TOORAK CAMPUS

TOORAK ELC

Adventurous play

“The outdoors supports, evokes and creates possibilities for adventurous learning”

In the Early Learning Centre (ELC) at Toorak Campus, we have begun to research what Adventure Education means for our children in their daily learning. Being adventurous in our thinking, enabling learning experiences through and with nature, supports the development of our children’s individual confidence, competence and creativity. Children grow in independence, self-reliance and resilience as they problem solve or take risks in their learning, building upon their skills as they explore a variety of possibilities through open-ended and unstructured play and materials.

We asked the children for their thoughts on what adventure is.

“Drawing with Anna. Draw some Princesses with me” – Frankie Blayney

“Looking at the trees and floor and the birds singing” – Joanne Liu

“You know how we find those bottle lids, that’s like an adventure. You find something” – Archie Barry “Going somewhere strange and finding interesting things like animals, bugs and many things. You can have an adventure in a different country. Find wood to make a house… a bird house” – Aristotle Kalogeropoulos

We also asked some of our parents what adventure means to them.

“Something that gets my heart racing!”

“Doing something new that might be scary at first but ends up being fun and exciting!” “Being inspired to try something new and feeling excited”

As educators we now need to ask ourselves, “How do we fuel a sense of adventure in our children, so they are excited and inspired each day in their leaning?” Simone Carter Director of Early Learning, Toorak Campus res e a r c h continues. Our