The Seasons at Raintree

By Ashley Hummert

The changing seasons are a large part of experiencing forest school. Our students and teachers welcome the elements as they are, gearing up in waterproof pants on rainy days and layering up in thick snow pants during the winter. We get a front row seat to the magic: watching the setting and weather morph each time we go outside to play, bringing us new experiences, play themes, and fascination. 

There is a special song that each class sings at Raintree when we greet our woods on forest days. It is a way for us to notice seasons and connect with the change. The children enjoy following along with the motions and often help point out what season we are in, and therefore which season our song begins with:

This is my trunk I’m a tall, tall tree and the summer breeze goes through me

I bend, I bend

This is my trunk I’m a tall, tall tree and the autumn apples grow on me

they drop, they drop

This is my trunk I’m a tall, tall tree and the winter snow falls on me 

I rest, I rest

This is my trunk I’m a tall, tall tree and the spring time blossoms grow on me

they open, they open

Beginning in September, our children observe leaves fluttering down to the forest floor, colors of trees changing, and temperatures dropping. This abundance of leaves creates new opportunities for play, both indoors and outdoors. Outside, my class can be found collecting bundles of leaves in a pile to jump into. You can find teachers showing students how to make leaf baskets or leaf crowns. Leaves can become fresh canvases to paint or face masks to design. Sorting the leaves into various colors, shapes, or types can be a wonderful way to practice observational skills and categorization. The weather cooling down also can mean a great time for cooking food over a campfire as a class.

Right on the heels of autumn comes the magic of winter. Sleds swoosh down our playscape hills, giddy shrieks and laughter erupting. Tiny gloved hands mash snow together to create big snowballs or intricate snowpeople. Ice becomes discovered, shattered, and glided on. I like to invite students to practice drawing shapes or to write their name into the snow. Additionally, winter is a wonderful time to talk about the concept of hibernation with the children, how animals rest and store up food for this time. 

Next, we welcome springtime with open arms. With spring comes the flowers, sunshine, and animals emerging from their hibernation. My students and I begin to notice chipmunks darting on the playscape, caterpillars crawling, and leaves coming back. We also receive an abundance of rain, which also means an abundance of mud! No puddle is safe from tiny boots splashing into it. The mud is an added bonus, and it gives us a new medium in which to “cook”. If you step into our mud kitchen, you will find small chefs mixing up cookie batter, pasta, and all sorts of delicious recipes, with mud as the main ingredient. Springtime also brings a chance to begin growing food. Each year my class helps to plant seeds of their choice into a bed. 

In the summer, we observe these springtime plants popping through the soil and growing wildly. Depending on the vegetable or fruit we are even able to harvest, sometimes eating it directly off the vine or stalk! The sun that powers this food to grow also energizes our play, and we spend long hours outside in the sunshine. During this time when it feels hot, we especially enjoy water days. Our teachers set out sprinklers, bubble painting, small pools, water blasters and more on these special days to cool us off and ignite play.

No matter the season or weather at Raintree, our students can be found enjoying the landscape that nature brings us. With the proper gear and attitude, any day outside can bring a joyful and magical adventure.