Author: Trudi Bennett

Playing Outside this Winter

As winter begins we hear many concerns from parents about their children spending time outdoors in colder and wetter weather. It’s natural to worry about your children’s health, but rest assured, outdoor learning during winter is not only safe but also beneficial for overall well-being. Contrary to common myths, medical experts confirm that getting a…
Perspectives of Play: National Play, Playing and Playwork Conference 2024

Our society and culture are changing all the time. We are continually learning from each other, learning to listen, learning more about different perspectives and hopefully working on our collective empathy. A different language comes with this collective cultural growth. We apply these perspectives and language to the original context which was, but then also…
Establishing the learning culture at Alam Atelier

In January 2024, Trudi was invited to Jakarta, Indonesia, to train a new group of educators for a brand-new early learning school, Alam Atelier, part of the iSmile network. Being involved at such an early part of the school, before the building was finished, before children were enrolled or the school year started, meant that…
Moerlina’s Bush School

We are living in the age of Nature Deficit Disorder. This term, coined by Richard Louv in Last Child in the Woods (2007), brings focus to the increased disconnection between children and nature. It warns us of the impacts this can have our children and society. Over the last few years, at our family and…
We are Energy-Wielders and Sculptors

Imagine a wizard holding a wand or a staff that wields magical spells. This is how we imagine what we do at our programs, particularly during our KIN Village school holiday season. Instead of wielding magic though, our Nature Playworkers wield joy, laughter, action, restful conversation, wonder, and story. Instead of the magic wand blasting…
Consulting with Kwoorabup Nature School

When Kwoorabup Nature School in Denmark, on the south west coast of Western Australia, invited us to consult with them for just over a week, we were both excited and daunted. Each class in this amazing school already spends a whole day outside every week, known as Walkabout Day. They have a magnificent karri forest…
When Maths Appears in the Caring Task of Weeding

Under a small stand of Karri and Marri trees, positioned between the road and the school carpark, a group of year 3 and 4 students are snipping Watsonia stems and collecting the seeds (cormels) into a bucket. Watsonia is a weed here and covers this small patch of bush, smothering many of the smaller native…
Outdoor Learning and Permaculture Principles

I have been on tour in Denmark with Kwoorabup Nature School, on the south west coast of Western Australia. One of Kwoorabup’s Walkabout educators, Olly Watkins, is also a drummer with Formidable Vegetable Sound System. After facilitating a Professional Learning Workshop, I was delighted to be invited to join the Denmark community to dance to…
Environmental Grief Processing

Grief processing is something that we are passionate about. We have suspected for a while that it is an important part of our Bush Inventors’ after-school Club. This year not only have children needed space to release emotions from a whole day of school but also from the stress they might be holding from COVID,…
Habitat of the Heart

Dr Jane Goodall and Richard Louv recently spoke together at the Children and Nature Network Conference. They conversed about a concept referred to as ‘Habitat of the Heart’, where the physical Habitat of Mother Earth depends upon human heart connections with nature. The two habitats, Habitat of the Heart and the physical Habitat of the…