As parents, caregivers and mentors, our role is to provide support in a respectful manner, allowing children to tackle challenges on their own terms. For sure, it's often easier to do things ourselves, than to allow our enthusiastic, but unskilled, two-year-old to do it. But should we? When do we help, and when do we encourage persistence? What is the best way to help children? What's so bad about helping, anyway?
self awareness
The importance of handcrafts for brain development
Just as it is impossible for us to work without immersion in nature, handcrafting is one of our cornerstone practices at Birdwings Nature. The process and the product of handcrafting and creativity are part of who we are and how we relate to our world. It is part of how we move through our seasonal shifts with the children and how we celebrate the gift of childhood.
Fun with friends in forest school
We love our Birdwings Bush Club and Little Birdwings Forest Kindy because children can have a natural childhood, playing and having fun with friends in nature.
What does risk-taking really look like in early childhood?
One of the biggest hurdles to outdoor play is understanding the nature of risk-taking. We have found that the most challenging daily risk-taking children will experience in our nature immersion programs has little to do with wild nature play at all. Snakes, fire-work, water-play and tree-climbing are not as challenging for children as putting on … Continue reading What does risk-taking really look like in early childhood?
The challenges of childhood are meant to be tricky.
Challenge is meant to be a bit tricky. Challenge stretches us and asks us to find our more about ourselves. Challenge encourages us to reflect on our capabilities, our effort and our motivation. It hones our vision and it uplifts us when we finally realise that now we can do it, when we couldn't before. Remember when that was hard?