Hino Shyakai Morinoyouchien

I joined a Forest Kindergarten School today!

It was a great chance to see how children respond to the nature near Tokyo and also to see how such things are planned and organised on the part of the leaders.


This forest school runs sessions twice a month on a Sunday and is run by leaders from the local community centre and assisted by volunteers such as myself.

Before the start of the session begins, introductions and formalities are done. 
Attendance, numbers, absentees, allergies, medication. Check rules, toilet location, lunch times etc. What to bring, tools, ropes, discuss potential activities.
Check on site first aiders and review first aid kit. 

Group review of each student just so that everyone is aware of what to expect and also in case of children on medication etc.

We headed to a play area, collecting edamame style plants, talking, climbing, playing. The morning was spent collecting acorns, spotting caterpillars, 



I initiated some creative activities although the children were free to do whatever they wanted based on what they found, their energy levels etc.

After lunch, we moved to another area. The leaders set up ropes for some of the older children to use for climbing and swinging.


Other children ran free and one in particular led me on a trail. It was her first time to Forest School but she was completely in her element, taking off her shoes and running around over stones, mud and leaves.

The children played freely and the adults were there for observing and for safety in numbers.

The group got involved in many activities by themselves. My personal favourite was down by the creek, but weirdly enough, the group were ignoring the water. I found this most strange and went with my new accomplice to see what we could find down there. 

No sooner had we ventured to this new area, more friends had headed there too. It was great to watch the children get their hands dirty and to see them getting really hands on, as they should out in the forest.

 

At the end of the day, the leaders returned to the community centre to review the entire session. It is the job of the primary Forest School Leader to complete one page journal (mostly pictures and some comments) to show what we did or what was said by each participant. These are kept in a folder and can be reviewed regularly by the parents.

This is the park we visited -

http://www.kensetsu.metro.tokyo.jp/kouen/kouenannai/park/english/hirayama_joshi.pdf

The location was near Mount Takao, but sadly, not really convenient for Tokyo kindergartens to visit regularly. Nevertheless, it was a great introduction into the Japanese style of Morinoyouchien (forest kindergarten).