When are we going again? Investigating the potential of nature play with children
A School of Education seminar presented on November 15th, 2017 by Dr Sue Elliott, Dr Subhashni Taylor and Dr Nadya Rizk
Nature play has emerged as a global movement in the last decade and in Australia, this has inspired state government nature play initiatives, bush kinder and forest school programs. As yet, Australian nature play research is somewhat limited and the possibilities for nature play in varied settings is to be fully explored. In this study we investigated the potential of a new nature playspace for environmental education programs at Thalgarrah Environmental Education Centre (TEEC), Armidale, NSW. In particular, we focussed on young children’s responses to the nature playspace and their perceptions of the play affordances. Supported by educators/teachers from the field, we share our research approach and reflect on impacts to date.