pick them up from an indoor kindergarden and the kids are tired and grumpy. At home it's arguing and crying. In outdoors kindergarden the kids are more relaxed and happy when their parents pick them up. Also the family learn to appreciate outdoors life together in the weekends.
This is a great reaction video. OP going from shock seeing the child in the tree to being actually envious of their way of doing things.
When I was in Kindergarten in Austria i used to basically sit the entire day in a cherry tree with my friends.
Norway has these too. Kids growing up active, breathing fresh air, learning to trust themselves, and play in nature, respecting nature. 100% better than 12 kids locked up in a room all day.
It was me who suggested the video! I am happy you watched it! And I'm really glad you saw what an amazing way it is to learn skills and build confidence in themselves as young children.
My son goes to a forestry nursery and is just covered head to toe in mud daily and he just loves it hahaha just dress them appropriately for the weather and its fine. We're in the UK in the Midlands.
Also, my son has his own working tools like hand drill, saw, plyers, etc and his own child safe Montessori knife to help chop vegetables and fruit for snack or dinner and hes 3.
He climbs trees, accidentally falls in huge puddles and gets freezing, hes always getting random minor injuries like hit on the leg or whatever but theyre very safe. They cant join before 2 as far as im aware due to insurance but he loves it. We spend the weekends using the public footpaths through local fields or the Derbyshire dales and we just spend hours walking or he goes in the backpack carrier when he gets tired and we stop for a picnic or at a pub for lunch and its wonderful. He has an hour or so tv time or reading time during the day instead of a nap, but he just fidgets until he can get outside. I hope he always has this love of outdoors.
We camp over winter with our log burner in our bell tent, all over the UK and as soon as hes old enough we will take him kayaking so we can start taking him down the canals and rivers with us on holidays. We did it with my dad and we hope he wants to carry this on as he gets older:)
I grew up in Poland in late 1980's - early 1990's, and this was our life. Outdoors, nature, testing yourself every day doing weird and often dangerous shit. And yes, I climbed the hell out of trees, me and my friends would spend hours 15 meters above the ground on these huge-ass pines. We'd make netting to make it safer, and sometimes take naps up there. In the spring and fall, with the winds, the swaying was insane, you'd fly a meter one way, two meters the other. I'd love to be 8 again :).
This is the most perfect way for kids to learn and have fun outside. Excellent job!!
Norway has about 8 percent of outdoor daycares, but our weather is a bit more extreme than Denmarks. Many kindergartens have at least one day a week of going on excursions to the woods or seaside, and spent hours every day outdoors.
In the North, with the sami people, it's quite common to include the kids in activities like the seasonal reindeer butchering and so on.
Some kindergartens keep animals like hens, rabbits, pigs, or sheep.
The kindergartens provide guidelines to the parents on how to dress the children appropriately for the weather and season, with dry clothes available if they get wet or need something warmer.
In Norway, children are not expected to learn to read, write or do math before starting 1st grade - kindergarten is daycare, not school. Although a lot of kindergartens DO go through the letters and numbers from 0-10 or 20 at least, it's not a necessity and can easily be incorporated into play and outdoor activities - writing in the sand, counting rocks and sticks, naming stuff starting with a certain letter, measuring weight and sizes...
(I grew up 10 meters from a fjord, my mother raised three kids living on the beach and we all had rules and followed them pretty well, no accidents more serious than "getting wet" ever happened. :) )
I'm glad you liked my suggestion. I'm German and there's a forest kindergarden 2 walking minutes away from my house, or maybe right behind my house if you count the whole forest. Unfortunately it's only open from 8am-2pm so anyone working more than 5 hours a day couldn't send their kid their. But I love the concept of the kindergarden itself.
For my 7th birthday I received a .22 rifle, to replace my old “Slug Gun”. I used to disappear at daylight and get home before dark. I’d take my rifle, put a few cartridges in my pocket and go wandering. I never shot a person, a domestic animal, a road sign etc. I bought home a lot of food and pelts. By the time I was 10, in late Spring through to mid winter, I made quite a bit of money from pelts. Enough so that I bought a very good truck when I got my license, enough to fund 3 degrees.
Greetings from Denmark. Love your deep dive into Scandinavian living
Love 2 see happy children. I'm 60 and that was how we played every day. Thanks for the flashback. Greetings from 🇮🇹🇧🇪🇪🇺
It was nice to see how you reacted to one of the things we do differently in Denmark. It is also good to see how much of an inspiration this was/is to you. Wonderful reaction. Like and subscribe, with much ❤ from Denmark. Michael
this is wonderful. reminds me of being a kid in the 50's we were into everything and went everywhere....home for supper!!!
Ah forest school! The first time I saw the fire pit at my grandson’s nursery school, I was taken back. When I heard they were using axes I was taken back, now I just relax.
Twice a week now at nursery school have forest school, & the teacher comes.
Even Primary schools here in Devon all do a day of forest school, each week at some schools.
Think it is the way forward.
I spoke to a dad who’s child went to a proper forest school here in the UK. He drove past other nurseries which the children were indoors and he left his tiny one, on a freezing cold day to stay outsides, where they even sleep in hammocks in the trees. Thought it was awesome.
Just remembered that near me there is a new forest school, through children have to be 2 to join .
I totally agree with this. As an Aussie mother of now, adult kids. If this was ever an option for me to send my kids to Forest Kindergarten, I definitely would have. These kids are learning life skills so important, IMHO . Well done Germany 🇩🇪
Its in Denmark 😜🇩🇰❤️
Young people wouldn't know but this is basically how children grew up for millions of years. When I was a kid we climbed trees all days of the week. I got my first knife at the age of 6.
To me, a person who grew up in Sweden. This seem completely normal! We don't have forest kindergartens but we spend ALOT of time outdoors. Learning how to cook, whittle sticks and learn about the forest and especially up here about the ice age and vikings. Which just spikes interest in learning and also being outdoors. In nature working with your hands and learning from failing and falling. Cuts, scuffs and bruises aren't something we worry about. It's just another day. Sure it's not for everyone and we still have that spoiled kid or scared kid who feels uncomfortable with the situation but that's how you adapt and learn and find what you like and don't like. More outdoors!
This was basically my experience as a child, without the supervision and time limits, admittedly I grew up on a beautiful farm and we knew our neighbours! We also learned from silly accidents and were aware of all our basic safety limits - including avoiding snakes! As long as we were home for dinner and our homework was done, we were free (until we were teens)! I remember I was tired one day and tried to take a shortcut through a barbed wire fence, I still have the leg scar to remind me! It was a wonderful life, and prepared me for living and surviving in a big busy city, confident to be unique and creative, and really explore the world and life with an open curious mind and open heart! Life's limits are simply personal choices, with a solid grounding in cause and effect! 🤗👍
I think that the concerns about them not being prepared for school are ridiculous itself. It´s a kindergarden - a place for young children to just be children. It´s not meant to be pre-school. There´s plenty of time to learn in a classroom after that. Just give them a place to have fun and be children and not a place to already put the pressure of growing up into an adult to them
They are learning about physics, nature, the seasons, wildlife, how their body works, health and safety.
we have these is some schools in Tasmania, Australia. Our old school had 'forest school' every week from Kinder to grade 6, in Autumn the students would make 'forts' with what the students had found during forest school, the students love it
I think also that the power of the natural environment instills a natural sense of awe and understanding of what is dangerous! Natural boundaries
I’m Demnmark you child is 6-7 years old before they start school until that they go to Kindergardens.
The boy at the top of the tree didn’t start by climbing to the top he started maybe 1 meter up and the safer he feels the higher he can climb.
We also leaves our children outside in the stroller to sleep even in winter until it hits about minus 20 degrees. And we often leaves our kids outside in strollers while we shop or go to a cafe.
That's practically how I grew up. Out in the woods, in the fields and wherever there were animals 😊 I loved climbing trees too. And yeah my mom often had heart attacks because of the things we got into ...
we built Treehouses, when we where children, in the top thirds of Larches. 15 to 20 Meters High, jeah, best childhood ever, learned how to adjust timing on 50cc mopeds with 8 to 9, learning how to drive a traktor same age or much earlier, how to use tools and much more, only 30 years back ;-) it was a very nice childhood :-) if i had kids, which I dont have (I Regret this most) , they would get a nice childhood, Kids need to explore try and learn :-)
Forest kindergartens are quite common in Germany, too.
My childhood in rural Germany was very much like this.
This video when you came out with it were the MOST VALUBLEand BEST for me !
THANK YOU Jps
Even in "normal" kindergardens in Germany they often have forrest weeks which are quite similar to a forrest kindergarden. My kids also used to play in forrest kindergardens during the weekend, because no fences. You see huts and fire places and defence walls made out of sticks, colourful art in the trees and games build from wood.
These kids are strong and hardly ever sick... From Denmark. Usually they have a little building or a bus they can go into if it gets really cold, but not always.
I have been told by several parents that have their kids in a forest kindergarden that their children sleep very very well at night. ;-) And they do not need tv to entertain themselves..
I am Danish, age 56, and the culture in my pre-school was very much the same, back 50 years ago, even before the designated forest kinder gartens came about.
We used bow saws as 6 year olds, and anything short of bone fractures or needing stitches didn´t warrant being picked up by mum.
During my schooldays only two contemporary children died in the vicinity of where I grew up, and NONE of them from play accidents: One was killed in traffic and one died from a hereditary heart ailment, that couldn´t be cured back then.
As a bonus even the very few "fat" kids were not really fat by today´s standards but just a bit chubby. Obesity was something a few grown-ups with desk jobs suffered from.
We got tough and learned not to be so bl..dy scared of everything. Death is inevitable, but life has to be conquered, and as the English proverb goes: "Faint heart never won fair maiden (really life itself).
From 18mth old, I lived in a house that backed onto a wood - we spent vast amounts of time in there (even though it was private and we shouldn't be in there) - playing hide and seek, climbing trees, playing in streams - it was a great place to grow up.
That's how we grou up in 60s without any superwisors and almost no ruls. We were out in the forest for all day. Coming home only to eat and clean 😂And today I'm a healthy grandma with 60+ years.
We have some forest kindergarten in Slovenia too.
This is such a great idea - a lot of kids nowadays, especially city kids, have zero experience of nature and don't have much opportunities to play outside, it must be so beneficial for their development both physically and mentally, wonderful video.
Live by the beach in Sweden. The kids arrive at the carpark in the morning eat lunch in the bus but others wise outside all the time. Kids love it. There is no bad weather only bad clothing.