POKOK Playgroup Forest School Reggio Emilia & Montessori approach combined

We started with the road from Raub to the last village, then built the rest using blocks, magnetic tiles, and props. The kids mapped out their world, adding their “hope” landmarks—a hospital, a train service, and even the Twin Towers!

The best part was the discussion about the airport. After discussing the necessity of travel vs. the potential environmental damage, they voted to take it out. We also discussed about how the community in Pulau Tioman protested against the airport and are still protecting it, thanks to Reef Check Malaysia for the information.

Finally, they drew their maps on paper for a “new friend” to follow—practicing empathy, direction, and memory all at once.

The Benefits?
Identity & Belonging: Building “home” reinforces who they are and where they fit in their community.
SDG 4 (Education): Learning geography, art, and soft skills like negotiation.
SDG 9 (Innovation): Designing infrastructure like transport and hospitals.
SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities): Ensuring every house and need is represented on the map.
SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities): They actively chose sustainable transport over an airport to protect the environment!

The key developmental and physical benefits of a rope ladder for toddlers include:

Advanced Motor Skills: Navigating a moving surface challenges a toddler to coordinate all four limbs, significantly boosting psychomotor skills and overall agility.

Strength and Stability:
Gripping the rungs builds forearm and hand strength, while stabilizing their bodies on the swinging ropes actively strengthens their core, legs, and arms.

Sensory Processing:
The dynamic, swinging movement engages the vestibular system (which controls balance and equilibrium), helping toddlers learn protective reactions and counter any loss of balance.

Cognitive Growth:
Climbing requires focus, memory, and on-the-spot problem solving as they figure out where to place their hands and feet on an unpredictable surface.

We took our plural rules outside! We hunted for nature words and sorted them into -s, -es, -ies, and -ves. Leaf = Leaves, Puppy = Puppies, Monkey = Monkeys... and right on cue, a TROOP of monkeys showed up to supervise! 🐒😂

We locked it in with a giant Nature Plural Snakes & Ladders game 🎲 and worksheets... but we didn’t stop there!

To end the day, we played bamboo ball run and turned into mini-scientists. The kids investigated: does a covered bamboo or a half-open bamboo make the ball roll faster? The kids made predictions, tested repeatedly, and discovered that friction and visibility totally change the game.

Proof that mixing literacy, movement, and real-world science creates a day they’ll NEVER forget. Worksheets have their place, but inquiry-based play? That’s the magic.

From the Great Wall of China to the Berlin Wall, we discussed how structures affect people. Then kids built walls with purpose—to trap, to protect, to unite, and to let light in.

Connecting to the Global Goals:
SDG 3 – Well-being: Walls that make rooms happier = mental health
SDG 9 – Innovation: Cardboard prototypes = future engineers
SDG 11 – Communities: Safe, inclusive spaces start here
SDG 16 – Peace: Walls that bring people together, not apart

Decorating their cardboard walls with drawings and flowers turned barriers into bridges. Who knew a pile of blocks and discarded cardboards could teach so much about empathy AND the SDGs?

This is our final unit to our Plants V1 module! Here’s what we packed into one epic day:

✅ Studied 4 types (False Staghorn, Spikemoss, Oriental Blechnum, Jewel Maiden)
✅ Touched the “jewels” & talked color-changing science
✅ Discovered wild ferns and their buggy neighbors 🐜
✅ Hammered them into art (Hapazome)
✅ Attempted to build a raft with bamboo and fern string - but time was against us.

The raft? It wasn’t too floaty. 😂 But the journey were priceless. We’ll get the knots next time - a whole other adventure!

Drop a 🌿 if you love bringing science to life!

Welcome to our brand new module: Sustainable Development Goals. First session: Peace Path.

Here’s what happened :

5-min Clean-up: They turned their favourite slide area into a spotless zone (hello, SDG 11!)

Creating & Planting : We made biodegradable pots from banana plants and planted edible seeds (SDG 15 & 3)

Peace Wordsearch + Peace Promise: Each kid wrote their own promise on a bamboo strip plant tag (SDG 16)

Community Map: We drew a neighbourhood map together AND a mini map of their own homes—labelling exactly where their pot will live (kitchen window, balcony, garden—you name it!) (SDG 11)

Take home & nurture: They’ll care for their plant for 2 weeks… and then gift it to someone else (practicing empathy)

That’s SDG 3 (Health), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities), SDG 15 (Life on Land), and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions) all in ONE session. 🌿

Real change starts small—with dirty hands, big promises, and a little bit of kindness.

Which SDG matters most to YOUR family? Drop it in the comments! 👇

How we tackled Pronouns Part 2: Matching pronouns to sea & farm animals, plus nailing have/has and a/an.

Here’s why this specific combo is a cognitive powerhouse:

Dual Coding Theory – Pairing visual blocks (pronouns) with physical objects (animals) means their brain stores the grammar rule in two places—visual and kinesthetic. Double the memory power!

Syntactic Bootstrapping – By figuring out why we say “A shark HAS” vs. “They HAVE,” they’re unconsciously learning the rules of sentence structure—a skill that directly impacts reading comprehension.

Phonological Awareness – Distinguishing between an and a forces them to isolate the first sound of the next word. This is a proven predictor of future reading success.

Reduced Cognitive Load – Moving pieces makes it fun, so their brain drops the “stress” filter. They learn faster because they’re relaxed and engaged.

Learning grammar doesn’t have to be painful. Just add tentacles. 🐙

This week: matching live tree shapes to our Nature Anatomy book. But honestly, the real lesson wasn’t about identification—it was about presence.

But here’s why this simple activity is actually a power move for little brains:

Boosts Observation Skills – They start noticing the “weeping” vs. “vase” shapes they’d normally walk right past. That attention to detail transfers to reading, math, and beyond.

Builds Memory Retention – Matching a 2D illustration to a 3D object strengthens spatial awareness and visual recall. Their brains are literally making new neural connections with every match!

Lays STEM Foundations – Tree shapes tell a story about sunlight, wind, and survival. Why does a pyramid shape thrive in snow? Why does a round crown capture more sun? That’s biology, physics, and ecology in action.

Cultivates Mindfulness – Looking up forces you to slow down. In a world of screens, this grounds them (and us!) in the present moment.

Fosters Environmental Stewardship – You can’t protect what you don’t know. When they learn to name and recognize trees, they start caring about them like old friends.

Which tree shape are you spotting on your walk today? Tell us below! 👇

We’re not just playing; we’re learning how to express ourselves. ❤️

Today we combined creativity (playdough faces) with structure (grammar blocks). The kids matched “He is happy” or “They are sad” to the faces they created. It’s amazing to see them understand that their feelings have words!

Here’s a preview of our grammar with nature lesson : (learning demonstratives)

We started by learning “This, That, These, Those” by placing leaves, moss, stone and other nature items in the Near Zone (this, these) vs. the Far Zone (that, those).

From smelling minty Indian borage to fragrant honeysuckle, we learned that grammar doesn’t have to be boring—it just has to be hands-on.

We ended by making our own fire stove (yes, with bricks they laid themselves!), brewed herbal tea, and realized we used ALL our blue pea flowers for art class instead of tea time 🤦‍♀️ (We still managed to see some blue seeping out though)

The best part? Hearing them say “This is a lemongrass leaf” and “These are blue pea flowers” as they dropped them in the pot!