Pelican Childcare Mt Martha runs beach kinder one day a week
BEACHES are being transformed into classrooms where kinder kids can play in the sand and rock pools under a model growing in popularity in Melbourne’s southeast.
South East
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LIFE’S a beach for these kinder kids.
Every Monday Pelican Childcare Mt Martha’s four-year-old kinder program is conducted on the sand and among the rock pools at nearby beaches.
Last week the group of 19 kids and three educators spent the day at South Beach, Mt Martha.
“I like making sand castles and jumping,” said Jack, 5.
“We saw some dolphins once,” said Hudson, 4.
“We look in the rock pools for crabs,” said Charlie, 4.
Kinder teacher Megan Coles introduced the program last year, after experiencing it during training at Balnarring Preschool.
“It’s a similar model to Bush Kinder and is becoming more popular among kinders here on the peninsula,” Ms Coles said.
Bush kinders are an Australian version of forest schools that have been operating across Northern Europe for more than 50 years.
The concept aims to encourage nature-based learning.
No learning tools are taken to the location with the children instead using items they find in nature to develop communication, literacy and numeracy skills.
“We also learn about science and sustainability,” Ms Coles said.