nature Archives - Early Learning Childhood Education

13/07/201713/07/2017

The Benefits and Beauty of Bush Kinders

There’s something so special about children enjoying nature. And while we love to see children enjoying the summer sun, seeing them pull on some gumboots to splash in puddles and explore soggy wetlands is fantastic.

Early childhood education has many approaches, each with its own benefits and advocates. We are all continually developing and adapting, and that goes for educators too. One early learning approach that has been growing in popularity of late is the incorporation of the great outdoors. And with so many learning experiences to offer, this is very exciting!

Danish Forest School Approach

Just this week a great article about the Danish Forest School approach was featured in the Australian Scholarships Group (ASG)’s publication ‘Early Horizons’. Galina was featured in this edition too, interviewed about children’s wellbeing and the magic of the Bonkers Beat programs. You can read the whole publication here: http://bit.ly/2sL7k5P

The Danish Forest School approach is truly unique and special – and there is no one type of ‘forest school’… no two are the same. The Early Horizons article talks about how the Danish Forest School Approach uses its deep understanding of informal learning environments to promote creativity and critical thinking in its young students.

This forest pre-schooling approach has caught on internationally, including in Australia with the rise of Bush kinder programs.

The benefits of the bush

The research around kinder programs that take to the bush shows many benefits:

Increased confidence, motivation and concentration, increased social, physical and language skills, deeper conceptual understandings and respect for the natural environment
Increased social and imaginative play
Teachers understandings of and relationships with the children are deepened, while families and wider community attitudes towards natural places for play and children’s risk management can be enhanced
Positive outcomes for many diverse communities including disadvantaged or challenging youth, children with autism and drug addicted adults

Nurturing nature – the rise in outdoor learning

Bush Kinder is growing in popularity in Australia for good reason – the immediate and long-term benefits for children are undeniable. It’s an exciting time in early childhood education. Doug Fargher, the founder of Bush Kinder in Australia is joining us at the upcoming Wellness Summits in September and we cannot wait to learn from him.

Doug, in line with the forest schools of Europe, believes in nature’s potential to create a space for children to flourish in their period of critical early development.

Joining our award-winning Bonkers Beat community can provide you with many benefits and give you all access to our Summits on 2, September 2017 in Melbourne or 9 September 2017 in Sydney. You have to act fast to join us though – email info@bonkersbeat.com now or call 13000-B-BEAT (2-2328).

23/03/201724/03/2017

Celebrate Easter with Creativity, Music & Nature

Easter is fast approaching and for many centres that means lots of children getting excited about the Easter bunny visiting! If you celebrate Easter in early childhood, this blog has plenty of ideas for you.

As Easter’s dates are not fixed, it can be a trickier one to keep track of. Here are the dates at a glance for you to remember for Easter 2017:

Easter Dates 2017

Good Friday (public holiday): April 14
Easter Sunday: April 16
Easter Monday (public holiday): April 17

Does your centre celebrate Easter? If so, we have some fun ways to get children involved in Easter while enhancing their wellbeing at the same time.

Celebrate Easter with Creativity

Creativity is essential for children to express themselves – and Easter is a great opportunity to try some new creative ecperiences.

Decorate eggs

Decorate real eggs (Traditional)

Create Easter hats

Easter colouring printables

Make Easter baskets

Celebrate Easter in Nature

A classic Easter egg hunt is always a favourite for children, so why not take it outside and get children exploring the garden while their hunting for their special treat?!

If you would prefer to avoid giving children chocolate eggs, no problem. Try an Easter treasure hunt by hiding a selection of Easter-related objects around outside, then create a checklist for children to tick off when they find the items. You could even have children create or decorate items for this experience.

Celebrate Easter with Music

No celebration is complete for Bonkers Beat until we’ve incorporated some musical fun!

Click here to access our special Easter song ‘Easter Bunny’! You can watch the video to learn the actions and download and print the words if needed.

04/06/201516/06/2015

WHY CHILDREN SHOULD PLAY OUTSIDE

We read some astounding research recently that found that many children today have not splashed in puddles, stomped in mud or been on a picnic. In fact, this research even said that only 44% of children went on bike rides with family. How often do you see children flying kites these days?

Today’s children are opting to stay indoors with their favourite company often screens, from iPads to televisions, computers, games and phones. And while there is evidence out there to show some benefits to allowing some tech time for children, the incredible benefits of the outdoors are indisputable. Here’s a few reasons why we think it’s so important that we encourage children to play outside.

HEALTH
There’s no disputing that the fresh air is good for our health and that goes for kids too. Even if it’s a bit chilly, rug up and get outside and you’ll have a better chance of avoiding a cold as colds are most often passed around from being cooped up indoors too much over the winter rather than from the cold weather itself.

FITNESS
Dancing around the loungeroom is one thing, but running free through a park and climbing and exploring are quite another when it comes to developing a good level of physical fitness. Bike riding is another great way of having a great time perfecting a skill while bonding with family members along the way. With childhood obesity such a huge problem today, outside play is a great first step to overcoming it.

RESPECTING NATURE
What better way to learn about the natural world and develop an appreciation and respect for nature than getting up close and personal with it. Collecting leaves, rocks, flowers, sticks and experiencing the incredible variation of textures, scents and colours in the great outdoors is invaluable.

Many parents say that sometimes children simply aren’t interested in going outside to play, so perhaps try some of these tips to encourage kids to head outside:

Add focus – children love a mission, so try spotting plants and animals on your walk or do a treasure hunt to add some purpose to your walk.

Don’t rush – take the time to dawdle, jump in puddles and notice the signs of the seasons together and you’re guaranteed to build some memories that will last a lifetime.

Enjoy simple pleasures – many of the greatest pleasures are very simple, such as skimming stones, making daisy chains or blowing a grass whistle.

Be nature detectives – a nature scavenger hunt is a great way to explore your back garden, neighbourhood or any green space. A bug hunt can work well too.

Get crafty – children are natural collectors, so encourage them to collect everything from pine cones to leaves for a home craft project.

17/06/201409/11/2017

Sustainability Practices & Beyond…

Earlier this month World Environment Day took place, with its major goal to increase awareness of environmental issues and encourage sustainability across the globe. World Environment Day lands on June 5 every year and is a United Nations initiative that has been embraced by many people in various countries and sees them get inspired to take positive environmental action.

With the environment in mind, we want to highlight how sustainability practices not only help the world become a better place for all, but can assist you in improving your NQS Rating.

ACECQA’s most recent newsletter takes a look at a wonderful, lush service in Toowoomba, Queensland and the incredible work they have done including the introduction of a worm farm at their centre. Of course, many other services have less space and their surrounding area may not be as nature-rich, but there are always ways to improve the space you are working with. To have a read of ACECQA’s newsletter about sustainability, click here.

Standard 3.3 of the National Quality Standard states:

‘The service takes an active role in caring for its environment and contributes to a sustainable future.’

According to ACECQA, Quality Area 3 – Physical Environment and Standard 3.3 as mentioned above, are areas that often prove to be challenging for centres, with a Working Towards NQS Rating the most likely result across over 5,500 assessed centres.

Bonkers Beat is very proud to have achieved an Exceeding NQS Rating for this area, which was the highest rating achievable at the time. This is why we want to share our sustainability practices with you!

Bonkers Beat Aspendale was recently filmed for a training video about incorporating sustainability into services, and you can watch the video to enjoy a brief tour of the space that we have created: ‘Environmental Sustainability Program at Bonkers Beat Music Kinder Aspendsale’

We believe that we can all contribute to a sustainable future, and you may even find some of our ideas could work at your home!

Unfortunately, we can only share a short, edited version of the video as they are specifically being used for training, but we always welcome visitors to our centre, so if you’d like to come along and see more of Bonkers Beat for yourself, get in touch to arrange a visit!

Many thanks to Child Care Centres Association of Victoria for running a very valuable General Members Meeting last night in Melbourne and inviting Mary Jeavons from ‘Jeavons Landscape Architects’. Mary presented a fantastic session on the planning and design of outdoor spaces in children’s services. To support our previous discussion, she highlighted the importance of outdoor play and influence of the natural environment on children’s overall development.

Not only are our sustainability practices working towards a better world, we are able to offer a hands-on teaching experience for children to learn how to care for the environment – and this is surely the ultimate way of looking out for the future!