Wonderland Kindergarten
For Nature’s Wonderers
Wonderland Kindergarten is a proposed new kindergarten for Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs.
Wonderland Kindergarten allows children to spend their days immersed in nature, connecting with the natural environment, themselves and each other.
The kindergarten will draw on the pedagogy/philosophies of the European forest schools, Reggio Emilia and Steiner methods, adapted to the unique culture of the Australian environment. We are also building relationships with our First Nations custodians of the lands on which we hope to operate so they might guide us on this journey.
Research shows that nature play increases emotional regulation, promotes more diverse and imaginative play and improves cognitive abilities through observation, awareness and reasoning.
My two girls (3 years and 11 months old) LOVED nature kindy. For all of us it invited us to take a moment to live in the world of insects and spiders up close, magnifying glasses at the ready, and to look high and beyond at the trees, flying foxes and birds high in the sky.
Harrison who is usually a million miles and hour and rarely stays in one place for more than a minute settled into the nature play group and especially loved collecting specimens, balancing and walking on huge tree trunks and climbing and swinging from ropes in the trees. The mums even relaxed into all nature has to offer and enjoyed the tranquil nature of the group!