'Beach Kinder' Initiative

Our Beach Kindergarten program officially begun in late July with the educators, children and families from Glen Chelsea Kindergarten. Each week, the children will be given a unique experience to dive into a world of exploration, connection, and discovery. Each session is thoughtfully planned to foster an interconnectedness to the local community.

At the beach, the possibilities for learning are endless. Without conventional resources and toys to aid learning, the children engage with the natural world to master gross and fine motor skills by splashing through the shallow waves in their gumboots, searching for sea creatures and building sandcastles. Collecting shells provides opportunity for exploration into scientific and mathematical concepts such as shape, size, scale, amount, and patterning.

There is always time to soak in the environment, as we observe children wave at helicopters flying overhead, run freely across the sand, and pause to notice their world around them. We enjoyed morning tea together by the sea and talked about what we’ve seen and experienced. Children were also encouraged to take responsibility for collecting their own rubbish and to learn about caring for our oceans and marine life. After our beach adventures, we returned to kindergarten on foot, walking through the local neighbourhood, past the train station and familiar community spaces. Children are capable, confident, and active citizens of the world and it gave us great pride for the local community to see our children in this way.

We loved hearing the children’s reflections:

• Mila: “I saw a butterfly.”

• Hazel: “I saw a dolphin, whale, and mermaid.”

• Raffy: “I saw a boat in the water.”

• Harry: “I can see the ocean.”