First two days at Elderflower

I have just arrived back at my room after a long day at the Elderflower kindergarten.

Yesterday was the first day but it was only in the morning. We first had a little ceremony for the children that were going the class 1. We gathered all of them (including those from the other two kindergartens, Rosebuds and Appleblossom) into our room, with their parents, and we told the first part of a story. We then walked (while singing a song) to the gathering hall where all the other classes were waiting. The teacher from class 1 then continued the story, then the teacher from class 2 stepped in and so on till class 5. The children from class 2 then gave a little gift to the children of class 1 and everyone went to their classes. The rest of the morning was filled with a pick-nick for the children, who would either join or were already in Elderflower, and their parents. Everybody brought some food and it was really nice to meet all these people.

Today was the first full day for the children that already went to kindergarten. Tomorrow the new children will join us. During the morning we were outside in the lovely garden, where we made a fire and children could play outside. Together with another teacher and some children we made some little welcome gifts for the new children. It was a paper heart with fresh lavender tied to it with a bow and a nice piece of string was tied to the top so we could hang it up. It was really fun to see the children helping us out and how different they are from one another. So many different personalities! After a while we ate a little snack (a piece of apple from the apple tree and some nuts) and went back in again. 
We had some lovely soup, made by the new school cook, and some bread as lunch. Afterwards we joined the Appleblossom group for a nice story and went back for nap time. Well the children were lying down, that was about it. After nap time I had a little break since I would be there all day. When I came back the children were all playing inside (they have such big imaginations) and the assistant of Elderflower and I started to clean the crayons. It was almost like meditation and felt really good. Later on I made some waffles and we ate them together. By then it was time for the children to go home again and one of the girls walked up to me and hugged me. It was so sweet and cute and adorable. I hadn't expected that to happen. 

I really look forward to tomorrow and the days after, because these children are so amazing.