AFSA Approved Provider: Nature Play Learning
At Nature Play Learning, our vision is to reconnect kids and their parents to nature. Our children deserve all the benefits that come from playing in nature: the resilience, the tranquillity, the challenge, the fun and the beauty. Nature play fosters good development in our children, mentally, socially and physically and is the ultimate sensory experience for them. Through playing in nature and having the freedom to explore their world, we help our children learn to care for their environment and one another. We have a number of regular programs that support families to immerse themselves in nature including, playgroups, bush kinder and bush school sessions, catering for children from ages 0-10.
Our bush playgroups are our most popular program and are mostly set in Darebin in the north of Melbourne. Participants come for 2 hours each week and take part in a range of sensory experiences. They read, sing songs, do nature craft, climb, run, play in the mud and hunt for bugs to name just a few of our activities. Each session usually includes a little bush walk, songs and casual time on the mat. Children and their guardians are free to follow their interests and play with whatever they like, whenever they like.
We encourage children to learn through play at our drop-off bush kinder sessions (2.5 hours) for 3-5 year olds. Sessions include exploration, sensory experiences, physical challenges, nature craft, bushwalking and lots of time for unstructured play. We also include simple bushcraft activities such as cubby building, flora and fauna identification and lots of songs and stories. Each session has a learning focus, guided by the interests of the participants.
Our bush school program at St Pius X in Heidelberg West is a unique opportunity for older children to experience nature immersion while at school. It was initiated with children’s wellbeing, voice and agency in mind. It is based on the Forest School model and children spend 2 hours a week in a natural setting on the Darebin Creek that is a short walk away from school. Run by a registered teacher with Forest School training, children have the opportunity to play freely and follow their interests in their learning, whilst developing resilience, wellbeing and connection to nature.
Connection to country is an important element of all our sessions at Nature Play Learning. We begin each of our sessions with an acknowledgment of the Wurundjeri people as the traditional owners and custodians of the land on which we play each week. We recognise that the Wurundjeri people took care of this land and we aim to do the same in our sessions. We have a “Leave no trace” approach to our sessions and we always aim to leave our sites in the same or better condition than we found it. While we know we still have much to learn about the customs and culture of the Wurundjeri people, we will continue to support, protect and promote indigenous rights and freedoms and we are open and seek input from local elders from the Kulin Nation. We celebrate special days that were or are important to the Wurundjeri by including activities that promote understanding in our participants.
Free play is the cornerstone of all our sessions and although we love to find teaching moments , we want the play to be driven by the children. All our sessions are at least 2 hours in length which allows children to enter states of deep play and imagination. We also encourage risky play and support children to manage their own risk through modelling and questioning safety throughout each session. For example a child who is climbing a log or tree will be supported with questions like “How are you going to get down from their?” “Have you got three points of contact with the tree at all times?”, “What do you notice about the log after all the rain we have had?” rather than just telling a child to be careful or to stay away from the risky activity.
At Nature Play Learning we embrace everyone. We celebrate diversity among our staff and participants and aim to be inclusive and accessible as
possible. We offer opportunities to volunteer for participants who can’t afford to pay and we support our staff members by supporting them to bring their children with them to work when appropriate. Our bush school, St Pius X, is in a low socioeconomic area, so we work with council and the school to make it an affordable program which they wouldn’t otherwise have access too. We are also very mindful of our prices during these times of skyrocketing living costs and have tried to keep them down as much as possible.
Our employees are often mentoring one another. In addition to working alongside one another in some of our sessions, we have regular training sessions in which we share our knowledge with one another. We have a WhatsApp group to share good practice on a daily basis and we seek input from outsiders to upskill ourselves in areas of interest or need.
Finally, sustainability is one of our core values at Nature Play Learning. We are all passionate about preserving the environment and building a love of nature in our participants. In addition to our rules about “Leaving no trace” and not picking or damaging anything that is living, we have a 3 year sustainability plan for each of our sites. We have also been working with council and local “Friends” groups to develop “bush play” sites and a handbook for sustainable bush kinder practices.
