A new forest kindergarten in the Upper Clutha prioritises getting children into the outdoors, expanding their imaginations and encouraging learning through exploration.

The Forest Explorers Kindy launched in May and its first cohort (group of four students and one educator) spend their time exploring local areas, using nature as a classroom - rain or shine.

Hāwea mother Prairie Pritchett enrolled her daughter Adella in Forest Explorers Kindy after she struggled to settle in at another childcare provider.

It’s “a huge relief” to see her daughter thrive in the new environment, she said. 

Prairie said the small, tight-knit group and the opportunity it provided her daughter to spend more time outside were both huge drawcards.

She is so passionate about the service that she has joined Just Like Home (a home-based care facilitator that Forest Explorers Kindy is a branch of) to help it develop and grow. 

Just Like Home owner Jeanette Fotheringham said the first cohort of the kindy, which is for children from ages three to six, “filled up really quickly”.

She said the service, which combines the principles of forest kindergarten and home-based care, had been “very well received” by local families. 

An additional educator who will start the kindy’s second cohort in term four is already fully subscribed and there is a waitlist for the service, she said.

Jeanette and Prairie are hosting an event for potential educators who want to learn more about what being a Forest Explorers Kindy educator looks like and whether it is right for them.

Anyone who is interested in attending can get in touch with Prairie on [email protected].

PHOTO: Wānaka App