As a part of our practical studies, we spent one day in a Norwegian outdoor kindergarten as a group of 4. This was also used to connect our theoretical studies with the practical part.

We got there early in the morning of a rainy day, to get the full experience. The first thing we realized were the children that were already playing outside, climbing rocks or jumping through the puddles of water on the ground. We got introduced to the leader of the group and her colleagues. After a short walk around the building we headed out to the place the group always goes. Just 15 minutes away in the forest was a site they had been building over the last years with a shelter and some treehouses to climb around on. As the children started playing we had more time to talk to the other care workers. Surprisingly all of them were men. They told us that the children were between 3 and 6 years old and that not every child in the kindergarten was automatically part of an outdoor group. Only the ones with enough power,, parents especially asking for it or a certain mindset were taken to the groups. They always spend the whole day outside, 5 days a week. Also for lunch was cared, as the leaders had taken prepared pancakes, butter and cheese with them. After some hours the youngest ones lost more and more interest in playing and started crying. This was totally understandable since it was constantly raining and the wind made it colder than it was. Therefore they went back before the rest of the group, which was no problem at all since the group leader had some office work to do anyways.

This day brought many new experiences with it, which I had never gotten in the kindergarten at home. Simply the idea of being outside all day, being allowed to climb trees as you like and playing around in the local forest was something new to me. Of course we went outside when I was young, but that was always a limited time per day and there was just one day in the week on which we had been outside all day for a hike or something similar. Another new aspect was the group composition. I never experienced a group of the full age range working so well together. Normally the kindergarten groups are divided by age in Germany and therefor the children only meet the others for lunch or outside. The last big difference I realized was the amount of men working as care takers. At home this field is dominated by women. Not because our men are incapable of doing the job but because the payment is not very good. It appears that the Norwegian educational system not only differs in topics and focus it sets but also in payment and appreciation it shows for its employees.

I believe that the German educational system could definitely get some good ideas if they analyzed the Norwegian one. Though this is already happening it focuses way too much on the schools and leaves the kindergartens almost untouched. Of course we have a difference in nature and accessibility at home but where there is a will, there’s a way! I am absolutely sure that with some passion they could make it happen.