Forest Preschool

Would you like to go preschool in the forest? Imagine that you are 3 or 4 years old. Your school is the forest, where you play with your friends, rain or shine or snow or wind. There's a trailer parked in the woods.  And if you really need to go inside, you can. But otherwise, your classroom is the outdoors, your toys are nature.

In Germany, these Waldkindergartens are a very real trend.

One of our friends, who goes to a regular preschool, but spends one week each year in Waldkindergarten says she doesn't like it because she can't dress up nicely.

I think it sounds cool. But maybe that's because both the piccolini are boys and I know how much they like to be outdoors. I'm not sure that the 3 year old version of myself would be a big fan.

Here's an ad from a german children's clothing retailer.  The ad is for outdoor Waldkindergarten clothes - for preschoolers! Of course, it's not cheap because everything needs to be waterproof, wind resistance, very durable and so on.

I have to tell you, this is what it made me think: Waldkindergarten is a brilliant marketing/sponsorship opportunity!  There's almost no overhead for the school (because the classroom is the outdoors). And the parents (probably) pay (lots) for all the appropriate fleeced-lined-adjustable-waterproof-double-reinforced-kneed pants. So, maybe outdoor clothing manufacturers should be sponsoring Waldkindergartens throughout the US. And preferably, that will mean we can enroll the piccolini in a less expensive preschool.  

Oh, I know. It never really works that way.