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Welcome to Wildflower Kids Nature Immersion Playgroups, encouraging child-led play and the promotion of our wellbeing through nature connection.
MONDAY BUSH PLAYGROUP - Term commitment 9:30-11:30am
Join us on Monday mornings at a beautiful private property in Wallington/Ocean Grove. Surrounded by trees, open space, and wildlife, this playgroup is designed to nurture physical, emotional, sensory, and social development.
We are a 100% outdoors, all weather playgroup. We keep a predictable rhythm of connection play and story. We use real tools to explore our space, bushcraft and nature arts. Flora and Fauna connection is a big part of our program with the group facilitated by an ecologist and teacher.
Throughout the term we include an excursion to the Ocean Grove Nature Reserve and an excursion to the Barwon Heads Bluff. These are included in term fees, free of charge. We will also open these up to the community as a one-off contribution/donation session.
We ask for a full term commitment for this offering. We have noticed it takes time to build up a connection with the playgroup community and a unique environment such as ours. If you are looking for a casual offering or would like to try out the space before committing, you can sign up to our Nature Playgroup 1 hour Stay and Play sessions. These run at various times Mon, Tues and Thurs.
We know that with illness, holidays and meeting our children where they are at, sometimes attending weekly is hard. If you miss a session, you can use the fee as credit on any of our programs in the following 6 months.
These sessions are open to families of all ages. Older children often like to roam the space and engage with the many invitations on offer including rope swings, large loose parts for building, mud kitchen and flora and fauna exploration.
You may even choose to continue your journey with us after Bush Playgroup into our Bush Kinder or Forest School programs.
COMMUNITY WILDFLOWER KIDS PLAYGROUP - Currently Wednesdays 10:00-11:30am
Our community playgroup is facilitated by volunteers, while children are supervised by their families.
We are registered with Playgroups Victoria with $20 million Public Liability Insurance and are coordinated by Born Wild Community Inc.
We usually begin with a Welcome Circle and Acknowledgement of Country. Often there is a theme and activity and children are encouraged to engage with this or choose their own free play. This self-directed play is actively encouraged! We finish most sessions with a story and sometimes a snack.
Our activities make use of natural materials to encourage exploration and to minimise waste. We try to use as few manufactured toys as possible. We endeavour to promote life skills, fine and gross motor experiences, stories, imaginative play, and observations of the world around us.
We are located on the Bellarine Peninsula and meet Wednesdays and Fridays each week.
Bellarine Peninsula Mobile Playgroup: every Wednesday 10:00-12:00 noon
Portarlington Point Richards Flora and Fauna Reserve: every Friday 9:30-11:00am
Check Facebook and email for when site locations may change.
Some areas have restrictions on what we can take from the space, what we can bring in, and what areas we can access. Please be respectful of this so that our playgroup can continue.
Our community playgroup sessions are generally targeted at children aged 0-5 years with a focus on child-led play and families interacting with each other outdoors. Children over 5 are most welcome to attend as well.
Our COMMUNITY playgroup is offered to everybody on a donation model. You can bring a gold coin or two on the day, transfer a small amount weekly, donate through Humanitix (please note Humanitix does take 2.5% in fees) or offer a donation for the term,
All donations to the COMMUNITY playgroup are used to reimburse our volunteer facilitators for their fuel and expenses, donate directly to Feed Me Bellarine for our fruit and sweet snack, and purchase incidental materials.
Wildflower Kids are inclusive playgroups, and all families are welcome. Being outdoors in nature, let’s accept all children’s needs and behaviours. Nature is an amazing self-regulation resource for us all.
There is an increasing body of evidence highlighting the value of child-led play, particularly in the outdoors. Benefits include:
Improved immune systems
Physical activity
Resistance to stress
Improved sense of wellbeing
Greater emotional intelligence
An understanding of risk
Growth in imagination and creativity
Research also supports the benefit of nature-based playgroups for new parents, specifically their sense of wellbeing.
TIME:
Weekly throughout the school term
COST:
MONDAY BUSH PLAYGROUP
1 child and caregiver $19 per session (term commitment)
2+ children and caregiver $24 per session (term commitment)
Babes in arms/pram free with a paying sibling
COMMUNITY PLAYGROUP
Donation: gold coin on the day, term bank transfer, give what you feel is fair.
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