Category: Schools

Redefining Play and Connection for Adolescents: Guildford Grammar Year 7 Adventure Playground

In partnership with Guildford Grammar School, Educated by Nature has embarked on an innovative project to bring play back into the lives of Year 7 students through an Adventure Playground. Nestled in the natural area next to the volleyball courts, this space is far from a conventional school plyaground. It’s an evolving, dynamic environment where…
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…
Children & Nature Network 2023 Conference Reflection

As the Children and Nature conference for 2023 comes to a close, it’s time to reflect on the lessons learned and how they can be integrated into our Educated by Nature programs, and the organisation as a whole. So what were the standout thoughts from the conference? For me, the following themes emerged. The inclusion…
Greening Schoolyards Colorado

As a precursor to the Children and Nature Network – Inside Out 2023 Conference in Colorado, Fay and Daniel boarded a bus to check out some schools that had been transformed under the Greening schoolyards program across Denver. Fresh from their time at the International Play Conference in Glasgow (and visits to some wonderful play…
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…
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…
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…
When We Find Comfort in Nature – A Class Story

Blog by Tamara Johnston and Trudi Bennett The Children in Nature Network (started by Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods) is celebrating 15 years of the children in nature movement. Richard Louv introduced the world to the term Nature-Deficit Disorder. “Nature-deficit disorder describes the human cost of alienation from nature, among them;…
Consultation: Encouraging Nature Connection

Imagine a table full of creative tools – carpentry files, sandpaper, whittling tools, string, wool, gumnuts, feathers, paint, flowers, cloth, stones and scissors. Now, imagine an educator who says, “I saw many of you over the last couple of weeks talking about wands and turning sticks into magic wands. Well, today I have brought some…