Olivia Williams

Research and experience has shown us nature play is essential to a child’s physical health. The naturally uneven and textural materials found in nature can’t be replicated (although we may try). Outside, children tune into their senses; nature provides opportunities to explore, to notice, to wonder. Climbing Tree Creations have been creating nature play spaces for kids for over a decade now, we find out more about their philosophies.

How transformational would it be to learn under the shade of a tree? As our children move back into the world after the past few years learning from home, a connection to nature, play and learning has become a central theme in educational design for schools. Nature-play and the concept of biophilia, both aim to create opportunities to connect with nature more often in our daily lives through the spaces we spend our time in.

If you’re anything like the majority of Australian adults you were probably taught that money wasn’t something that ‘polite’ people talked about. But we do need to talk about it and, more importantly, we need to teach our kids about it while they’re at school, before bad habits have the chance to take root. But what, exactly, should you be teaching them?

Covid has accelerated the pace of change and altered the way our children engage with the online world in ways we may not have expected. Children in South Australian schools are saying that they are connected online more than ever before.

Mud a source of childhood joy but research has demonstrated that exposure to friendly bacteria in soil can assist the brain to release serotonin, the endorphin used to regulate mood. The more serotonin we have – the happier we are. Mud literally makes us happy. Jason from Nature Play SA takes us through the many benefits of mud play for our children, and some ideas for getting messy with mud!