It was the longest day of the year on Monday, also known as Summer Solstice. A day we weren’t going to allow to slip past us without making the very best of it.

Summer Solstice occurs when one of the Earth’s Poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun, and so naturally we spent the whole day outdoors.

Usually for our Pre-Schoolers our Forest School sessions come back to the Yurt for lunch, before taking another group session in the afternoon. But this Wednesday we took lunch with us and spent the whole day in the forest.

It was beautiful.

Its amazing to see how the environment shapes behaviour and guides play. Spending the whole day in the woods allowed the children the freedom of both space and time without us having to cut short their explorations.

As we entered the woods a little boy at the front ran ahead, I was just about to call him back when I realised he was running to a particular tree simply to wrap his arms around it.

Nature Appreciation

As he held this embrace it occurred to me that this boy was excited to be reunited with a tree, and how wonderful that is.

How often do we remember to be thankful for plants and trees growing around us? I sure learnt something in that moment.

 

They needed this time.

They had their lunch beneath the trees, played in the hammock and rope swing, collected sticks to create dens, made their own books and explored at their own pace. At the end of the day we played in the long grass, and finished with a Nature Appreciation Story.

Then we headed back to nursery much dirtier, but calmer, wiser and more thankful of the world around us.

‘Hello friends, I can see all of the sunshine in you’