Bringing bush kinder to life at Bunyip Kindergarten

Bush kinder is a unique and powerful program that takes place entirely outdoors in natural bush settings. Guided by the same learning frameworks as traditional kindergarten, it encourages children to explore, discover, and learn through unstructured play, rain, hail, or shine.

 

Far more than an outdoor excursion, bush kinder fosters physical activity, creativity, problem-solving, and a deep respect for nature. For families, it supports wellbeing, strengthens connections to place, and builds community ties.  It reflects a foundational belief that children thrive when they’re see, heard and given the freedom to grow especially outdoors.

 

A vision realised in 2025

 

In Term 1 of 2025, Bunyip Kindergarten, led by Pauline Griffiths Nominated Supervisor and Early Childhood Teacher and her passionate team, proudly launched its first bush kinder sessions, the result of years of thoughtful planning and dedicated advocacy.

 

As part of their Quality Improvement Plan, the team identified a desire to be more visible and connected within the community. This intention grew into a vision for bush kinder, one that took shape through strong collaboration with Cardinia Shire council, comprehensive risk assessments, and thoughtful engagement with children and families.

 

Over time, the team aims to build their capacity to spend more time outdoors and deepen the program’s impact across the year.

 

Grounded in place and community

 

To prepare for this milestone, Pauline undertook extensive training and consultancy with a place-based lens tailoring the program to Bunyip’s unique environment and community. She worked closely with Annie Jenkins, a consultant aligned with Doug Fargher, founder of the bush kinder movement in Australia.

 

While bush kinder has flourished in Forest Schools across Northern Europe for over 50 years, its Australian journey began just over a decade ago when Doug launched the pilot at Westgarth Kindergarten. That program continues to inspire leaders like Pauline, who see the enormous potential in adapting it to their own settings.

 

“The Westgarth Bush Kinder Pilot Project has exceeded all expectations. Children, teachers, parents, and community have evolved with the program… Bush Kinder has positively challenged and extended them.”
— Elliot S & Chancellor B 2012, Westgarth Kindergarten Bush Kinder Evaluation Report

 

Evidence-based, child-led learning

 

Pauline’s enthusiasm for bush kinder is a natural extension of ECMS’s commitment to indoor/outdoor learning. The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia reinforces the importance of outdoor spaces, noting they:

 

“Invite open-ended play, physical activity, spontaneity, risk-taking, exploration, discovery and a connection with nature… providing opportunities for children to engage with all concepts of sustainability.”

 

At Bunyip, bush kinder builds upon their indoor-outdoor program and strengthens children’s agency, autonomy, and ability to assess risk. Educators use open-ended questions and scaffold inquiry-based learning, empowering children to think critically and explore deeply.

 

A response to real need

 

For Pauline, bush kinder isn’t just a ‘nice-to-have’ addition, it’s a direct response to growing challenges in early childhood settings.

 

“Everyone’s world is so controlled and scheduled, while diverse behaviours and needs amongst children just seem to be exploding exponentially.

 

Research has shown that these behaviours are minimised in a bush settings

 

Mental Health and Wellbeing Benefits

 

Pauline has already seen the profound mental health benefits of time in nature:

 

“To actually see the children achieve their goals is just amazing. From a mental health point of view, just being out in nature without having that expectation is so important.”

 

This experience is backed by a growing body of research:

 

• “Children who spend more time outdoors in nature are happier, healthier, stronger, smarter, kinder, and more social.”
  — *Summary of White, R 2004, Young Children’s Relationship with Nature

 

• “Children’s stress levels fall within minutes of seeing green spaces.”
  — Kuo, F.E. & Taylor, A.F., PhD.

 

Documenting authentic learning

 

Bunyip’s bush kinder will include all the formal documentation needed for assessment, but it will also embrace authentic, in-the-moment learning. Pauline captures this perfectly:

 

“We might still be drawing and making meaning from mark making, but it will be with sticks and dirt that they’re creating.”

 

Children return to the indoor setting to unpack and reflect on their discoveries, scaffolding their own and each other’s learning through peer mentoring.

 

Building emotional literacy and resilience

 

Pauline believes bush kinder also equips children with vital emotional and social tools:

 

“The tools we give the children now in kinder in their little backpacks, they’ll take them on to school, where they may not have the benefit of a 1 to 11 educator ratio.

 

All of those compromise, problem-solving and resilience skills they’re going to learn in bush kinder will prepare them for playgrounds with hundreds of other children. They will have had that opportunity to express their voice and make those choices for themselves.”

 

A remarkable beginning

 

Bush kinder at Bunyip is already proving to be a transformative addition to the kindergarten experience. The program showcases the power of place-based, child-led, and nature-connected education.

 

As the year unfolds, Bunyip’s children will continue to explore, imagine, and grow in nature’s classroom, laying foundations for a future of confident, capable, and connected learners.

 

In 2025, Bunyip Kindergarten launched its first ever bush kinder, a powerful, nature-based learning experience that lets children explore, discover, and grow in the great outdoors 

 

The program is the first of its kind on shire land in Cardinia and builds on years of vision, planning, and place-based learning. 

 

It’s more than an outdoor classroom, it’s a response to real needs, fostering resilience, creativity, wellbeing, and connection.

 

Read how Bunyip’s bush kinder is transforming learning and lives here