Early years nature contact

On becoming a forest

Blog by Katriina Kilpi People who are passionate about nature – myself included – explain their passion by the time they spent playing in nature as a child. Maybe their parents loved being in nature too. Maybe they were scouts or had a summer house. Maybe they lived close to nature and they got toContinue reading “On becoming a forest”

Japan: beyond forest bathing

In late November, trees in Tokyo – the capital city of Japan and one of the largest cities in the world – are still relatively green. Three members of the IFTDays team (myself, Heidi Korhonen and Nitin Das), we have arrived to explore the concept of shinrin yoku that is gaining popularity in the WesternContinue reading “Japan: beyond forest bathing”

How the wild child can save nature

Some weeks ago the biggest nature organisation in Flanders, Natuurpunt, shared an article that was titled “How the wild child can save nature” (Hoe het wilde kind de natuur kan redden). It got me thinking about how there´s still a knowledge gap between what we well-meaning adults think our children need and what they actuallyContinue reading “How the wild child can save nature”

Enabling daily explorations in nature

Growing up in Finland in a small town, we had a wonderful little forest close to and a big yard around our apartment building. There were varied terrains: stones and rocks, little hills and slopes, bushes, and trees to climb into. By spending hours and hours on that yard waiting for friends to come outContinue reading “Enabling daily explorations in nature”

“It doesn´t rain in our forest” – visit to forest school in Tammela, Finland

Finland is one of those countries, where the forest school movement has been rising in popularity in the recent years. In the last 10 years, some 30 forest schools have been established. Most of these are pre-schools that cater for 5-6-year-olds, who spend most days of the week or the most hours of the dayContinue reading ““It doesn´t rain in our forest” – visit to forest school in Tammela, Finland”

Forest school in Belgium

Quite unexpectedly, I heard about a forest school in Belgium. Someone who had the same trajectory as the kids in their reflecting vests heading toward a big park in Gent mentioned it to me. Apparently there had even been a piece in the newspaper about them. Why did I not know about this? My guessContinue reading “Forest school in Belgium”