Nature Play WA Online Learning

Nature Play in the Park has been designed to encourage a family-based healthy lifestyle. There is now much evidence that time in nature is associated with better child health - including physical activity, eating behaviours, sleep, and all aspects of physical and mental wellbeing.

This program of nature-based outdoor group sessions and accompanying online modules aims to provide families with ideas and choices for how they spend time together. We steer families towards fun and interactive experiences (green time) and away from sedentary activities on devices (screen time).

The program offers a one-hour session per week over an 8-week term and includes:

• open-ended play based activities, such as sand and mud play;
• creative experiences, such as making boats and potions from natural elements; and
• food preparation, such as making rainbow fruit kebabs, guacamole and salad wraps and 'fun' sandwiches.

We anticipate this intervention will induce connectedness to nature and result in positive changes in the key areas of nutrition, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, emotional wellbeing and behavioural development in young children.

Program goals

The outdoor group sessions have been designed with a specific focus each week but also contribute to some overarching themes and understandings: 

• Active outdoor recreation for children and adults (more time spent playing outdoors)
• Develop a community (participate, engage, and communicate) 
• Develop a connectedness to nature (awareness of, responsibility toward, enjoyment of nature and specific places) 
• Develop healthy ways of living and sustainable practices (reduce, reuse, recycle) 
• Develop a playful mindset (be conscious of responses e.g., what to say instead of “be careful”) 

The children will:

• Develop positive habits or dispositions (creativity, curiosity, confidence, enthusiasm, endurance, independence, persistence, resilience, imagination, problem-solving)
• Develop an explorative mindset 
• Engage with their senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell) 
• Engage with nature 
• Develop social, emotional, physical, cognitive, and language skills 
• Develop risk assessment skills and safety sense (what’s safe to explore)