As part of the ‘Out into Nature’ theme days, the local community outreach team organised an outing for the Seestraße nursery to the local meadows and the woods. They were supported in this by Hessenforst and forest educator Sigrid Scherer. Full of curiosity, the group set off to explore nature. At the edge of the field, the children discovered various flowers. The ‘magic flower’, St John’s wort, was particularly fascinating: a yellow flower that can be used to treat all sorts of niggles and which turns red when rubbed between the fingers. The children knew a lot about animals and were able to identify all those that live in the local woods. Together, they laid out a tree on the forest floor using leaves and branches. As they did so, the forest educator explained to the children which animals live in trees, why they do so, and where. For example, the children learnt where squirrels live and that bats also find shelter in boxes hung in trees. To teach the children the difference between insects and spiders, they were allowed to search for creepy-crawlies under leaves, stones and wood. Carefully caught and placed under a magnifying glass, they could be examined closely. Sigrid Scherer demonstrated and explained the distinguishing features of the animals. The children then gently returned the animals to where they had found them. To round off the day, each child was allowed to stamp a deer’s paw print onto a small piece of clay and take it home as a souvenir of the day.
