Nature Treasure Hunt

Materials Required

1. An egg carton
2. small basket
3. take away container or something similar for children to carry to collect treasure
4. PVA or Craft Glue, cardboard or paper (optional)

Preparation

Find a suitable container or basket for collecting treasure

Method (or Ideas)

1. Go on a walk in your garden or neighbourhood
2. Take your basket, egg carton or other container to put your treasures in
3. Allow your child to look at flowers, leaves, bark, seed pods, seeds
4. Encourage your child to collect what they find interesting or items they like
5. Encourage them to respect the plants and collect only what is on the ground
6. Take these items home and talk about what they look and feel like

Facilitation Tips – What To Say

• What do you see there?
• Is this a seed?
• What colour is this flower?
• What shape is this seed pod?
• Which tree/plant do you think this belongs to?
• Point out similarities and differences and talk about them

Extend the Experience

• For older children you could try to identify some of the treasures you find eg: a bottlebrush flower, a Pink Lilly Pilly seed, gum leaf
• You could also use your treasures to create a collage on cardboard at home using PVA glue
• Look for native plants and discuss
• Research/find out about native plants and find out about bush tucker in your area
• Look for insects and other wildlife in your environment

WHO Guidelines for Physical Activity & Sedentary Behaviour

Walking around the environment is being physically active

Early Years Learning Framework

Outcomes

1. Children develop their emerging autonomy, inter-dependence, resilience and sense of agency
2. Children become socially responsible and show respect for the environment
3. Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity

Principle

Principle 2: Partnerships. Partnerships are based on the foundations of understanding each other’s expectations and attitudes, and build on the strength of each others’ knowledge.

Practice

Practice: Responsiveness to children. Responsive learning relationships are strengthened as educators and children learn together and share decisions, respect and trust. Responsiveness enables educators to respectfully enter children’s play and ongoing projects, stimulate their thinking and enrich their learning.