CREEK KINDY
At Creek Kindy, we walk down Ashton Street in our pairs, like tiny explorers setting off on a grand adventure! The trees whisper to us as we pass, and we peek up into their branches to spot secret birds’ nests tucked away like treasure. Sometimes we even climb the trees, pretending we’re perched in our own lookout towers above the world.
When we reach the water, the creek becomes our magical world. We dip our nets in and sometimes tiny fish shimmer into them like shiny jewels. Water Dragons stretch out on warm rocks, pretending they’re mighty dragons guarding their kingdom!
Every trip to Creek and Green Space, feels like we are stepping into a story... and we get to be the ones who discover what happens next!
In the Beginning...
As educators, we began wondering how we could help the children feel even more connected to the creek. We couldn’t access it through the back gate, but we knew there had to be another way. And then we found our Creek Kindy sites - open grass, cool shade, trees perfect for climbing, wildflowers scattered everywhere, and even a little waterfall. It felt like all our hopes gathered in one place.
With our staff trained in Bush Kindy practices, we were ready. It mattered to us that Creek Kindy didn’t sit outside our everyday program, so we started by introducing ropes, carabiners and simple tools right here at Kindy. We talked about safety, practised drills, and discussed what we might see and do long before our first visit.
Creek Kindy and Kindy work together, always connected, never separate, one enriching the other as the children explore, learn and grow.
“Nature pedagogy is the practice of teaching and learning with and in nature. It encompasses the importance of culture, community and the sustainability of our natural world. It fosters children’s holistic development and wellbeing through play and hands on authentic and meaningful experiences. The approach fosters a sense of wonder, exploration and discovery through inquiry-based learning that is child led”. - Nature Play QLD
Reconciliation Action Plan
In 2023, The C&K CEO and Chair of the C&K Board visited our creek kindy site to create their Acknowledgement of Country video as part of their Reconciliation Action Plan.
This video captures the heart of our program - our connection to Country, our beautiful creek environment, and the meaningful learning that happens outdoors. You’ll also see our wonderful Miss Carolyn in action, along with some of our kindy friends, as they explore, play and learn in this special space.
WHAT FAMILIES SAY:
Parent of H:
H loves dresses and princess shoes and sometimes forgets it’s ok to go outside to explore, maybe get a little messy and wet. I see such a difference in her when she attends Creek Kindy and the fun and excitement she has to share at the end of the day. It is a more challenging environment for her at first, but it’s clear how much her confidence grows and how much she learns in every visit.
Parent of A:
During my child's time at Wynnum Manly Community Kindergarten I have been increasingly delighted by the stories, adventures and total myths that have eventuated from her time at "Creek Kindy". The fondest memories of my own childhood are of those spent playing at the creek, for hours, without adults, and creating amazing memories. Due to this, the idea of "Bush" and "Creek" kindy is one I have sometimes been a bit pessimistic of. This pessimism in my defense stems from seeing so many examples online of fabricated outcomes focussed experiences with heavily scaffolded children in settings that, at best, resemble well maintained parks, and at worst, the Kindy room itself with some "natural resources" introduced to meet a buzz agenda, create a learning story and tick a box. This is not how Wynnum Manly Community Kindergarten does it.
The creek travelled to is a stunning pristine space with all the "chaos" that nature naturally offers children so they are placed in a position where their imagination is quite literally the limit of their experience. Furthermore, to my huge appreciation, this is also exactly the affordance in which the Kindy staff offer the space to the children. My child, who is often fairly tight lipped about her times away can never wait to regale with narratives and experiences that can only be created through genuine and intrinsic exploration and experiences. To give an example, over a 2 week period I heard deep and contemplative dialogue around the discovery of a dead bird. As morbid as this example seems, the dialogue came with aspects of deeper understanding, grieving, empathy, an appreciation for the life cycle, right down to an appreciation that the ants in the bird on the second week were benefiting from this perhaps sad occurrence. Experiences and emotional development like this cannot be fabricated but nature seems fully capable in some strange quantum way of holistically providing for such robust life experiences.
In short, thank you to the Wynnum Manly Community Kindergarten team for offering this amazing experience. The muddy shoes, the stories, the learning, as a father it is appreciated. When Friedrich Froebel aptly coined the term Kindergarten, otherwise translated to "Child's Garden" he was convinced that children learn first and foremost by playing. The environment in which children were provided to play in was a critical ingredient for the success of this idea. It is heartening to see that the Wynnum Manly Community Kindergarten have not forgotten this.
Parent of E:
"I made the decision to move my son to a dedicated kindy from a daycare facility as he never settled or seemed to enjoy it. It was the best decision I have ever made. Almost instantly we had a different child. Gone were the tears and we had a child who would chat about all the fun things he had done during the day and was excited to go the next day. One of his favourite times is when they leave the kindy to go exploring in the creek. He has been taught lessons on road and water safety, ecosystems of the creek and also physical co-ordination from climbing trees and other games.
Everyday the team at C&K Wynnum Manly wows me with their passion for early learning and they always create a day filled with fun, yet educational activities."