Learning, investigating and painting among a field of sunflowers.
That was what children from the Little Saints Early Learning Centre experienced last week as part of a session to connect them with nature at the old Moe Hospital’s Get Sunflowered site.
The children inspected sunflowers and insects with magnifying glasses and painted their version of what the yellow flower looked like – the kind of learning teacher Carel Moses described as hands-on.
“We have brought them over here because this was done by the community, so they could be a part of the community and learn to respect nature,” Ms Moses said.
“The main reason is to join them with the community and have some learning out of the centre.”
The children improvised with limited equipment but in an expansive space, and were able to continue their learning without a set structure.
Ms Moses said the parents were supportive of the outside sessions, as were the children themselves.
She said the children would be encouraged to measure how tall trees had grown and the width between different plants – integrating the experience with maths and developing multiple skills.
“We look forward to doing these sessions more and more, so we will be taking them (the children) out of the centre and they will be having more outside sessions,” Ms Moses said.
“(This is) so they can have a good, hands-on experience.”
