The Outdoor Environment

A forest kindergarten or nature preschool classroom is vastly different from a traditional indoor early childhood setting. Instead of four walls, desks, and artificial lighting, children learn and play in natural environments such as forests, meadows, streams, and beaches. The classroom is dynamic and ever-changing with the seasons, offering a rich sensory experience that fosters curiosity, resilience, and a deep connection to the natural world. While some programs have an indoor space for extreme weather, most learning takes place outside, regardless of wind, rain, snow, or sunshine.

In a typical outdoor preschool, children engage in hands-on, play-based learning that is largely child-led. The "classroom" might consist of tree stumps for group discussions, logs and planks for building, and shrubbery nooks for quiet reflection, imaginative play, or reading. Open spaces allow for group games and parachute play, while additional features may include a dramatic play area, a treehouse, an outdoor art station, and musical instruments. Mud kitchens, a staple of outdoor classrooms, are filled with natural materials or "loose parts"—such as sticks, pinecones, and rocks—used for imaginative play and early mathematics.

Guides not Teachers

Educators act as facilitators, guiding children’s discoveries, fostering inquiry, ensuring safe risk-taking, and supporting social interactions. Activities include foraging, gardening, tracking animals, identifying plants and insects, building shelters, fire-making, cooking, storytelling, singing, and nature-inspired art. A significant portion of the day is dedicated to free play, allowing children to explore and learn through self-directed experiences.

Nature Teaches us All

Nature provides an ideal environment for developing both the proprioceptive and vestibular senses, crucial for motor development, coordination, and overall well-being. The proprioceptive sense helps children understand where their body is in space by receiving input from muscles and joints, while the vestibular sense is responsible for balance, movement, and spatial orientation. These sensory systems develop through full-body movement, which nature naturally encourages.

Unlike predictable indoor surfaces, nature challenges children with varied terrain and natural obstacles. Walking on uneven ground, climbing trees, jumping over logs, and balancing on rocks all activate proprioceptive and vestibular input, strengthening muscles, coordination, and spatial awareness. Lifting rocks, pushing logs, or climbing trees provides deep pressure input, supporting body control and stability. Activities like swinging on a branch, spinning, or rolling down a hill further develop balance, core strength, and postural control.

In Balanced and Barefoot, physical therapist Angela Hanscom explains that modern children often lack sufficient movement experiences, leading to weaker core muscles, poor balance, and difficulty with motor planning. However, in a nature-based setting, children engage in constant, varied motion, naturally strengthening their sensory systems in ways structured environments cannot replicate.

Sensory Development

This sensory-rich environment also helps children regulate their emotions, build confidence, and develop a deep connection with their bodies and surroundings. Outdoor classrooms foster resilience and confidence by encouraging movement, risk-taking, and problem-solving. In A Moving Child Is a Learning Child, Connell and McCarthy highlight how movement strengthens cognitive and sensory development, essential for self-trust, adaptability, decision-making, and perseverance. David Sobel, a nature-based education expert, emphasizes "small, manageable risks" that help children test their limits safely, reinforcing self-reliance. Banning and Sullivan, in Lens on Outdoor Learning, further support that nature’s unpredictability teaches flexibility and problem-solving, as children adapt to changing conditions and navigate obstacles. These experiences help children develop self-efficacy, emotional regulation, and confidence, proving that movement and nature-based play are foundational to learning and growth.

Well Rounded Children

By spending extended time in nature, children in forest kindergartens and nature preschools develop critical sensory and motor skills essential for lifelong health and well-being. This movement and sensory-rich learning environment fosters independence, confidence, and a deep bond with the natural world, helping children grow into capable, well-rounded individuals.