A bright blue sky and a lovely sun, happy children and enthusiastic parents. Nothing stood in the way of the festive opening of the new discovery garden of green childcare Wiedewei Ouddorp yesterday.
Exploring the discovery garden
By pulling off brightly colored ribbons, four toddlers, together with project leader Inge Hubregtse, officially opened the garden. The children present immediately went on a voyage of discovery and in the meantime enjoyed the freshly baked bread and the large bowl of cucumber, tomatoes, gherkins and carrots. Parents visibly enjoyed their feasting children: “At home they don’t eat vegetables that easily, but here they love it. They follow each other’s example. Seeing food makes you want to eat.”
From barefoot path to outdoor circle
The past few weeks, we have been working hard on the new discovery garden. For example, tiles have been replaced by soil and grass, so that the children can really connect with nature. A vegetable garden has also been created where they can grow their own vegetables and learn how food grows. From now on, they can eat and drink on the outer circle of tree trunks and the barefoot path stimulates the senses. According to branch manager Jeannette Klijn, the garden offers a lot of value in terms of education: “The power of the garden is not only in playing, but especially in what it offers children on a deeper level. Children feel, smell, taste and discover nature here at their own pace. The garden makes them curious and offers them both adventurous challenges and peace. We can also now have a circle time outside much more easily, especially on a beautiful day like today.
Waiting is over
According to Jeanette, the children and staff were counting down the days until the opening today: “They were temporarily playing in another playground, but they were very curious about our own discovery garden. 'Come on, mom, let's take a look at the new garden', one girl said when she was brought in. And there they were, together in front of the window. 'Just wait one more week', her mother said happily.” But now the wait is over and the children can go exploring in their own garden.
