On Thursday 21st of November, the ELC children and educators along with the Reception class, had the opportunity to spend the morning at the Nature Playground where Glenn the Junkman had set up his myriad of recycled loose parts, musical junk instruments, mud, rocks, stick and branches.
The Nature Playground proved to be the perfect setting, providing a nature rich learning environment for their open-ended play.
The morning gave the children the opportunity to develop their:
- Gross and fine motor skills – lifting objects, tying off rope, positioning items accurately, hammering.
- Social and cognitive skills – sharing and creating with each other.
- Ability to make choices and assess risks.
- Ability to keep themselves and their peers safe.
- Disposition for learning – Trust, Cooperation, Confidence, Persistence, Resilience,
- Creativity and Reflexivity.
- Sense of satisfaction of achievement.
The children built cubby houses from large branches, old ropes, shade cloth and tarps, using tyres and crates as seats. They made music from drums, tins, metal piping and wooden sticks. They crushed their own rock on top of old railway sleepers, using the railway pegs to hammer at the rock. They got dirty and wet making mud pies, and creating their own waterfall pathways at the water station. They even tumbled down the hill inside the drums. You could not wipe the smiles off their faces!
We would like to thank Glenn Wagland the Junkman for coming and sharing his enthusiasm and zest for sustainable learning with the children.
The incursion provided valuable opportunities for the children and we will definitely look to get him back in the future. We strongly encourage all to take advantage and participate, you won’t regret it.