In the multi-faceted way of Te Whare Tapa Whā, “health” is understood as mental, emotional, physical, spiritual and relational. This is a model that has increasing presence in Aotearoa, because it brings to light the fact that “health” doesn’t just mean lack of illness, it has several pillars that need to be in balance and grow in strength together. If any of these perspectives is off, the whole whare is in disarray. We can’t decide on one that is of more value than others, and at the Nature School we’ll be putting active attention into all 4 pillars.

 

This model expresses the importance of meaningful relationships, which we will be having specific facilitations with the children to create deeper ties with those around them. It also expresses the importance of grounding, of connecting with the land around us.

 

 

 

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When the UN Sustainability Goals came out and I started working with them, several seemed to align very closely with our own goals at the Nature School in creating a better world. Sometimes I need to remind myself that I am allowed to start small, local, that I don’t have to solve hunger in “third-world” countries to make an impact. If every one of us chooses a goal to work towards or that is important to us, we’ll be making headwind.

 

Here are the ones that link most directly to NNS and that we are actively working on and committed to:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’d love to write a thesis on the unique strengths and struggles of our youngest generation. I almost did when writing this document up (luckily for you, I’ve deleted it). One of the best thinking models I’ve found as an educator has been the “21st Century Skills”. Because the way we educate has to radically change in this era of digitalisation and immediacy, where calculators are in our pockets and wait, when do we really expect the next generation to write by hand instead of typing in their day-to-day? Controversial I’m sure, but the world will look unimaginably different in 20 years, let alone 50.

 

 

The 21st century skills have provided me with a frame-work much like a national curriculum would. It includes things like problem solving, critical thinking, civic responsibility, collaboration, communication skills, perseverance, etc.

 

These are going to be constantly informing our practise at NNS because we want to make sure we are actually forward-thinking and innovative. We want to be doing the best we can by each child. We’ll be checking that the opportunities, activities and projects we dive into with the kids are meeting a range of these goals. It will also help us to get to know each individual kid in a different way than we could be used to.

 

 

 

 

In addition to these thought models, we’re heavily influenced and grateful for all the forest schools or outdoor education spaces that have paved the way.

 

Although there are several nature education programmes around Aotearoa, each one has personalised their programme to what would work for their community. Most balance learning opportunities and free play according to the group needs, most are outdoors almost all of the time in different weather conditions, and the educators are well trained in what they do.

 

The forest school concept originated from Scandinavia. The UK later picked up the idea and personalised it, as we have over here. The tradition in Scandinavia even has a word, friluftsliv, to express the time we spend outdoors for our internal and external health.

 

At the Nelson Nature School a lot of what we do comes from the tradition of forest schools from Europe, particularly Denmark and the UK. Learning is experiential and child-led, kids are understood holistically, risky play and exploration are vital elements, sustainability and eco-literacy are at the forefront, and there’s a longer-term committment (instead of a one-off visit to the park).

 

Celia from Little Kiwis describes what a moment in Nature School could be like:

 

[The kids and teacher] went on an exploration up the creek to find the starting point [to discover why there was rubbish in the water]. They realised that it was by the main road and all the rubbish was in the gutter and then floating down. There were then discussions on where the rubbish was going to end up and what they could do about it. So there is potential for projects to come out of their play in the school years that link directly to the curriculum. They were THINKING about where the rubbish came from and went, PARTICIPATING AND CONTRIBUTING their ideas during the discussion, MANAGING THEMSELVES to stay safe and stick together when they were walking, USING LANGUAGE to express their feelings, sharing ideas and RELATING TO OTHERS, and UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACTS of what happens if we just throw our rubbish on the ground rather than putting it in a bin.

 

Time in nature is not leisure time; it’s an essential investment in our children’s health. Today kids are aware of the global threats to the environment, but their physical contact, their intimacy with nature, is fading.

 

 

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The final approach we’d love to bring up is Play. Specifically the huge benefits of “unstructured” play or free play. Play is the business of childhood. It is an integral part of every child’s healthy development and, for reasons unknown, has been viewed as “a waste of time” or unproductive by many adults in the current society. This perception likely stems from the industrial age and has continued on until the present, but is far from what is actually happening.

 

Children at Nelson Nature School (NNS) will have large parts of the day where unstructured play happens. This means they’ll be in charge of what they want to be up to, where and with who. Kids will be asked to stay within a certain area and will be aware of any hazards around, and we’ll also be upholding positive social interactions, but kids are free to play as they choose. We will provide some “offerings” or activities that we think they’d be interested in, like art, a longer bush hike/exploration, building materials, etc. which will be optional.

 

Aside from these times we’ll be running workshops for certain skill learning, which will be encouraged but optional too. We know that if it isn’t the day for it, this needs to be respected and we can look into what might be happening. Different nature schools have different balances on how much adult-led or child-led learning there is. From past experience I’ve noticed many kids love to learn new skills or have supported deeper reflection times (as adults we often do too!) and it later supports more meaningful connecting with nature, others and introspectively. We’ll be exploring what balance is right for this group of kids, and it’ll probably look different as the year goes on.

 

As DiYanni mentions, unstructured play is great because children have more opportunity to communicate authentically. When unstructured, students share their own ideas, problem-solving strategies, gain confidence and independence, and model social behavior. They also use higher-level thinking skills when explaining ideas to their peers… Children learn how to assert themselves/speak up, take turns being the leader and group member, handle disappointment when they don’t get their way in a group, and share. They also learn how to communicate using nonverbal cues (body language/tone of voice).

 

Peter Gray argues that free play isn’t just “fun”; it’s essential for raising capable, curious, and resilient children. It prepares them for real life better than rigid schedules or excessive adult-led activities. Children are naturally drawn to play that will serve them later on in life, especially honing their social skills and imitating the role models they see. We notice in different cultures or times in history kids play very different games based on the world they’re growing up in, but the same basics come through. Play is a genetic drive, not something odd kids do to fill in time.

 

 

 

Bringing this into tangible action

 

As facilitators we’ll be focusing on 5 main learning focuses and making sure there is a balance of them in any workshops or offerings we present to the children and in the way we communicate. They will be explicit and implicitly woven into what we do so that even if children decide not to be a part of a workshop they’ll still get to grow in that area.

 

This is solely on the role of the adults in the space and what we want to centre the workshops around, acknowledging that the children will bring huge input and knowledge of their own and will have ample time to self-manage and self-direct their interests.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Within the “personal growth and relationships” sphere we’ll be focusing on emotional vocabulary, communication skills, conflict resolution (i.e. win-win resolutions, assertiveness, etc.), group dynamics, comfort zones, resilience, how we respond to discomfort, noticing our own and others’ needs, intrinsic motivation, taking care of our energy levels, etc.

 

Within the “motricity” sphere we’ll be noticing both gross and fine motor development. It is more common nowadays for children to be underutilising their largest muscles, i.e. our shoulders, which in turn means our finer motricity is affected, i.e. holding a pencil. We’ll be actively growing our balance, jumping, climbing, swinging, rolling, throwing, overcoming obstacles… and also our dexterity with finer arty activities or whittling.

 

Within the “bush skills and eco-literacy” we bring in all of those more classic outdoor ed aspects: leave no trace principals, knots and rope skills, weaving, crossing streams, building, food prep, first aid… and also loving and nurturing te taiao, how we can support plant growth, feel into what is happening around us, connect spiritually and emotionally with natural elements, feeling nurtured and loved by te taiao.

 

The “cross-curricular links” is our most direct way of integrating classroom or home-school learnings in an experiential way. There are so many projects that the kids will com up with, and which we as facilitators can expand their awareness of. Physics, and really most sciences, have many ways of coming in (i.e. water depth measurement, gravity, friction, leverage, weather systems, habitats, flora, lifecycles…). Language and communication will easily find a place, when we want some down time and read a story, in the way we express ourselves, when journaling, writing up notices, inventing stories about the land around us, drawing up maps and infographics, etc. Maths, music and creative arts, social studies… they’ll be linked in discreetly and joyfully.

 

And lastly, the “unstructured play” bubble, which is slightly different from the others but it is so important for us to have front of mind that we’ve included it here. This is essentially the free play time, where kids will be self-directed and will follow their own schema and curiosities.