Connecting with Nature at Buckle My Shoe!

Connecting with Nature is a big part of the Buckle My Shoe Curriculum and one afternoon our tamariki were busy out the front in our garden. During meal times, we collect fruit scraps for the worms in our worm farm and so with a bucket filled to the top, we decided it was time to check on our worms and give them a feed. Our little ones were eager to see what the worms were doing and after carefully lifting up the lid, they saw that the worms were hiding out under the decomposing fruit. As the scraps were added, they cautiously watched the movement of the worms and were sure to spread the scraps out for all of them to share. 😊

Previously, our little ones had spent time digging up our kumara and some of them wanted to double check that they hadn’t missed any. Others noticed that there were a few weeds creeping into the gardens, so using a garden fork they competently dug these out. Good job guys! 🙌💖

We also inspected our newly planted veggie plants to see how they were growing and discovered some bugs had been eating our purple broccoli plants. Oh no! We had a discussion on what we could do to stop the bugs and decided we needed more egg shells to put around the base of our plants to deter the bugs from eating them. Our little ones were determined to bring some from home to help with this! 😊

Spending time in the garden and connecting with nature is a great way for children to develop respect for the environment and for living things. It can also be very calming for children, as they dig in the dirt and watch things grow. There can be a sense of achievement and it also promotes healthy eating. I wonder what we will plant next?