Bush Kinder has been an integral part of Helen Paul’s program. In addition to sessions on site, the four year old groups have a weekly excursion to nearby Bayside Parks, where they will spend 3 hours exploring a designated area – with natural play-scapes, wide open spaces and areas of potential interest - in self-directed, adult-supported learning.

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Why have we set up a Bush Kinder program?

We want to provide a curriculum that will support children throughout their entire life, one that reflects our passion in regard to the benefits of being outdoors and engaging with nature. Through an intimate knowledge of and connection with the environment, children learn to respect and look after it.  Among other benefits, active learning outdoors develops resilience, problem solving and social skills and supports physical and emotional wellbeing.

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What would the children learn?

Using natural materials – stones, grasses, bark and foliage - in imaginative play such as making cubbies and shelters, gathering pretend ‘food’, rolling down slopes, climbing trees, and watching bugs and birds in their natural habitats. There is potential for learning simple bush-crafts, and deeper understandings of indigenous culture, including:

• How to respect and look after the environment,

• Knowledge of indigenous communities who lived on the land, local heritage,

• "Increased confidence, motivation, concentration, increased social, physical and language skills... increased social and imaginative play... and positive dispositions towards risk and challenge." (Sue Elliot, Australian Catholic University 2012)

• Problem solving skills are enhanced "...no other aspect of a child's life offers this degree of consistent but varied chances for critical thinking and problem solving." (Kahn and Kellert 2002)

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What kind of activities will they be doing?