I had walked into the Roligheden Gård Barnehage and right away was welcomed in and I met two of the instructors who were both really nice and had debriefed me about what the day was going to look like. All of the kids were already outside when I had arrived. It was a rainy day but that only made the morale of the kids even more positive and everyone was playing in the water or in the sand. Once the others had arrived and we were all ready to go, they all grabbed their daypacks and prepped the children to head out. All of the kids were fully clothed in rain gear and with a waterproof backpack, and all were lined up and holding hands with each other. We left the school and walked down the path nearby towards the beach area, and before reaching the beach we hooked a left up a small trail in which led us to an open area with a gapahuk. The kids all piled under the gapahuk and the instructors whipped out some pancakes, or svele in norsk, and they even offered us a few :). Everyone seemed happy under the structure aside from one girl who was crying for most of the day. Turns out she was three years old though and others were up to six in the group, so there was quite a range of age difference between the children and I had even talked with the instructor and he had thought that the younger ones should probably stay at the school and play outside there when the weather was as “bad,” as it was that day. She was cold and had wanted to go home the whole time so I imagine it’s hard for the younger ones to enjoy the nature no matter the weather, compared to the five and six year olds running around doing whatever they like.The kids played a lot of games and used sticks for mark points or for whatever they could think of. One girl had climbed way up into a tree and one instructor had his eye on her but was letting her do as she pleased and allowed her to climb as high as she wanted. She managed to reach a certain point where she didn’t want to go further and made her way down without any issues. They did a lot of running activities to stay warm or climbed rocks and jumped down the other side, everyone was very active and seemed to be making the most of the day. I envy these kids who have this possibility, as there is nothing like it in Nebraska. My kindergarten was right next door to a public ‘park’ and nature area, but we had never done anything like this and it’s such a simple concept. We were only allowed to play outside in the designated play area, and when the weather was bad (including rain) then we were always stuck inside or moved inside if it started to rain while we were out. I wish we had something similar to this back home because I think it acclimates children at a young age to being used to being outside no matter the weather and enjoying nature to the best of their ability and exploring their imagination to whatever extent they would like to, which I think is rather limited when stuck on a playground that has structures and surroundings that one can only do so much with.

The kids would fall and maybe cry if they were younger, just as in anywhere, but then within just a few moments they would turn right back around and join the others. There was one kid, named Bjørn, who was funny because he would growl and chase after other children or even us, so he definitely is living up to his name. Some kids all played together while others went into small groups or did their own thing, and it was nice that nobody was just sitting around doing nothing – and if they didn’t want to play something anymore than one instructor would shout to catch the other instructor and then the kids would chase them around for quite some time. He even climbed on top of the gapahuk and some of the more daring kids tried to climb after him and would assist each other on getting up. Another group of kindergarteners came walking by and went to their structures across the path, and the instructors took our group over to play and say hello to them for a few minutes, before returning back to their area but it was nice that the kids are able to play and meet other children who aren’t even at their school sometimes and I really think it’ll help all of these kids grow up to be more outgoing and adventurous from an early age. Another cool things about these outdoor play areas is that they don’t destroy any nature for their structures, but build around nature and with it. The other kindergarten group who had came by had placed several gapahuks all throughout the wooded area, and even used fallen over trees to act as the roof and sidewalls which were then lined with tarps.

One instructor had led a small group of the younger kids back to the school about forty-five minutes before the others were to go back. They said that usually they would spend all afternoon out in the area as well, but because it was so windy and cold, as it even snowed for a few moments, they were going to cut it short today and let everyone warm up and play inside for the remainder of the day. All of the kids lined back up and we made our way back to the schoolhouse. The children all had their own cubby area in which they could hang all of their wet clothing, and then they all had a change of clothes to wear for when they were playing inside. Some ran around the whole school while others sat in a circle and played together, but for the most part it seemed like they had used up more of their energy while playing outside. The instructors had invited us to stay and play with the kids for as long as we would like, and welcomed us back anytime we would like to return and that we could spend the day with them on a nicer day or whatever we would like to do. Most of the instructors had been there for several years and it was nice that they would have the same group of children for many years at a time, rather than just one year and then never see them again. At my kindergarten back home we only had one year of it, aside from pre school where we had two years prior to kindergarten but that was at a younger age but still same concept where we would only play indoors and never outside, but we were hardly able to keep the same group of friends made in every year because we would be divided into a different class every year from then on up so i think it’s really nice that these kids are able to establish good friendships with several others in their school and are able to play with them and see them for many years. All in all I really envy these kids growing up in these outdoor schools, and I definitely think it should be a universal concept because I firmly believe that these kids will grow up with a much better outlook on not only themselves, but also on nature and the world around them. It teaches children to respect and appreciate nature and opens their eyes to what all can be done with it and through it. Children who grow up inside of buildings and who don’t interact much with nature will not appreciate it as much as they should, and see may even end up being afraid of it because they had never experienced the joy that it could bring at a young age. I was fortunate enough to grow up with woods nearby and I played in nature a lot, however that was all on my own time and with my brother or friends, rather these kids are spending most of their days outside and making new friends all the while. Very happy to have been able to experience first hand what it’s like at these outdoor kindergartens as i’ve heard about them since I had first arrived in Norway, and it’s an amazing concept.