Nature Kids

02/11/2018

Next in our loose parts collection is sand!! Loose parts allows a creative and unrestricted type of play. Children can imagine, invent, build and create. Sand is a great sensory ingredient for loose parts play in your yard, school or local park. We always find water and sand creates an endless array of play options in a child's mind 🏖💦☀️🍃⠀

11/10/2018

A little afternoon fun. How many six legged insects can you and your children name?! 🐞🐜🦗🕷🐝🐛

28/09/2018

For those that enjoy a little Halloween fun. Read our latest post on ways to incorporate nature this year. We’d love to hear your Halloween plans whether it be at home, school or work! 🎃👻🕸🦇🧡 Link in our bio.

02/08/2018

Wouldn't it be incredible to see Australian cities like this for both our big and small people! 💚💚💚

A 'daily dose of nature' via green open spaces and roof gardens is needed to support people's wellbeing, a new study says.

02/08/2018

What do we you think about a nature prescription for a child who may suffer from a mental or physical health issues?

There are so many excellent points in this article but none hits harder than the reality of... "there are going to be risks, but the risks of not going outdoors and continuing the pattern of 90 percent indoors is going to kill us"

Have a read and tell us what you think..

Advantages for children include being physically active, spending time in nature and getting away from screens. And fun.

27/07/2018

This won’t come as a surprise to most but the ability for children to roam particularly in urban areas has decreased significantly over the past few decades. A recent Nature Kids survey suggested from as much as 5kms 20 years ago to a mere 50m today! Many boomers, Gen X & Y parents will be familiar with the instruction of ‘come home when the street lights come on’ or ‘don’t go past the main road’ etc. yet these days with alarming media reports and increased conversations around the risks, our children are loosing the ability to roam and the many lessons and benefits that come along with that freedom. How do you allow your ‘nature kids’ freedom to roam safely? ☀️🌳🌏

20/06/2018

A simple piece from Wilder Child on gifting our children time. It often feels like city life is forcing many of us to keep up but maybe its time to consider what a 'slow childhood' can offer the entire family..

"Unfortunately, it’s our children who suffer most when we’re afflicted with the disease of being busy. It manifests in their world as developmentally inappropriate practices, chronic stress and lack of joy."

I’m not the perfect parent. Looking back, there will be things I’ll wish I had done differently, moments I can never get back. But, there is one thing I’m fighting with every breath to provide: a slow childhood. It’s not easy. Busyness feels like the new baseline for modern families, and we ...

17/06/2018

Is tree climbing a lost art in your family?
We'd love to hear how many of your 'Nature Kids' climb trees and any other great benefits you've seen.

Read our latest piece here
http://naturekids.com.au/the-lost-art-of-climbing-trees.php

12/06/2018

"In a world that often expects children to put aside “childish ways” in favor of “preparing” for the future, we stand for the right of children to play, because we know that play is how children prepare for the future."

An easy read by Patagonia that looks at how we actually define play and the importance of allowing imaginative, unstructured and self led play.

Patagonia has offered corporate-sponsored on-site childcare since 1983. The Great Pacific Child Development Center, GPCDC for short, is where infants and children spend their days crawling, running, climbing and exploring, mostly outdoors, while their parents work. We wanted to tell the story of GPC...

10/06/2018

If you have or more so if you haven't read Richard Louv's 'Last Child in the Woods' here comes the movie... we can't wait!

Watch the teaser here..

08/06/2018

"Once seen as a distraction, the outdoors is now recognized as essential to well-developed brains."

This great article explores the many benefits for children learning in an outdoor environment. Wouldn't it be great if we had more opportunities for our city kids to have this available too...

The rising popularity of nature preschools confirms it: The outdoors are essential for well-developed thinkers.

02/06/2018

We believe that Self Directed Play is not just an important part of child development, it’s a necessary one!
SDP is a style of play where the child chooses the activity, makes their own rules (or chooses none) and creates with total freedom and creative license. This type of play helps children develop their imagination, creativity, risk taking skills, awareness, confidence, cognitive, social, emotional and physical skills without fear of doing it ‘wrong’, not ‘winning’ or not fitting in. There is really no limits to the informal learnings that self led play can offer.
Some ways we can encourage self directed play;
- create space in busy calendars for regular non scheduled time for children to just play
- allow boredom in downtime to ignite creativity
- encourage children to play independently (whilst being supervised)
- set out some loose parts play for the child to explore and create
- most importantly as the carer try not to intervene unless there is a hazard to your child
☀️🌳🍄🦋🌻