KinderForest Magic by Lori Barian

KinderForest Magic
By Lori Barian

Follow, follow me to the ring of the fairies. Follow, follow me where the fairies dance and sing. Gather with me here all the magic you can carry As we circle and circle ‘round the dancing fairy ring.
That is how we begin our circle time in KinderForest, and truly we find nature magic nearly every day. Wonder and awe feed and nurture our souls. Our senses are saturated with the goodness of the natural world. Our imaginations soar with the clouds.
Our woodcutter story in the wintertime inspired our gathering and bundling of kindling. The imaginary fire we built at the end of our circle time gave us a place to warm our feet while listening to the story. On a number of different days, sticks that were found easily became wands; they were so coated with sparkly frost that they glistened and flashed as they were waved about.  
Somehow, as the river thawed, we discovered that the twine I had for bundling firewood was also good for making fishing poles. After “fishing” with the poles on a Thursday morning, we tucked them into the crook of a tree to find again the next day. When we went down to the river that Friday, we found more than our fishing rods. We found two fishermen in their hip waders, their “real” poles in hand, who had already waded deep into the river very near where we had fished the day before. The fishermen seemed to enjoy our company; everyone fished together.  
While we had a story about a mouse, we enjoyed leaving birdseed near the apparent homes of such creatures. Some homes were more obvious than others, and the children only got birdseed to put down for the animals if I thought the home they discovered, often a hole in fallen tree, was truly the doorway to such a residence. Then it was fun to go back and see how much food was gone the next day.  
More recently, we were walking around the side of the play yard to go see the flowers growing along the roadside. We discovered quite a generous pile of deer poop right on the woodchip path. In case we had any doubt about who made the poop, the children then discovered deer tracks in the mud along the parking lot. That was exciting!
Of course, walking into the woods from the parking lot/garden area these days is magical indeed. An undeniable fairyland of scilla and bloodroot (otherwise known as bluebells and white flowers) carpet the ground and smell so sweet, too. We are happy for the milder weather and all the new growth of spring, but we’re not the only ones. On a recent walk down to the river, we encountered 8-12 mallards congregating on the shoreline. The children were slow and quiet enough that the ducks didn’t startle and fly, but instead gradually waddled their way into the water so close to where we stood watching them.
Now that our story is about a caterpillar who becomes a butterfly, “a flower that can fly,” wouldn’t you know it…two chrysalis were spotted by the children in the carved out side of a tree trunk.
Yes, there’s more magic than can fit into this article, so much of which we often take for granted, like the sparkles on the river in the sun. But even when we don’t shout out for joy, these experiences are making deep impressions. The world is filled with an undeniable magic, gifting us every day with reasons to be grateful and glad.  
KinderForest Kindling
The KinderForest children have been gathering bundles of kindling to share with our families.  Please help yourself to some kindling for your homes’ fireplace or fire pit.  Kindling bundles are located just outside the west play yard fence.