Running Free in Germany’s Outdoor Preschools

Robin Hood Waldkindergarten, which opened in 2005, is one of more than 1,500 waldkitas, or "forest kindergartens," in Germany; Berlin alone has about 20. Most have opened in the last 15 years and are usually located in the city’s parks, with a bare-bones structure serving as a sort of home base, but others, like Robin Hood, rely on public transportation to shuttle their charges daily out into the wilderness, where they spend most of the day, regardless of weather. Toys, typically disparaged at waldkitas, are replaced by the imaginative use of sticks, rocks and leaves. A 2003 Ph.D. dissertation by Peter Häfner at Heidelberg University showed that graduates of German forest kindergartens had a "clear advantage" over the graduates of regular kindergartens, performing better in cognitive and physical ability, as well as in creativity and social development.

By ALICE GREGORY

Full Story: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/18/t-magazine/germany-forest-kindergarten-outdoor-preschool-waldkitas.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=mini-moth&region=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below