WHAT IS RESPECTING THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT?
“Understand and respect the natural environment and the interdependence between people, plants, animals and the land” (Early Years Learning Framework, 2010)
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
It is important that we foster children to become environmentally aware and responsible individuals.
The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) identifies ‘Learning environments’ as one of the eight key practices required to promote children’s learning:
... creating physical and social learning environments that have a positive impact on children’s learning (p. 14).
The EYLF (p. 15) describes environments that support learning as:
… vibrant and flexible spaces that are responsive to the interests and abilitiesof each child. They cater for different capacities and learning styles and invitechildren and families to contribute ideas, interests and questions.
Respecting the natural environment
"the constantly evolving natural world creates an infinite number of variables for children to interact with" (Nicholson, 1977).
Ideas to incorporate nature play:
Create a natural play provocation
This provocation will help children develop sesory skills aswell as an inviting environment for pretend play. This will invite children to think about animals and their habitat.
Any items found in nature that are safe for children to handle and play with. (Rocks, leaves, sticks, acorns, feathers, pinecones, etc.)Live house plants.Fresh flowers.
Seasonal artwork and crafts.
Silks in seasonal colors.
Seasonal books.
Seasonal toys and dolls.
seasonal foods.
Candles and lamps.
Vases, baskets, bowls, bins, and trays.
Anything else that reflects nature, the season, holiday, festival, culture, or family values.
Click for the full description of the activitiy
Nature walk- transient art
During a nature walk you can find a spot and talk about making a piece of artwork with bits of nature surrounding. Question the child why you wouldnt pick up pieces off a tree or flower but use materials that haven fallen to the ground.
You could capture the artwork via photo and later create a writing piece involving maths. Looking at the amount of materials used this relates to 1:1 correspondence.
Click here to see more about creating art from Kids Matter
EYLF outcomes:
OUTCOME 1: CHILDREN HAVE A STRONG SENSE OF IDENTITY
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engage in and contribute to shared play experiences
OUTCOME 2: CHILDREN ARE CONNECTED WITH ANDCONTRIBUTE TO THEIR WORLD
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broaden their understanding of the world in which they live cooperate with others and negotiate roles and relationships in play episodes and group experiences
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explore the diversity of culture, heritage, background and tradition and that diversity presents opportunities for choices and new understandings
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use play to investigate, project and explore new ideas
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explore, infer, predict and hypothesise in order to develop an increased understanding of the interdependence between land, people, plants and animals show growing appreciation and care for natural and constructed environments
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explore relationships with other living and non-living things and observe, notice and respond to change
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develop an awareness of the impact of human activity on environments and the interdependence of living things
OUTCOME 4: CHILDREN ARE CONFIDENT AND INVOLVED LEARNERS
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engage in learning relationships
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use their senses to explore natural and built environments
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experience the benefi ts and pleasures of shared learning exploration
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explore ideas and theories using imagination, creativity and play
Help your child respect nature by:
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explore nature: nature walks, play in mud, search for insects, create homes for insects.
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Trips to nature centres, zoos.
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Use your graden to create a worm farm, vegie garden, herb box.
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Give your child a magnifying glass to extend the sensory experience
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Teach the importance of turning off lights, water waste.
For age specific ideas on what you can do with your child click here to read more.
Books to read:
'The last child in the woods'
'Impacts of excessive screen time'
written by Dr Karen Martin
image retrieved from :www.ecology.com
Image retrieved from:http://www.kidspot.com.au/creating-outdoor-art-with-nature/
Respecting Nature video. Perfect to show your child -->
Links to the Australian Curriculum (ACARA)
Health and Physical Education / Foundation Year / Personal, Social and Community Health / Contributing to healthy and active communities / ACPPS007
Content Description
Participate in play that promotes engagement with outdoor settings and the natural environment
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View additional details about Personal and social capability
Elaborations
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exploring a range of ways to play and be active in outdoor or natural settings (HBPA, RE, AP)
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View additional details about Literacy
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View additional details about Critical and creative thinking
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understanding how to be safe in the outdoors through play in natural environments (S, AP, FMS, HBPA)
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View additional details about Literacy
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View additional details about Critical and creative thinking
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View additional details about Personal and social capability
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Links to National Quality Standards Framework:
NQS Quality Area 3: Physical environments refer to both sustainability and the physical aspects of outdoor environments that facilitate children’s learning:
Standard 3.2: The environment is inclusive, promotes competence, independent exploration and learning through play.
Standard 3.3: The service takes an active role in caring for its environment and contributes to a sustainable future.
(Australian Government Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations. (2009). Belonging, Being & Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (pp. 47). Retrieved 04/10/2014, from https://education.gov.au/early-years-learning-framework. p 14)
Australian Children's Education & Care Quality - National Quality Standards Retrieved from: http://www.acecqa.gov.au/national-quality-framework/the-national-quality-standard
ACARA Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, Australian Curriculum
Retrieved from: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/