Ahr Valley: A Safe Place When Everything Is Shaken – Emergency Pedagogy at the Waldorf Kindergarten Pusteblume After the Flood

The Waldorf Kindergarten Pusteblume is located in Grafschaft-Oeverich in northern Rhineland-Palatinate. Since 1995, children between the ages of two and six have been accompanied here by three early childhood teachers in a small, family-like group of around 25 children. Everyday life is shaped by closeness to nature, free play, artistic and practical activities, and a steady rhythm that provides security and orientation. In July 2021, this rhythm suddenly collapsed when the devastating floods struck the Ahr Valley. Oliver Bollig from Waldorf Kindergarten Pusteblume reflects on the impact of the disaster and describes how much the support of the Emergency Pedagogy Department of Freunde der Erziehungskunst helped during this time.

After the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley, nothing was the same as before. At our Waldorf Kindergarten Pusteblume, we felt deeply how such an event affects the lives of children, their families, and the teachers themselves. Rituals that had once provided stability suddenly no longer held. Familiar routines felt fragile.

The Emergency Pedagogues from Freunde der Erziehungskunst arrived at a moment when words alone were no longer enough. With a presence that immediately created a sense of safety, with professional clarity and a deep understanding of our Waldorf educational practice, they supported us repeatedly from the summer of 2021 until the end of last year.

At first, the focus was not on explaining what had happened, but on doing things together: gardening, baking, painting, and free play. Activities that create order, offer stability, and help children regain a sense of ground beneath their feet. From late July to early September 2021, when five emergency pedagogy specialists visited us regularly, our kindergarten once again became a protected space for many children – a place where they could regain a sense of stability and simply be.

This support also strengthened us as a team. During two training sessions in July and August 2022, new approaches emerged, especially in working with children who were acutely stressed or traumatized. Over the course of seven hours, we explored the methods of emergency and trauma pedagogy in depth. As a result, the everyday rhythm of the kindergarten gradually regained stability, bringing calm and reassurance to both children and staff.

From March to December 2025, an emergency pedagogue accompanied us further through a process-oriented team coaching. This was initiated in response to staff changes within the team and the lingering emotional strain that had not simply disappeared.

Parents were also involved from the very beginning—for example through a parents’ evening on the importance of the senses for children’s development. Many parents later shared how lasting these impulses were and how much they helped them create conscious, supportive spaces for their children at home.

As Waldorf Kindergarten Pusteblume, we are deeply grateful for this support. It did not take responsibility away from us, but it enabled us to regain our capacity to act and to rediscover confidence in our own educational work.

The collaboration with Freunde der Erziehungskunst supported us, strengthened us, and gave us a hopeful outlook toward the future. For this, we are deeply thankful.

Oliver Bollig