“Come, let’s go lantern walking, light your candles…” That’s how all the little and big lantern singers began our first song. It had rained all day, but right on cue at 4 p.m., the rain stopped, and we enjoyed a wonderful lantern festival. The grand lantern parade led us through our forest and ended at our beautiful, festively decorated property. After everyone had refreshed themselves with treats, warm drinks, and friendly conversations, it was time to head back home.

The musiculum MOBIL visited us at NatuKita Kiel with their colorful large transporter, bringing joy to the 5-6 year old children. On board were instruments not commonly found in kindergartens, such as child-sized trumpets, a child-sized double bass, a sound cradle, a portable harmonium, and more. Since its inception, the project has been financially supported by the Schleswig-Holstein Sparkassen and the Jovita Foundation.

Music has a powerful impact! It contributes positively to social interaction and strengthens concentration. Through active engagement with music, children's linguistic, emotional, and motor development is enhanced. The musiculum MOBIL aims to spark interest in music and stimulate curiosity, creativity, and imagination, and it has succeeded in doing so.

During the visit, we experienced a participatory sound story. Reinhard and Merle introduced us to the instruments of the musiculum MOBIL and allowed us to try them out, playing small concerts together with the children. The visit concluded with a collectively created drum story.

A huge thank you to the people behind musiculum MOBIL Kiel for this enriching experience!

Spring has arrived!
With sunshine and warmer temperatures, March spoils us. The signs of spring are everywhere to be seen, greenery abounds, and life sprouts from every pore of nature. Around us, numerous birds sing their songs and build their nests.
At our Spring Festival, we could sing together, chat, and taste a variety of delicious food from the buffet. Thank you for your support and for coming in great numbers – our daycare center grounds were so lively, with children playing at every corner.
On the Tuesday after Easter, the Easter Bunny had hidden beautiful Easter nests. What joy.

In November, we celebrated our Lantern Festival. We all gathered at the house and enjoyed the delicious treats brought by the parents, along with warm cocoa and tea. Then, we set off through the woods with our lovingly crafted lanterns. We sang lantern songs loudly, and finally, we returned to the campfire to end the wonderful evening.

This year's Thanksgiving Day began with ALL of us being greeted by a beautifully and lovingly decorated plot of land. The parents had also decorated this year, even the children were amazed at the decorations and the abundance of fruit, vegetables and herbs and loving details.
We had breakfast, laughed and sang around the campfire. Then we played, dug, made things, carved flutes, had a potato race and hollowed out a pumpkin...
The vegetables were chopped and cooked in a large pot over the fire.
For lunch there was delicious soup, baked bread and apple pie.

Once again this year, thanks to the support of the Stiftung Bildung, we had the opportunity to implement a project of our choice. The main theme of this year's project was the redesign of our reading corner. As part of this project, we purchased 30 new books with a wide range of content to complement our existing book collection. Over a long period of time, the team collected book titles and tried to cover a wide range of diversity criteria. The following criteria are represented in our new books:

• Identity
• Worldview and religion
• human rights
• Children's rights
• Animal rights (where relevant)
• gender
• Emotions
• Impairment
• BiPoC (Black, Indigenous, and
• People of Color)
• Sexuality and body image
• Self-confidence
• Family constellation
• Poverty

By selecting books that cover these criteria, we want to ensure that our reading corner is a place where diversity and inclusion are promoted and all children can find themselves in it.

The reading corner was planned and implemented in close cooperation with the tandems. This allowed the children to actively help with the installation of the heating protection and the book rail. Lots of cushions and blankets played a key role in creating a cozy atmosphere. We also integrated soundproofing measures towards the outside wall and colorful LED lighting.
You can find more information about our opportunity sponsorships at the following link:
Sponsorships at eye level | learning with and from each other!

In July, we celebrated our annual summer party and said a fond farewell to our preschool children at the same time. The celebration included a delicious buffet with homemade delicacies such as lemonade, pizza buns, herb bread and other treats provided by our dedicated parents. We had prepared three exciting play stations for our young guests. Here they could creatively conjure up soap bubbles, shape soapstones and go on a treasure hunt for gemstones. This was a lot of fun and excitement for the children.
It was a wonderful day full of fun and joy!

We celebrated Easter at our daycare center! In the morning, there were various craft and play activities such as churning butter and the potato race. At lunchtime, the parents joined in and we enjoyed a buffet together around the Easter fire. After the meal, the Easter bunny surprised each child with presents in the orchard.
Our Easter celebration was a wonderful day of fellowship. We are grateful for the great support of our parents and look forward to many more happy celebrations and shared experiences in the future.

This is the motto of the project funded by the Education Foundation, which is an extension of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth's "Menschen stärken Menschen" program. The aim is to initiate and promote sponsorships between children with different opportunities for participation. These opportunity mentors spend time in kindergarten and, ideally, as friends during their free time. During this time
The aim is to reduce fears and prejudices, support mutual learning with and from each other, explore commonalities, promote mutual cultural discovery and encourage respect, joy and openness to diversity.

As NaturKita Kiel, we were able to become part of this fantastic project. To promote the success of the project, we were able to win over the "Dümpel mit den Glitzerfischen" project and the "Chancenpatenschaften" project, among others. This project focuses not only on protecting our oceans, but also on aesthetic education. "Dümpel mit den Glitzerfischen" has been very well received by our children and we are delighted to finally be able to present you with a few first impressions.