Background information

Content information for educators (also suitable for parents): This activity is designed to get children out and about, exploring their local environment, a local park, nearby nature or a wild space. Younger children will experience the outdoors through all their senses. Older children will explore their local environment to gain a deeper understanding of their place and their connections to it. Children will develop fine and gross motor skills; social and emotional skills; risk assessment and critical thinking skills; and language and communication skills; readily when active in nature. They can also learn respect and care for all living things and nature play can assist children to understand the world around them.

VIDEO: Nature Play WA Inc is an incorporated not-for-profit association established to increase the time Western Australian children spend in unstructured play outdoors and in nature. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vAulkMldMM)

For more information read the Cool Australia factsheet 'Benefits of connecting to nature'

Definitions:

Community – a social group whose members identify with a specific locality and often share common interests or common cultural and historical heritage
Neighbourhood - the immediate environment; surroundings; vicinity
Neighbour – a person who lives near another
Local – characterised by a position or place in space

New words for children to learn:

Community
Neighbourhood
Neighbour
Local

Nature Connections - Creative Nature

Preparation: Consider your service’s policies and procedures for excursions, can you take the children on regular excursions to a local park or nearby nature, or even a walk around the local area? If so, great; get out there as often as you can! If not, it may be something to discuss with your leadership team, Board of Committee of Management; and parents.

Take the children to a local park or nearby nature reserve and explore the infinite resources nature provides. These may be sticks, pebbles, leaves, seed pods, rocks, bark, flowers, etc. Be mindful that children probably will put things in their mouth. Only use things that are found on the ground (don’t remove objects from plants).

Let children explore the materials with all of their senses, touch them, smell them, listen to them, and maybe even taste them.

Activities for children aged 0 to 2

Young children can be guided to complete the following activities:

sort the materials in different ways - by shape, colour, size, sound, smell, texture, etc.
draw in the dirt, sand, on the path using water or mud.
make patterns using different materials or natural loose parts.

Provocations:

I wonder what we can find to play with today
I wonder what that feels like (rough, smooth, soft, spikey, hard, etc.)
I wonder if that smells
I wonder if that makes a sound
I wonder if we can sort these (size, colour, shape, etc.)
I wonder where these came from
I wonder who we might meet on our adventure
I wonder what we should do when we get to the corner

Possible lines of development:

Plant patterns, shapes and names
Colours in nature
Sounds in nature
Create some sensory bottles using natural materials

Activities for children aged 3 to 5

Use the natural materials the children have collected to create something. They could create:

a natural collage
a pattern
a self-portrait
a tiny fairy or elf house or village
a home for an animal or bird
a drawing in the sand, mud or dirt

They can create something big or small, out in the open for others to see or hidden for others to find only if they look very closely. The children can see if they are there when you return next time.

Children could also create a temporary outdoor public art exhibition. Invite children to create a range of temporary artworks at your local park, reserve or in nearby nature. Use only what you find there, and remember that these artworks will be temporary!

Here are a few ideas to get their creative thinking started:

Sculptures made from stones or sticks
Self-portraits made from natural materials
Patterns or mandalas
Land Art - https://landartforkids.com/
Murals
Mosaics
Musical Instruments made from natural materials / found objects / loose parts
A representation of local flora and fauna

You may want to just leave the “installations” for others to find, or you may want to promote your exhibition in your local community. You may want to discuss this option with your local council (or whoever manages the park / reserve) and carefully consider where you create your exhibition. You don’t want lots of people coming to see it and trampling all over the plants! Consider forming partnerships with local nature or art groups / societies - they might be keen to get involved.

The children can provide a description or interpretation of their artwork (take photos of them creating their artwork and the finished product). You can use these to create a book for your exhibition (this could be a good fundraiser).

By demonstrating that the area is used and cared for, especially by children, there is often increased usage and passive surveillance by the broader community. This increases the perception of safety and sense of community around a place. While you are out and about, it is also a great opportunity to discuss things like road safety and personal safety with children. For further tips and activities, check out:

Kidsafe road safety program https://www.kidsafevic.com.au/
The Daniel Morcombe Foundation https://danielmorcombe.com.au/

Provocations:

I wonder what we can find to play with today?
I wonder what creative ways we can think of to use these materials?
I wonder if the fairies / elves / animals will find what we have made for them?
I wonder what the fairies / elves / animals might need in their home?
I wonder who might come and see our creations?
I wonder who they will think has made it?
I wonder how long our creations will last?

Possible lines of development:

Take photos of your creations and create a book including children’s interpretations of their creation
Notice if the ‘materials’ available change throughout the year
Use the photos of your creations to illustrate a story
Investigate what wildlife lives in the park / reserve (what evidence can you find – nests, tracks, scat (poo); feathers, etc.)
Investigate the needs of local animals in terms of habitat and shelter (for their houses)
What do people need in order to live a happy / healthy life?
Investigate any historical or cultural significance of the area
Road and personal safety

Additional Cool Australia resources that complement these activities:

Evaluation

Complete an analysis of learning listing evidence about:

Belonging	Finding something of interest
Communication	Expressing an idea or feeling
Exploration	Engaging with challenge and persisting when difficulty arises
Wellbeing	Being involved

Embedding into daily practice

Discuss how you can include regular excursions to nearby nature, parks, reserves, etc. in your policies, procedures and program; if you don’t currently.
Explore many ways to get the children involved and familiar with their local community in order to foster a sense of belonging. Involve the local community in your program, and get out and get involved in your local community. It’s a great way to promote the amazing work you do with children, and the important contributions children can make to their community.
Encourage families to walk or ride to the service, try a ‘walk to care’ day or week
Provide information on local events; services, or community groups
Develop partnerships with your local community groups, businesses and services
Provide families with tips or suggestions on activities, events or places to go to enjoy the outdoors with their children, particularly those in your local area; via your newsletter, noticeboards or blogs.

Nature Connections - Creative Nature

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