Going Bush: Why Bush Preschool is So Powerful for Young Learners

A child crouches in the grass, magnifying glass in hand, carefully inspecting a tiny insect making its way across a leaf. Nearby, another group of children race between the trees while a magpie calls overhead. These small, everyday moments are the magic of bush preschool.

Bush preschool (also known as bush kindy) is an outdoor early learning approach where children learn through nature play, exploration and hands-on experiences.

Research by the University of Melbourne and Deakin University has found that bush kindergartens offer many benefits for the children who attend them, including increased wellbeing and stronger connections with the natural world. Their findings are compelling, yet for us there is no better evidence than the bright eyes and wild smiles of the Keiki Glendale Bush Preschool.

Bush preschool creates a rich sensory environment that simply cannot be replicated indoors.

Children experience:

• The smell of flowers and fresh earth
• The texture of rough tree bark and soft leaves
• The sound of wind through the trees and birds overhead
• The taste of vegetables picked fresh from the garden

In nature, every sense is engaged. Children become attuned to the rhythms of the natural world and begin to notice how they, too, are growing and changing alongside it. In doing so, they start to see themselves as part of the living environment around them.

This growing awareness invites discussion and discovery about the ever-changing natural world. Children begin to notice the seasons, the shifts in weather and how these changes connect to the life cycles of plants and animals.

At Keiki Glendale, children experience these cycles firsthand. They might water thirsty plants, harvest vegetables from the garden, or feed food scraps to our worm farm, which in turn fertilises the soil. Through these experiences, children begin to understand that they are part of the life cycle of their environment.

This connection to nature also opens meaningful opportunities to learn about how First Nations peoples care for Country and how these practices have sustained the environment for thousands of years.

As children’s awareness grows, so too does their knowledge.

Children start recognising:

• Local birds and their calls
• Common insects and where they live
• Plants, flowers and seasonal changes

They ask questions, test ideas and build understanding through direct experience.

Before long, they become proud little “nature experts” pointing out a lizard in the garden or identifying a bird on a walk with their family. This confidence carries over into other areas of learning and helps build strong communication skills.

The outdoors is the ultimate open-ended play environment. Nature invites imagination and creativity in ways that structured environments often cannot. A stick becomes treasure, a patch of dirt becomes a kitchen, and a handful of leaves becomes the ingredients for a mud cake shared among friends.

The games children create outdoors are organic, collaborative and ever-changing. It is truly a wonder to watch, and there’s no telling what they might dream up on any given day.

The outdoors naturally encourages adventurous play. Children run, jump and climb, developing strength, coordination and confidence in their bodies. Wide open spaces invite them to take on new challenges, race their friends, test their limits and try new things.

At Keiki Glendale Bush Preschool, children spend their days enjoying sunshine, fresh air and wonderfully messy play, all while being sun-smart, supervised and safe.

When summarising their findings, researchers Speldewinde and Campbell concluded:

“Children’s nature play facilitates the development of environmental understandings. Experiences in bush kinder settings support children to build an affinity with nature and the natural world.” (Speldewinde & Campbell, 2024)

We couldn’t agree more.

At Keiki Glendale Bush Preschool, children experience nature not as something distant to observe, but as something they are part of. Each day brings new discoveries, new questions and new opportunities to explore the living world around them, building a lifelong connection with nature along the way.

We’d love to welcome you to our Glendale centre.

Book a tour today and experience our nature play spaces firsthand.