Kinderland started the Natural Explorers Initiative in collaboration with NGOs to raise environmental awareness among young children in hopes for a greener sustainable future.
“We must teach our children to smell the earth, to taste the rain, to touch the wind, to see things grow, to hear the sun rise and night fall – to care.”
Poet and painter John Cleal, embraced a deep love and respect for the outdoors. In his theory, by encouraging young children to explore nature, they are able to learn more than just the life-cycle of a plant or how trees grow. They will learn about life itself and ultimately, learning to care about other creations on Earth – plants and animals alike.
In line with Kinderland’s green initiative, the Mid-Year Holiday Programme introduced the wonderful world of nature to preschoolers. Four to six-year-old children engaged in various interactive activities that were thematically nature-inspired.
The aim is to foster an appreciation of nature and wildlife at a very young age. In partnership with Green LifeProject (Pertubuhan Pencinta Eco Alam Malaysia), the children were exposed to fun nature-related activities including environmental awareness and natural environment appreciation.
The children were shown the three main types of soil on their first day of the Holiday Programme.
The children got their hands dirty on the first day in “Growing Seeds” activity. They learned about soil mixture and how to plant seeds / seedlings and the growth cycle of a plant. They also learned about different types of soil and what do seeds need in order to grow into a beautiful healthy plant.
On the second day, these young explorers gained knowledge on parts of the tree, like branch, trunk, and roots. The creative teachers at Kinderland provided the children materials and space to create their own tree in “Handicraft Tree” activity.
The children showcased their artistic side and worked diligently on creating art from nature. Each one of the tree-arts were crafted beautifully!
“Soil Nurturing – Enzyme” is an uncommon project when relating it to children’s typical learning activity, but they do play an essential role when we teach nature-related topics. This hands-on activity involves knowledge in composting, digging, planting and caring for plants. The third day of this holiday programme focused on environmental awareness. Children learned how they can play a role in taking care of the environment and the nature whilst learning about the importance of a healthy soil.
The children learned about the makings of healthy soil on their third day of the Mid-Year Holiday Programme.
The fourth day was an introduction to flower pounding technique to turn them into art. The teachers also took this opportunity to teach them about the variations and species of leaves. This interactive activity is beneficial for gross motor skills and for the children to discover the different types of leaves within their surroundings.
“Flower Pounding” activity lets the children to discover different grooves of leaf species and turning them into art!
Fifth day is “Bumper Harvest Day”, and the children were able to see their seeds grow into a seedling and brought it home for continued care. They were also given the opportunity to “harvest” “crops” and turn it into food. They learnt about vegetables and fruit plants and were given the opportunity to prepare snacks for everyone to enjoy!
The children’s hard work and dedication blooms into fruition when the seedlings start to show stems. The children also prepared plant-based snacks after “harvesting” their “crops”.
Providing children with the opportunity to explore soil, plants, and the natural environment can foster a lifelong interest in gardening, sustainability, and environmental conservation. And with a lifelong interest, it will progress to be a limitless journey of learning.
Kinderland is where the love of learning grows.