So given how popular the bathroom post was, because again, who isn’t wondering where they go, I wanted to do a quick addendum. A part two to numbers one and two, if you will, since we’ve had a few new developments.
In the prior bathroom post, I talked a bit about potty training and where the bathrooms are but mostly how out in the woods the little ones were either held up cannon ball style or popped little squats on their own. That apparently is on the outs now, one of the many things I was able to pick up on during my tag along day. Advances in forest bathroom philosophies are here!
The school has made a few changes over our time here and one of them is that they tend to set up a more settled “camp” for the day so to speak. They still walk a lot and are on the go, but as they pick their destination, they set up a tarp where the kids sit on with their lunches and snacks and come back to it between explorations. That also allows them to take off and leave some of their backpacks and such. And it also allows them to set up a little “bathroom”.
And it’s just as you see it, ducked away from the seating space but still not exactly from view, the teachers set up two buckets. They’re upside down, have the tops cut out of them, and a plastic bag is suspended in it, held in place with some elastic. Then as one child finishes, the bag is replaced for the next one. My personal favorite was the little touch of the toilet paper, placed on a special stick found for the occasion. And there’s a little hand sanitizer area just next to the “bathroom”.
I mentioned in my last post that the bathroom in the actual meeting building is a rather social place and not gender segregated and this forest version is no different. If you want to catch up on the latest gossips of toddlers, just take a walk over to the designated trees. I know some might find this odd or shocking but I couldn’t help but find it endearing how at ease they all are. After all, no shame of nature calling in nature itself!