Forest Schools & Nature-Based Learning
Schools set in a natural environment are not always forest schools. Forest schools share a desire to help "children begin to develop care and concern for the natural world." At Wildflower, students spend 3-4 hours a day on our 34 acres of forest playgrounds, in meadows and pastures.
The Children's Forest Fort
This freedom to explore and invent their space led the older children to create a forest fort in a nearby group of trees during the 2016/17 school year. This fort began as a small pruned area at the edge of the woods. As the children played and explored there, the vines underfoot became softer and flatter. The children hauled mulch with their wheelbarrows, rolled large logs together and even hung a string of twinkle lights around the branches of an over-hanging tree.
The children were given freedom to investigate this living fort and discovered the richness of the natural world: worms, caterpillars, small berries, unfamiliar leaves and never-ending vines in which to climb.
Freedom to play and investigate the outdoors is essential to a joyful life. Wildflower seeks always to provide that freedom.
