We often jump into “sustainability” activities such as recycling, turning off lights, scrap bowls etc. and expect both our educators, children and even families to follow suit!
However what i have discovered (with most things) if people do not understand why they are doing what they are doing… OR they do not have a healthy, authentic appreciation .. so it is just an “activity” and not part of their pedagogy.. their attitude and values… then more often than not these practices become inconsistent.
So I strongly believe to truly be sustainable we need to appreciate our environment… we need to love nature!
Here are some simple ways to get children and educators excited about.. and loving nature!
Take children on a nature walk.. you may be lucky enough to do this in you own / near your centre environment… if not then you may collect items from your own nature walk, take children on a walking excursion… and collect.. collect…collect…. Collect items off the ground such as leaves, seed pods, flowers, grasses and stick these to masking tape (sticky size out) around the child’s wrist. A great talking point!
Collect items from your garden, the centre’s garden, from your nature walk and using a colour wheel (or paint swatches from Bunnings) explore and discuss the many colours of nature!
Similar to the nature band above.. these are nature sticks where children can collect items and wrap them or glue them to their stick. Such an easy way to start exploring the textures, colours, smells of nature
Binoculars for bird watching made from recycled items. I love this idea as we are sending the message to children – “whatever living creature we find in nature.. stays in nature… we use binoculars or magnifying classes to look and cameras (not jars) to capture!”
Amazing how this poster really does emphasis nature! A great one for the staff room, near your programming area and even for families!
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