Blog
Supporting Children’s Wellbeing with Winter Nature Play
Children don’t resist the season. We do.”
Winter often gets framed as a season to survive, but it’s rich with opportunities for connection, calm, and emotional growth. When tamariki play outside in the cold, they’re not just burning energy—they’re processing feelings, building resilience, and strengthening all four walls of their wellbeing.
In this blog, I share why winter play matters more than we think, how to overcome the common barriers (yes, including freezing adults in jeans!), and offer practical, heart-led ways to reconnect with nature—mud and all.
The Ripple Effect of Parent Well-Being
The emotional and psychological states of parents are directly reflected in the children they care for. Prioritising parent well-being isn’t just a nice to have but an essential element to healthy child development.
One Day Schools: Frequently Asked Questions
I get a lot of emails from one-day schools and ECE centres setting up or running bush kindy’s or nature-based programmes. Questions are on a variety of topics and below is a summary of questions and answers for one-day schools.
Navigating Parenthood in the Digital Era: Empowering the Next Generation with Resilience
Navigating parenthood in the digital era requires equipping our children with the tools to navigate the online world with resilience and confidence. Find out about the main protective factor that helps build resilience in kids.
Bring Nature In
'How can we bring nature in' is a question I am asked often and one that is very relevant in ECE, primary schools and beyond. As teachers, we have the super important job of helping our young tamariki grow into awesome little beings. We're talking about sparking their...
Why Kids should Play Outside in the Winter
First published in the Natural Parent Magazine.When my daughter was 10 days old she had her first experience of a winter nature play session. She was wrapped up snuggly in her merinos, a one-piece fleece suit and a multi-coloured knitted hat from my cousin. It was a...
Dealing with an Incident
Dealing with an incident in a nature program is tough. Find out how we dealt with an incident and what our review process was in our latest article
Nurture Through Nature
Want to connect your children to nature but not sure where to start? Find out how to nurture your children in nature in our latest blog.
What is Nature Education and What Place Does it Have in New Zealand Schools
What is nature education, what place does it have in New Zealand Schools and why is nature connection at the core? Read more here.
Loose Parts and Outdoor Play
Loose parts are an essential element in any play setting creating opportunities for children’s creativity, problem-solving and cognitive development. Find out what loose parts are, the benefits of loose parts and how to start with loose parts. You will also uncover some tips around the role of the teacher in outdoor loose parts play.
Schema and Children’s Play
Schema or play urges are often described as repeated patterns of behaviour. By repeating actions over and over, just like with the examples above, children are gathering information of that particular play urge, to store in their brain.
The Importance of Risky Play
Risky play is a key element of a child’s development and wellbeing. Find out the benefits, what the 8 elements of risky play are and how you can support risky play in your environment.
Resilience: What Coming Last Taught Me
A running race has nothing to do with nature play. Nature play isn’t just about playing in nature. It is about preparing us mentally to navigate the world before us. This is a story on mindset, resilience and courage. Come join me…
The Benefits of Nature Play
There are so many benefits of nature play yet so often we are not prioritising this kind of play in our centres, our schools. By sharing some of the benefits, we hope to inspire you to get outdoors more and have the confidence to make it happen for your children or the children you work with.
Nature Education: Where do I Start
Starting a nature play programme is much easier that it appears. Find out where to start your nature education journey.
Is This Your Year To Embrace Nature Play?
Is This Your Year To Embrace Nature Play? In today’s tech-focused world, it’s easy to take our natural surroundings for granted. Our tamariki grow up exploring virtual environments more than natural ones. And while the digital age has a lot to offer, these changes...
What to Wear for Outdoor Winter Play
Being dressed for the weather is an essential element of enjoying outdoor winter play! Find out what to wear on a cold winter day so you can get outdoors and make the most of outdoor winter play.
Should Children Play Outside when it Rains?
So often as soon as it starts to rain we bring our children inside so they don’t get wet, cold or sick. But do the benefits out weight the risks? In this article we explore some of the thinking and the benefits of play outdoors in all weather.
Ideas for World Wildlife Day
Needing some ideas for World Wildlife Day? Here are 20 suggestions to get your kids outdoors and into nature.
Having a Nature Mindset
I often hear the words yes, but…when talking with educators about setting up regular nature excursions or a nature programme in their school.
While I can definitely see the challenges and I get to hear first-hand from many teachers around NZ about their problems, they are just that. Problems. Ready to be solved.