I’ve been working a lot of hours recently, admittedly. Catching up on wedding editing is in full force and Greyson hangs with Grandmas Tuesday-Thursday so I can work. On Monday’s and Friday’s though- It’s our time. We love the outdoors so much. Camping is our jam. We also like to hike and snowshoe and get outside anytime we can. I’ve been reading up on and really interested in learning more about Forest Preschool lately. It’s also sometimes called nature preschool- and it’s a type of early childhood education that takes place in forests or woodlands. It focuses on outdoor play that encourages curiosity and exploration.

This has long been a popular concept in the Scandinavian countries. But now learning in nature is finally starting to catch on here at home. The benefits of Forest school are proven to be amazing.  Children learn social, cognitive, life skills, and physical elements. Children in Forest preschools spend most of their day outside, no matter the weather. The basis is free play and exploration instead of a strict curriculum.

I love that one of the benefits is just creating a bond with nature and and understanding and caring for the environment. I also love this:

Greyson and I have started our Forest preschool elements here at home on Mondays and Fridays. We’re just loving the time together spent outside, and I’m having a lot of fun scouring Pinterest for crafting, hiking, and all kinds of ideas that we can incorporate into our day. I love my little curious woodsman and I can’t wait to share more of this adventure we’re embarking on.

Here’s a little look into today’s fun in the yard. We spent no money and didn’t even have to leave the house for this one. We made Forest jars. We collected elements from the outdoors that would fit in our Ball Jars. Along the way we talked about the different feels, and look of the pine needles, and sticks and corn that we found.

Once we had our jars nice and full, we took them inside and added a little glitter for fun, and filled the jars with water. I added a little hot glue to the rim of the jars to prevent any spilling, and we had our completed forest jars.

This project was a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to so much more exploring together! Thanks for following along! I’d love to hear about your own adventures with forest preschool, and any other fun ideas you have for us to try!