“Our staff have been doing professional development on it, and we do bush kinder once a week for a full session – we have such deep belief in the value of it.”
Ms Clarke said nature play offered social-emotional learning, loose-parts play, storytelling, creativity and numeracy learning among its informal lessons.
“It’s just a calmer setting to learn in – they find their own space, they’ve got responsibility and they really step up to that ownership of caring for country.”
Nurture in Nature’s Tania Moloney offers sessions across the country and has spoken at international conferences.
She works with families, communities and teachers in all weathers to realise the potential the outdoors offered children’s development.
“We see from research and common sense as well the impact that technology or indoor lifestyles have for children,” she said.
“When we see children who have regular and meaningful opportunities to connect with nature, we see improved physical health, improvement in mental health, and cross-curricular experiences in science, math and literacy.
“There’s so much research around giving children the chance to have these sorts of experiences, and families as well.”
Ms Moloney said while most enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere, children were exploring their ‘rites of passage’ of grazed knees and measured risk-taking.
“It’s also really important we help children get to know and fall in love with nature from an early age, so they grow up wanting to protect it,” she said.
“We tend to look after the things that we love, and if we don’t learn to love nature, we won’t have our environmental stewards of the future to care for it.”
Ms Clarke is gauging interest for another session. Interested people can contact her via email greenpark.acacia@kindergarten.vic.gov.au.
– Bronwyn Hastings
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