In July 2017, Dernancourt Kindergarten started a journey with Climbing Tree and community members to transform our outdoor learning environment into a space that fosters curiosity, adventure and nature play.
We showed the children Climbing Tree’s design and had a discussion about what they thought and what else the design needed. Soon, the children were coming up with their own designs.
A facsinating discovery at our forest one day, sparked an inquiry that also influenced the design of our outdoor learning environment.
The children discovered wood boring grubs at the forest. Observations and discussions led to an inquiry about insects and then bush tucker of Aboriginal people. In June 2017 Dernancourt Kindergarten went on an excursion to the Adelaide Botanic Gardens with Trent Hill of Indigenous Education for Kids. Learning about Aboriginal culture, the Kaurna people, bush tucker, native plants and trees inspired us to include a native and bush tucker garden in our outdoor transformation.
More of the children’s interests were incorporated into the design.
Before the transformation could begin, we had to remove the old fort around our big beautiful pine tree. So as to not waste the timber from our old fort, we advertised it on Gumtree. Kingo came to repurpose the timber to use as flooring for an Old Stone House on Murrabina Aboriginal Reserve near Kingston SE.
We are so grateful to our families who are always more than happy to help make our kindy look and feel amazing! During a working bee, families helped shovel new bark chips around our climbing equipment and created a pathway winding through our soon to be bush tucker garden.
In May 2017, Betterland installed a new wooden swing frame. The children watched with curiosity as the tradespeople drove a big truck into our outdoor environment and got to work.
Before the major transformation started in July 2017, the children posted letters informing the neighbours of the upcoming work as it might cause more noise and large vehicles in the area.
STAGE ONE: Our yard was divided in two, a temporary fence was erected. The children watched as day by day, their outdoor learning area changed.
The children were involved and helped throughout the process.
One of our mums in 2017 was talented artist, Victoria Yurkova. We are so grateful for the two beautiful murals she created for us. The children helped to add texture to the sky and tree using their handprints.
Watch the transformation in action.