Category: Children

  • Playing Outside this Winter

    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…

  • Raft of Fun: Exploring, Building, and Sailing at KIN Homeschool

    Raft of Fun: Exploring, Building, and Sailing at KIN Homeschool

    This term at KIN Homeschool, we’ve been on an epic voyage – not on a ship, but on rafts! What started as a seemingly simple concept turned into a fantastic exploration of STEM and teamwork. Each week this term we worked to deepen our understanding of rafts with the goal of going on a voyage…

  • Moerlina’s Bush School

    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

    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…

  • Botanical Literacy

    Recently Daniel and Fay had the privilege of attending and presenting at the Early Childhood Education State Conference in Perth. Surrounded by like-minded presenters and attendees, they had the opportunity to sit in on some presentations about the importance of play and connection to nature. One of these presentations was facilitated by Kimberly Beasley, an…

  • Being Barefoot – reconnecting with the earth and developing strong minds

    As Nature Connection Mentors a lot of our time is spent barefoot. In fact, any chance we get to kick off our shoes, whether it be at our school holiday program (a whole day outside), our afterschool sessions or our school-based incursions, we try to find time to be truly connected to the earth under…

  • 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 Play Barriers: The Caregiver

    Outdoor Play Barriers: The Caregiver

    by Nadia Robinson It’s no secret that at Educated by Nature we are advocates for risky, outdoor play (nature play). It supports development of the whole child (mentally, physically, socially and emotionally) and provides them with opportunities to develop necessary life skills (check out Nature Play WA for more information).  This blog will address in more detail…

  • Using Games to Teach Empathy

    Across KIN Village, Bush Inventors Club and our Nature Connection series we use Wilderness Awareness Games with our participants. Whilst they are excellent icebreakers before a program and a great opportunity to let off some high energy, the most significant lesson that these games teach is empathy. Wilderness Awareness Games help children get in the…