Promotion: Frankenau day-care children play and learn in the forest
The Kellerwald-Edersee National Park was recently the scene of a happy event for the town of Frankenau and especially for Frankenau's kindergarten children. Karl-Friedrich Frese, first district councillor and head of the youth department, handed over a grant of 50,000 euros from the state investment programme "Childcare" 2021-2023 to Mayor Manuel Steiner. The state grant will support the structural equipment of the new forest kindergarten group. "Last year, the district already subsidised the project with district funds amounting to 28,577 euros," Frese said at the on-site meeting.
The new group is an expansion of the ev. Kindertagesstätte Frankenau which became necessary due to considerable demand, but which was not possible in the existing building in Ederstraße. The facility now has six groups instead of five, and 20 more children than before are cared for in the forest kindergarten. Mayor Steiner reported on behalf of the developer, the city of Frankenau, that "the state of Hesse had made a forest plot available to us through a permit agreement", which the city cleared and paved itself.
To have a shelter or storage facility, the construction trailer was needed, which is now being expanded for cooler weather. As a shelter in case of sudden extreme weather, "The Wolves", as the forest kindergarten children have named themselves, can also use a room of the neighbouring "Kellerwalduhr" of the national park. "We thank the district for being so open to our idea of expanding the day-care centre with a forest group and for making the facility possible as a specialist supervisor," says Mayor Steiner.
First District Councillor Frese says: "If the circumstances are right and all the legal requirements are met, we have no objection to our youngest children going to kindergarten in the great outdoors with nature education. It is not without reason that forest kindergartens are becoming increasingly popular; playing and learning in the forest has been proven to have positive effects on children's development.
However, this could not lead to every new kindergarten group being relocated to the great outdoors. After all, forest kindergartens cannot be set up without further ado, but are bound to a large number of framework conditions. Last but not least, there must already be a day-care centre in the village to which the forest group can be attached. "Unfortunately, it doesn't work to just go into the forest and look after the children there.
The district's specialist services for construction and youth have therefore drawn up "Recommendations on the location of structural facilities for forest kindergarten groups in the Waldeck-Frankenberg district", which have been brought to the attention of all towns and communities. An important principle of these recommendations is that when selecting a site for the kindergarten, many different authorities must be involved, including the forestry and nature conservation authorities. A discussion meeting on the topic is planned for the early autumn with the sponsors of day-care centres, by which time a checklist will be developed and then made available at the meeting.