Dirt Time; A Photo Journal

Ask any Forest Preschooler what they think about being outside and getting dirty and it's quite likely you'll hear rave reviews. In fact, one child came up to me one day half covered in mud from the mud kitchen and exuberantly shared, "Look at my mud!"

As the landscape transforms, we at Forest Preschool will be experiencing a sensory feast this fall, mucking about immersed in nature, and joyfully learning along the way! Harvesting, sorting, excavating, cooking, climbing, constructing, crushing, and creating are some of the things we'll be inspired to do in our outdoor classroom when the fall session begins on August 30th.

Get inspired yourself and enjoy the following photo journal of Forest Preschool "dirt time" last fall!

It's autumn and seeds are everywhere! As an end cap to a morning exploring the world of seeds and how they disperse, we treated ourselves to a Staghorn sumac tea party beside the North Branch. After harvesting sumac nearby, discovering seeds inside the fuzzy fruit, we made tea using a Kelly Kettle and then enjoyed the fruits of our labor on a gorgeous October morning.

Excavating at Mud Kitchen before the rains came.

Exploration at Mud Kitchen after a rain. "It's a mud flood!" one Forest Preschooler declared!

It's a great apple year! Harvesting, snacking on, and grating apples to make apple salad at Deer Camp has been a highlight.

Hard to beat eating an apple while sitting in an apple tree!

Grinding wheat berries into flour to make bread dough for roasting later in the morning. 

Roasting apples and bread on a stick over the fire at Deer Camp.

Discovering what's inside of an acorn and sorting nut "meat" from the shells. 

The "children's house" or "beaver lodge" cooperatively built and played in for many days.

Fishing! We love rainy days and puddles at FPS!

Rain art using chalk on a wet block of wood.

Painting with natural ink made by crushing grapes that were harvested at Deer Camp.

The tightrope walker!

Paddling a "long canoe" to "an island" at Deer Camp and snacking on a wild harvested apple to refuel along the way!

And so, onward we paddle, towards an unfolding story at Forest Preschool that tells of vivid imagination, growth, child centered learning, a sense of agency, connection, and dirt.