Play Provocations #7: Nature Play

Step outside the four walls of an early years classroom and into a world of invitations to wonder. In this episode of Play Provocations, Linda Harrison sits down with Centre Director and nature play advocate Aimee Hansen to explore how the natural world acts as a living, breathing co-teacher. They discuss how nature play builds essential executive function and school readiness in children under five. By engaging with sticks, stones, and soil, young learners are developing a deep-seated appreciation for sustainability and their role as active citizens in a changing world.

Get ready to transform your practice with three hands-on nature provocations designed to spark curiosity and connection. Learn how to set up a Bush Kitchen that integrates Indigenous ingredients, or how to turn a simple veggie patch into a Sensory Salad Garden play provocation. Even if you’re stuck indoors, Aimee shares how a Nature Weaving station can bring the textures and scents of the unbuilt world to the classroom. Tune in to discover how these intentional arrangements of natural materials encourage children to investigate and lead their own learning journey through nature play.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Welcome to Learn Play Thrive the podcast, the ultimate early learning podcast for educators and leaders in the sector. Let's learn, play, and thrive together.

SPEAKER_00 0:11

The Learn Play Thrive podcast was recorded on the land with the Dark and Jung people. We pay our respects to the traditional custodians, past, present, and emerging. Hands up, hands down, we're on Dark and Jung land.

SPEAKER_04 0:24

Hello listeners and welcome back to Play Provocations. I'm Linda Harrison and I am particularly excited about today's show. We are stepping outside the four walls of an early years classroom to explore nature play. And joining me for the second time to navigate this landscape is someone who has spent years championing nature play in early education. Centre Director Amy Hansen. Welcome, Amy.

SPEAKER_02 0:48

Thank you so much for having me back, Linda. I've definitely been looking forward to this as well, as nature isn't just a place we visit or include in our early learning spaces. It's actually a living, breathing co-teacher that offers the most incredible curriculum if we know how to listen to it.

SPEAKER_04 1:04

Such a beautiful way to put it, Amy. And before we do jump in, let's just revisit what we mean when we talk about a play provocation. So at its core, a play provocation is a visual and tactile invitation to wonder. It's a deliberate arrangement of objects designed to catch a child's interest and entice them to explore.

SPEAKER_02 1:25

Beautiful definition. So an invitation to wonder. It really emphasises that we are providing the stage for the children's own curiosity to take the lead. The power of a provocation lies in its ability to connect with the interests of the children while guiding them toward deeper learning. So it encourages our young learners to investigate and construct meaning through play. So today we're going to be looking at how to apply this to nature play in early education settings.

SPEAKER_04 1:53

So let's start with defining nature play in the context of early childhood education. And when we talk about nature play, we're really looking at that spontaneous discovery that happens in child-led unstructured play experiences in nature. It's all about young children having that hands-on connection with the earth and engaging with natural materials like mud and sticks and leaves, and experiences like gardening and bushkindy and mud kitchens are a few common examples.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

So the research is actually quite clear on the importance of nature play in the early years. So the natural environments have proven positive effects on children's independent and collaborative play, their social behaviours and mental health. When we provide regular access to nature between the ages of birth and age to five years, when the brain is developing fastest, we can actually strengthen executive function and school readiness.

SPEAKER_04 2:49

And nature play also aligns with the principle six of the EYLF version 2.0, which is that focus on sustainability. So it is about helping children develop a deep-seated appreciation of the natural world and a real understanding of how we can protect it. So that principle six reminds us that humanity and the planet do face some big challenges, and even our youngest learners have an active role to play in promoting sustainable communities. So when we talk about sustainability in early childhood, it's much broader than you might think. So it does span environmental, social, and economic dimensions that are all intertwined. And environmental sustainability is a huge part of it, of course. Caring for country and protecting our natural resources and spaces. And I think here in Australia we have an incredible opportunity to learn alongside children about the rich histories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who have looked after country for over 60,000 years. So it is about understanding that deep interdependence between people, animals, plants, and the land. And I think ultimately we're shifting the focus from just learning in nature to acting for the future. Whether we're sharing limited resources in a mud kitchen or discussing how to care for a local creek, we're helping children engage with concepts of social justice, fairness, and democracy.

SPEAKER_02 4:21

I couldn't agree more. It's about meeting the needs of the present without compromising the world for the generations to come. And seeing children as capable of leading that charge right now. And that all starts with spending time playing in nature. So before we move on to today's nature play-inspired provocations, I just wanted to outline some of the common features of this type of play described by the Australian Institute of Family Studies. They include natural elements like logs, rocks, and water, or sites just as parks, forests, and green areas. Nature play also includes the mode of play, which is unstructured. Child-led play like digging holes, climbing trees, or hiding in bushes. Another element is the types of experiences that engagement with nature provides. For example, being mindful, feeling present, and fully immersed in their surroundings.

SPEAKER_04 5:17

And so let's get into some practical ideas. And our first play provocation is the bush kitchen. And we can set up a provocation in a patch of dirt or some sand or even around the base of a log. And it's such a grounding way to play. So how could educators prepare that space, Amy?

SPEAKER_02 5:37

Well, this setup is beautifully simple. It's where we can just place a few old metal pots, pans, and wooden spoons near a source of water or a patch of loose soil. And we can then provide a range of cooking utensils and bowls alongside natural items like pine cones and banksia pods. And this play provocation can also invite children to explore indigenous ingredients and plants. We might include dry lemon myrtle leaves for their scent and paperback strips that can be used as plates or wrappers. And we can even talk with the children about how lilypilly berries or pig face leaves were traditionally used, which adds a whole new layer of cultural learning and discovery to their play. And you could often have all these plants growing in your garden that the children are just picking as they play with you.

SPEAKER_04 6:24

Yeah, I've I've visited quite a few services that have those bush tucker gardens, and that access to those uh indigenous plants can really enrich the engagement.

SPEAKER_02 6:36

Absolutely. So you'll see incredible social skills as children negotiate who is the chef, but they also start using more descriptive, culturally aware language. So they develop fine motor skills as they grind seeds between stones or they're pouring water to find the right consistency for their mixtures. And it's so much more than just mud pies. It is actually a sensory exploration of country in nature.

SPEAKER_04 7:01

And Amy, so many services also have those small raised garden beds or a few pots for vegetables. So how could we turn a tiny veggie patch into an active nature play propagation?

SPEAKER_02 7:15

I love transforming a vegetable garden into a sensory salad garden, play propagation. So we set up resources next to our gardens with child-sized gardening forks, small watering cans, safety scissors and baskets, and we invite the children to use all their senses as they harvest the vegetables and herbs for a salad. So we do this by displaying some visual cues, using images of hands and nose, eyes, mouth and ears to encourage them to use all their senses. And they can use the scissors to snip some of the chives or parsley and rub the leaves between their fingers to release the scent. We also include magnifying glasses so they can get down low and look for the garden helpers, like ladybugs, worms in the soil, and we arrange different size clipboards to encourage children to draw the different shapes of the leaves and insects that they find. And it's actually a beautiful way to foster environmental awareness and agency as they decide which plants need a little more water or which ones are ready to be harvested for our afternoon snack. And this kind of nature play is open-ended and helps children learn that they have an active role in nurturing and sustaining the world around them.

SPEAKER_04 8:25

And I guess sometimes though we can't get outside or we want to bring nature indoors. So how can we offer a nature play provocation inside?

SPEAKER_02 8:34

Well, we can offer a nature weaving play provocation. So to bring this idea to life indoors, I like to set up small wooden frames with twine wrapped vertically around it to create a handmade loom, which we place on a low table. And on that same table, we provide small baskets filled with long grasses, twigs, large dried leaves and different types of textured seed pods. And it's such a beautiful, sensory, mindful task because as the children weave these natural elements through the twine, they naturally begin to describe the crunchy texture of the leaves versus the smooth feel of the grass, which really builds their descriptive language and it becomes this incredibly calming reflective activity that fills the classroom with the scents and textures of the unbuilt world, allowing them to connect with nature even when they're actually inside.

SPEAKER_04 9:23

Such a beautiful idea, and it's clear that nature plays more than just being outside. It is a holistic approach to supporting a young child's growth.

SPEAKER_02 9:34

It really is. So by integrating nature into our daily rhythms and routines, we aren't just supporting development, we are fostering a generation that values and protects our earth.

SPEAKER_04 9:46

Thank you for sharing your insights and your wonderful ideas, Amy. We hope that these sparks of inspiration will help you to bring a bit more of the natural world into your settings tomorrow. So thank you for joining us on Play Provocations. Please visit www.learnplaythrive.com.au for more. And until next time, keep playing, learning, and thriving.

SPEAKER_03 10:13

Thank you for joining us on this episode of Learn Playthrive the podcast. We hope you found inspiration and valuable insights to fuel your journey in early childhood education. Remember the key to fostering learning, promoting play, and empowering young minds lies with your dedication and creativity. Stay connected between episodes by following us on Instagram at learnplaythrive underscore and join the conversation on Facebook at LearnPlaythrive Australia. If you've enjoyed today's episode, please like, subscribe, rate or review our podcast on your favourite platform. Your feedback helps us to continue to deliver content that resonates with you. And don't forget to visit us at our website at learnplaythrive.com.au for additional resources, blog posts, and professional development opportunities. Until next time, keep learning, keep playing, and keep thriving. We'll see you in the next episode of Learn Playthrive the podcast.