Banyan Forest Kindergarten
Daily Rhythms: A Day In the Life
8:30-9:00am: Drop Off
-Morning Circle + Games
-Hike, Long Walk
-Snack
-Free Play
-Guided Activity (carving, whittling, sanding, festival crafts)
-Lunch (fire pit cooking on Fridays)
-Story Time + Rest Time
-Free Play
-Guided Activity (wool felting, finger knitting, watercolor, beeswax modeling, and drawing)
3:00pm-3:20pm: Jump Rope + Pick Up
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Some of the activities we'll enjoy regularly include gardening, drawing, painting with watercolors, woodworking, beeswax and clay modeling, finger-knitting, whittling, wet wool felting, loom, singing, and listening to stories. Every day, there will be ample time for free play and exploration.
Festivals and Celebrations
September: San Miguel Celebration (sword making, knight ceremony, obstacle course)
November: Dia de los Muertos (altar making, papel picado, songs)
November: El Farol (lantern making and family lantern walk)
December: Advent Spiral (apple candles and spiral walk)
December: Posada (traditional Mexican posada, pinata, games, carols, tamales, ponche, atole)
February: Valentines (sewing projects: felt bags with hearts)
March: Holi (color powders, colored water)
March/April: Easter (egg painting, egg hunt)
May: Celebration of all summer birthdays and ceremony for children going to 1st grade.
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All Festivals interweave storytelling, food, crafts, and traditional songs as the heart of the celebrations. Families are encouraged to join in the festivities
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If we want children to flourish, to become truly empowered, then let us allow them to love the earth before we ask them to save it. Perhaps this is what Thoreau had in mind when he said, “the more slowly trees grow at first, the sounder they are at the core,” and I think the same is true of human beings.
—David Sobel, educator and author of Place-Based Education, Nature Preschools, and Forest Kindergartens: The Handbook for Outdoor Learning