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In Australia, there have been a growing number of nature-based early childhood education initiatives [Alme, H., and M. A. Reime. 2021. "Nature Kindergartens: A Space for Children's Participation." Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education 24: 113–131]. Research into early years' nature education internationally remains under-theorised particularly in STEM teaching and learning. The nature or bush kindergarten programme (often referred to as 'bush kinders' in the Australian context), is one such programme where nature play and education occur. This paper considers how children's mathematical thinking develops through their time spent in bush kinder settings. Using an ethnographic lens, this longitudinal study is the first of its type in Australia with a focus on STEM in bush kinders. In this paper, eight 'powerful mathematical ideas' are used to analyse how educators can approach teaching mathematics with only what nature provides. The paper reports one main finding, that bush kinders provide opportunities for children through educator support to build mathematical understandings through nature play. Drawing on fieldwork data and the analysis of research literature, this paper contributes to the conceptualisation of mathematics in early childhood nature play and bush kinder programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research demonstrates that powerful factors are involved in growing young girls' STEM understandings. The development of a girl's STEM identity relies on interaction with significant adults/others and the availability of a positive STEM learning environment. Undertaking research into bush kinders across 2015–2020, our data highlighted the learning that was occurring for young children four to five years of age. The children's play dynamic was facilitating girls' STEM identities and enabling STEM learning. Applying ethnography to this longitudinal study, data includes researcher observations of children and educators, interviews with educators and educators' noticing. Using vignettes that demonstrate the STEM disciplines the girls were experiencing, we consider the opportunities that exist for girls' development of a STEM identity in this context in Australian early years' education. We argue that Australian bush kinder settings in Australia allow young girls to develop STEM identities through social interactions and that bush kinders act as enablers of STEM learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last decade has witnessed a steady increase in the number of preschool programs operating in Australia where children access a natural outdoor space (in the bush, at the beach or in local parkland) for an extended period of time each week. Over a hundred such programs are now estimated to be operating in Victoria alone. In this paper Victorian educators from the Early Childhood Outdoor Learning Network respond to concerns regarding the direction of Forest Schools and the commodification of Forest School practices in the UK as raised by Leather, Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education (2018), and the suggestion that a similar model of Forest Schools has spread to Australia. It is argued that the proliferation of nature kindergarten programs in Victoria has followed a more organic trajectory that is less about emulating a set of imported practices, and more about responding to local conditions and influences. Teaching practice in these programs has been described as 'naked pedagogy,' emphasizing the role of child-led play without 'tools, toys and art supplies.' The authors argue that, despite a considerable and growing body of both popular and academic literature on the benefits of nature and play, few studies have explored this type of nature kindergarten program in the context of early childhood education in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European forest kindergarten movement has recently translated into an Australian 'bush kinder' approach. The affordances of bush kindergarten settings with relation to the science experienced through play has not been previously investigated. This pilot project followed three kindergartens in South Eastern Australia using a bush kindergarten approach. A phenomenographic case study approach was used, in which data consisted of observations of 'science learning through play' during bush kinder sessions and educator interviews. Using interactive video interviews, educators were asked to comment on their perceptions of the science that formed children's play. Findings suggest that the bush kinder environment enables children to experience and improve their understanding of a range of science ideas, however, there is an impact in the scope of children's learning based on the educator scaffolding. It is argued here that bush kinder provides affordances for science learning and makes an important contribution to science education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]