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…
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;…
We are currently in the Nyoongar season of Birak which brings hot and dry weather. This warm weather really starts to take hold in the environment and with our bodies. The hot temperature will likely make many of us feel uncomfortable and we may find that we start to speak more negatively about the outdoors….
At Educated by Nature, we see children. We care about what they are trying to achieve. Our mentors help them discover new skills, resources and extensions to their ideas. Building confidence in children is at the very core of what we aim to achieve. We believe this is why children (and their parents) love our programs….
When Trudi and I started Educated by Nature, one of our main goals was to create environments and experiences where children could find opportunities for building resilience. We found, through our experiences as teachers, we had seen the rapid decline in resilience, self-efficacy and awareness in children of all ages in our communities. Today, more than…
Building a cubby seems like a simple activity, regularly labelled as ‘just play’. We believe in the power of a cubby and are not fooled by this guise. Children are learning more than we could ever teach them in a classroom setting while they are ‘just playing’. Knot tying is a regular activity at all…
Feeling at Home in Nature What does nature connection mean to you? For me it means feeling ‘at home’ outdoors. Feeling comfortable, feeling safe, that I belong. Comfortable to sit on the dirt, in the leaf litter, on the rock. Safe enough to lie back, close my eyes and relax. But also with a keen…
We’ve had clay at our Mud Pies Nature Playgroup in Perth for a while now. It’s been a fantastic sensory experience. It’s slippery, sloshy and squelchy sometimes and other times it is solid and firm requiring strong finger muscles to manipulate it. Perth is such a sandy place that our young children rarely get to…
‘Transferable skills’ is a term usually reserved for recruitment agencies or people seeking employment. As a parent who is part of the Mud Pies Nature Playgroup community, I see that this term is just as applicable for young children. The other night at the dinner table, Miss Almost-Five announced it was time that she begin…
Homemade Glue With Term 1 of the school year underway, no doubt most families have gathered items to fulfil booklist requirements. The school supply shelves are fully stocked but what about at home? Homemade glue is easy to make and safe for children – especially if they’re at an age when exploration of new materials…
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