In Sweden, temperatures can fluctuate between -20 and + 20 degrees depending on the time of year. That makes it all the more surprising that this would be the birthplace of the unique I Ur och Skur (literally Rain or Shine) forest school where children as young as two spend most of their day outdoors, literally in the forest.

The unorthodox kindergartens have existed for decades in Sweden, and other countries are catching up as research backs up the schools’ beneficial influence on children.

In a Creative STAR Learning Company report, Juliet Robertson tells about the history and background of the forest schools. According to her, the idea of promoting children’s nature trips was started back in the 1950s by the Association for Promotion of Outdoor Life (Friluftsfrämjandet).

It was through this same organization that Siw Linde, the founder of the first forest school, received her training as a children’s outdoor activity leader. As the professional pharmacist saw how children benefitted from being in nature, Linde started to consider the possibility of a nursery that worked by the same principle.

Forest pedagogy

In 1985, despite problems with bureaucrats, permits and funding, Linde started her I Ur och Skur –a kindergarten with six children in Lindingö, Sweden. Her experiment proved a success. Today there are some 200 schools, mainly pre-schools, overseen by the Friluftsfrämjandet with approximately 30,000 children and adults involved in their activities.

Outside activities take up approximately 80 percent of the school day, but if temperatures fall below -10°C then the children spend a larger part of the day inside.

Although decades have passed, the schools still adhere to the same principles as in the beginning. The core idea is that nature can fulfill a child’s need of activities, knowledge and togetherness. Nature can provide a playground that even the smartest of designers would envy, with places to crawl, bounce, swim and ski, all of which develop the child’s motor skills. The forest is an environment which provides stimuli for all the senses and fuels the child’s imagination and curiosity. Lastly, when a child spends a lot of time in nature, he or she will also learn how to protect it.

This doesn’t mean that the children only hop along in the forest all day. The nurseries follow the same regulations and curriculum that other Swedish nurseries follow; therefore, the children learn mathematics, language skills, science, the arts and so forth. Additionally, meadows, lakes and hills provide learning spaces for skiing, canoeing, climbing and skating.

Healthy children

Outside activities take up approximately 80 percent of the school day, but if temperatures fall below -10°C then the children spend a larger part of the day inside. Many would ask, don’t children get sick by spending all that time outside? According to research, they don’t.

In fact, forest schools seem to have the opposite effect. A comparative study between I Ur och Skur nurseries and traditional nurseries found that the forest schools have a higher attendance rate. The difference in absences because of sickness is five percent. The forest school children seem to benefit from nature’s own playground as they develop better motor function. In addition, their concentration proves better and their play is more imaginative, their games more varied.

It is not surprising that with such results the forest schools have gained international attention. The approach is also used to some extent in Germany, Russia, Finland, Latvia, Norway and Japan. In 2009 the I Ur och Skur was awarded The Nordic Council Nature and Environment Prize. As the prize-giving committee stated, “Rain or Shine serves as a model to emulate, illustrating perfectly how time spent in the great outdoors enhances a child's wellbeing.”

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