Mobile junk and nature playground

03/09/2026

I love the game that kindy kids play, when they say "have this chocolate cake", and when you eat it they shout out "it's POO!!!". So funny when you do it 50 times in a row.
What I love even more is the 2 1/2 year old version when they say "have this POO cake", and when you eat it they shout "it's POO!!!" Ahh, to witness the developmental pathway to the poo prank.

03/09/2026

Is a traffic cone text?. If text is a sequence or arrangement of symbols used to communicate linguistic or other interpretable information, and a symbol is something that represents or communicates something beyond its physical properties Then a collection of non-alphabetical symbols used in sequence could be called text. Such as the ancient Egyptians hieroglyphs. if I stretch my brain, then colours can be considered a symbol. For instance, the colour red, in many contexts communicates Stop, or danger, or a warning. So, the shape of a traffic cone, combined with the colour amber, which often symbolically means, proceed with caution, or prepare to stop, combined with the context, such as being placed before a wobbly stick bridge could be considered text.
So, if you are at an early childhood education site, and your kids aren’t engaging with ‘text’, but they are sticking cones around their play area to control other kids movement, then maybe they are engaging in text.

27/08/2026

Because it's book week, I want to share my favourite kids book. Field guide of Australian spiders. Every time we muck about among the bark chips we ALWAYS find spiders. This book gets used every day (it is my second copy, and this one is very worn out). Jon Young (Coyote Guide Author) reckons field guides are like Elders, sharing their knowledge. Sometimes grown up books can be kids books as well.

25/08/2026

For book week i might go as the wizard from that turtle book some fella wrote.

24/08/2026

14/08/2026

When is a cubby, not a cubby? One of my favourite things to notice when I watch kids play, is the knowledge they bring from their world. The other day we built a cubby. It was cool, and we learnt practical construction methods, social interaction, and procedural communication. Once it was built the kids moved on to mud and bugs (and mud bugs). We found a snail with a cracked shell so one of the kids took it to a spot where it wouldn't get stepped on. I had just finished making a mud bowl which was commandeered by a 4 year old girl who morphed it into a snail bed, Next minute we had around 7 snail beds housing a collection of bubble blowing gastropods.
"Its a snail surgery " she decreed. The snail surgery grew into a full blown vet, then a human hospital. The cubby that was standing empty was vehemently scavenged and the loose parts built the new hospital. Now nearly every kid was involved, and fantastic ideas came flowing. The teachers couldn't keep up with the kids ideas and actions. Floorbook pages overflowed. The hospital had a front desk 'manned' by two girls, equipped with charts, and clipboards. It had a bath, a janitor, needles, and a ventilator. Most of the play that went on until the end of the session was hospital play.
Every idea came from the kids experiences of the world. The front desk ladies spoke like front desk ladies, doctors administered needles just like doctors do, and Janitors leaned on their brooms. The structure was all hospital and no cubby.
I pity the fool who walks past and says "nice cubby"

06/08/2026

The other day we tested out how flammable things were with the camp fire. We threw seed pods in, green leaves, rocks, hot air balloon material, bones and mud. While it was interesting seeing things burn fast or slow, the one thing we did noticed was the smell of the smoke. Some of the green leaves smelt wonderful, while the hot air balloon smell was to be quickly avoided. I love fire smells.

05/08/2026

“At kindy we got to play with fire”. Said a 4 year old yesterday. Lots of kindys I have worked at have had campfires Most of the fire activities we all engaged in were roughly the same. Kids get to stack the fireplace, they can sometimes light the fire, they can add wood to the fire, and even cook marshmallows on a stick in the fire. The one thing most sites had in common was, we don’t play with the fire. As we know, throwing a stick on to the fire is part of a responsible job that needs to be done, However it is also fun. They all want to throw a stick on the fire (Because secretly they are playing). When they get to cook a marshmallow on the fire, yes, they are cooking a delicious sugary meal on a stick, but they are also playing. They are thinking “Whoa, check it out! I stuck it right in the blue flame and it exploded”.
This kindy I was at the other day had the kids “playing “with fire. We were sticking sticks into the fire and waiting for them to start burning then we would pull them out, behold the power of the burning flame, then stick it back in again. When we were young kids, I remember that being a fun fire game to play. I still play that game. I wonder how many sites out there brave the fire play frontier

04/08/2026

I was at an awesome kindy today, that just happened to be having an all day fire. They are old hands at the fire game. The director and I had a quick catch up about ideas for the day, when I threw this question at her. Would you teach kids how to burn things with a magnifying glass. Both of us had a lot of experience with kids and fire, however we both pulled a 'I dunno' face. It just feels like you a leaving boxes of matches in every kids bedroom. Funny thing is, the night before I read a study, and 30% of these education sites that embrace fire, also let children burn things with magnifying glasses. I cant remember when I learnt. I feel it is a skill I have always had.
When did you learn how to burn things with a magnifying glass.