What is Nature Kinder?
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Nature/Forest/Bush Kindergartens are “popping” up all over the world, as a result of research into children’s sedentary lives, which is leading to children’s social, physical and mental health becoming affected.
A “Nature Kindergarten” provides young children with large amounts of time in natural outdoor settings where they can play, explore and experience natural systems and materials found there. Engaging outside in all types of weather, children and educators investigate natural phenomenon and learn about the place in which they live. Our Waverley Meadows Preschool “Nature Kindergarten” program allows the children to have outdoor session time working and playing within the natural bush and environment, in the parkland adjacent to our kindergarten. As a way of introducing children to the program, we start gradually with small nature walks/visits to our setting. This eventually leads to a time frame of 90 minutes, as a replacement to our regular outside time within our program. This occurs twice a week: Monday and Tuesday afternoons in Term 2 and 3 Wednesday and Friday mornings in Terms 1 and 4 |
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Benefits of Nature Kindergartens
Learning from play and hands on experiences, children benefit from being outside. Current research has shown that children learn best when they are engaged and active. Being able to experience tides, rain, wind, and the smell of a new spring coming in enables children to more clearly build understanding of the operation of natural systems, while allowing them to develop emotional and aesthetic engagement with places. Building an awareness of environmental sustainability in this and following generations of children is increasingly important to all.
Climbing a hill and running down the other side provides evidence of gravity, as well as experiencing energy and encouraging balance and agility.
Other benefits include:
Climbing a hill and running down the other side provides evidence of gravity, as well as experiencing energy and encouraging balance and agility.
Other benefits include:
- Healthy Child Development
Overall, there is a good deal of encouraging evidence linking green spaces to important developmental outcomes. To the extent that findings reflect a real effect of green space on children’s development, this effect would seem to be pervasive and generalisable to different populations and environments (Taylor & Kuo 2006, p 126.) ( see also Wells & Lekies 2006)
- Cognitive Development
Results indicate that children who experienced the natural environment for play, or experienced “greenness” in their play were tested as higher functioning cognitively.( Wells 200 p775)
- Fitness
Being outdoors was associated with greater vitality, a relation that was mediated by the presence of natural elements ( Ryan et al 2010 p159)
- Identity
Children who participated in an overall well rounded program, were more likely to harbour feelings of belonging and overall acceptance from peers, therefore enhancing best possible outcomes in learning.
At Waverley Meadows Preschool, we are constantly striving to develop our program to not only meet the developing needs of our children, but provide continued support and challenges to enhance your child’s learning outcomes. We are excited about what our Nature Kinder program has to offer, and believe our program will provide valuable experiences that will assist us in achieving these outcomes.
At Waverley Meadows Preschool, we are constantly striving to develop our program to not only meet the developing needs of our children, but provide continued support and challenges to enhance your child’s learning outcomes. We are excited about what our Nature Kinder program has to offer, and believe our program will provide valuable experiences that will assist us in achieving these outcomes.
