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Nature Based Play to Develop Confidence & Risk Assessment Capabilities

Nature Based Play

Oct 11
Excellence Matters Early Childhood Professional Development Nature Based Play

One of the most wonderful things about taking a child to play at the beach (or at the park) is the ability to watch them play in the moment without so much a spade, bucket or plastic toy in sight.

At the kinder where I work, we are continuously trying to peel back the ‘unnatural’ so as to make way for as much of a ‘natural’ environment as possible. I will admit we still have plastic buckets, spades, colourful climbing frames etc but we also have lots of opportunities for using our natural environment with artwork and displays full of rocks, sticks, flowers, leaves, sand, branches. In this way, we are a work in progress, and one thing I am noticing is that there is a lot more imaginative role playing happening in the yard amongst children as they challenge themselves, take risks and develop confidence in their relationships and abilities.

Excellence Matters Early Childhood Professional Development Nature Play

I thought it would be wonderful if I could speak to educators working at a bush kinder in order to obtain a different perspective of children playing and a little information on the art of helping children to take considered risks.

After a little research I found some very special educators who agreed to discuss with me some of things they have learnt and noticed from educating children in a bush kinder setting.

My research led me directly to Donna Bush and Rachael Moore from Crace Early Learning in Canberra which operates a bush kinder in as a part of their program .

Interested in knowing what sparked the initial idea behind the bush kinder, I spoke to Donna first.

According to Donna, the yards of the 3 centres were not as natural as they would have liked and as such, provided educators with a blank canvas upon which to differentiate themselves from other educational settings. Determined to do this differently,the centres applied to local government for a permit to run 4 hours of their program in a grassy, tree covered reserve.

The permit took a lengthy 6 months to approve but the wait was well worth it in the end.

Travelling by mini bus to the reserve with few amenities aside from a small portaloo, Donna is the first to say that the program takes a lot of commitment from educators- especially in the often unpredictable weather conditions.

Excellence Matters Early Childhood Professional Development Bush Kinder

Donna went on to explain the freedom the children have on these trips, and the adventures, challenges and tree climbing experienced whilst exploring the area.

In addition to parents and educators, there have been artists and photographers who have visited the bush kinder and explored alongside the children, in search of those magical moments, sights and wonders otherwise missed by a busy adult.

I then went on to speak with Rachael, an Educator at Yerrabi Ponds Early Learning Centre whose role amongst many is to issue literal instructions to children as they climb trees and take considered risks.

When asked if her heart ever jumped into her throat at times when the children were climbing higher and higher up into the trees, Rachael responded with a resounding ‘yes’, but does find comfort in the discussions she has with each child before they take on the first branch.

Some of the discussions Rachael has with the children include:

How fast should you climb in the tree?
What branches are good to climb on: skinny wobbly or strong?
Discussions around only climbing as high as the children feel comfortable and what type of feeling they may get in their stomach if they feel nervous, that means its time to not go any higher.
Explaining that she is too big and can’t go up and get them down when they are stauck or scared.
Rachael went on to speak to me about working with the children to do their own risk assessment and prompt strategies about taking risks within their play. In fact it is a view of the bush kinder that it is of vital importance for children to develop and enhance these type of skills early on in their lives in order for them to be ingrained into their psychy.

So, it seems there is a lot more opportunity available to us as educators when we take our thinking to a place outside of the box. When we consciously move our curriculum away from the unnatural world and into the natural environment where kids can collect, connect and challenge themselves in as unaffected manner as possible.

(Written by Kirsti Condon and shared with permission by Customised Training)

Further Nature Based Play Resources

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