There are a growing number of organisations and Facebook groups dedicated to ensuring children have lots of free time in nature as part of their early childhood. Browse the following to get a feel for them:

• American Forest Kindergarten Association
• Child and Nature Alliance of Canada
• Children and Nature Network – All ages, well-established and a wonderful site to visit to connect with others worldwide
• Czech Republic Forest Kindergarten
• EDNA Spain has its own children and nature network and a growing number of fully outdoor settings
• Forest Kindergarten Association (England)
• Forest School Association (UK) – Not early childhood but the go-to page for Forest School information within the UK
• Nature Pedagogy International Association
• Waldkindergarten (Germany)

International examples of outdoor nurseries and nature kindergartens

For Scottish examples, visit the Nature Play and Learning page.

• Skogsmulle: learning for all the senses. An introduction to this Swedish approach to engaging 5-6yr olds with nature. Ideal for transition of nature immersion experiences from nursery to primary school.
• A Swedish Skogsmulle session. An account of a woodland session with 5-6yr olds in Sweden.
• The Scottish Skogsmulle sessions. Adapting the Skogsmulle approach to a Scottish context.
• Mulleborg: a Swedish outdoor pre-school. A 2011 guided tour of Sweden’s first outdoor nursery.
• Inside an outdoor pre-school in Sweden. Yes the indoor space matters! A sneak peek inside Mulleborg’s indoor spaces!
• A Swedish Förskola. So what’s the difference between an outdoor nursery and a traditional one in Sweden? Let’s have a look…
• Bringing nature into a Czech nursery. A very creative outdoor space, designed through year-on-year collaboration with construction students in a local further education college.
• Toulcuv Dvur Nursery in the Czech Republic. One of the original nurseries that prided itself on its nature-based practice from its establishment in the Nineties.
• Czech pre-schools – a forest project for all. A strategy adopted by an environmental organisation to support local nurseries to use their nearby forests, with great success.
• Waldkindergarten – Forest Kindergarten in Germany. An account of a day spent with a group of pre-school children – guest post by Anita Egle.
• Lauko darželis – The First Lithuanian Outdoor Kindergarten. An interview with its founder, Zilvinas Karpis.

Downloadable international case studies and reports

Please get in touch if you have any queries or wish to find out more. Click on the photos or headings to access the downloads or blog posts. The downloads were written following my Churchill Fellowship in 2008.

I Ur och Skur “Rain or Shine”: Swedish Forest Schools

This report covers the history of the outdoor nurseries in Sweden that led to the Forest School and nature kindergarten movement in the UK and elsewhere. Juliet wrote this after her Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship where she spent time with Siw Linde, one of the founders of the first I Ur och Skur. In 2010 the report was translated into Japanese where there is a large “Skogsmulle” movement.

---

Mulleborg and Skogsknattarna Kindergartens

This case study focuses on two very different, but equally inspiring I Ur och Skur nurseries in Sweden. Mulleborg is the oldest “Rain or Shine” pre-school in Sweden. There are also further blog posts about this school on I’m a teacher, get me OUTSIDE here! blog.

---

Utsikten Primary School

Interested to find out more about an outdoor primary school in Sweden? This case study takes you on a wee tour of Sweden’s oldest I Ur och Skur primary school. It is one of 20 outdoor primary schools in Sweden.

---

A Farming Project at the Waldorf School in Prague

This is not the run-of-the-mill farming project. Juliet accompanied this P5 class on a visit to a farm just outside Prague where the children visit monthly to prepare the ground, plant wheat, care, harvest and then finally bake bread for the whole school. Hands-on learning at its finest!

---

A Nature Pre-school Walk

Find out how the Seattle Nature Pre-school create a daily routine which involves getting out and about in different natural habitats. An interesting fusion of nature-based Montessori approach to early years education.