Nature Play in Maroondah

Playing outdoors helps children grow strong, feel happy, and learn new things. Find out how you can explore, connect, and care for nature together.

Upcoming event

On this page

What is nature play?

Nature play is when children have the opportunity to enjoy unstructured play outside.

Nature play gives children the time, space and freedom to enjoy time outside, exploring and playing with natural elements such as earth, water, air, and plants. Children can use their imagination, move their bodies, and discover wonder in the world around them.

Benefits of nature play

Spending time in nature is good for everyone! Nature helps us slow down, breathe deeply, and feel calm - it makes us healthier and happier!

Time spent in nature has benefits for our health and wellbeing and is proven to:

  • enhance mindfulness - with an increase in focus.
  • increase confidence - through problem solving skills, imaginative play and creativity.
  • increase physical strength - including greater core strength, enhanced balance and increased fine motor skills.
  • create stronger emotional foundations - with greater impulse control and sensory regulation.
  • improve resilience - through awareness of risk, ability to persevere and overcome challenges.
  • reduce levels of stress, anxiety and depression.*

*Centre for Ecological Learning Inc.

When people experience and benefit from nature, they are more likely to appreciate and care for it too. It is important to teach children about the natural world and encourage them to connect with nature every day.

How to care for nature

As more children and their families enjoy the outdoors and benefit from being in nature, it is important we understand how to care for the environment too. Here are some easy ways to care for nature as you explore public parks and reserves:

  • Leave plants, trees, and rocks as they are - that might be an animals home.
  • There are sensitive areas of bushland around Maroondah. You can help care for these areas by sticking to paths, and keeping out of fenced off areas.
  • Sometimes you may want to collect natural materials to take home and enjoy. Please take only a small amount, and only ever collect things you find on the ground. Never break, pick or tear off living plant and trees.
  • Never take living creatures home, leave them where they are.
  • Always take your rubbish home.

These places are the home for many living creatures in Maroondah. Respect their home by leaving it as you found it.

Explore nature in Maroondah

Maroondah is full of beautiful parks, walking trails, and bushland. Some great places to visit include:

For more places to explore see Parks and playgrounds and Walking routes and trails.

Nature play activities

Try these fun and simple activities in your backyard or at a local park.

Observe

  • Take a picnic lunch outside to enjoy in a favourite spot.
  • Find a spot to sit, be still and notice what is around you. Use a clipboard, paper and pencils to draw what you see or list the noises you hear.
  • Look up! The sky is full of things to see.
    • Watch clouds as they change shapes and move through the sky. What do they look like - animals or shapes? Are they high or low? Moving fast or slow?
    • Pay attention to the sun. Where does it rise and set? Does it change colours throghout the day? Have fun with the shadows it casts!
    • What is the earliest you have seen the moon? Pay attention to the way it's shape changes through the different phases in a lunar cycle.
    • What is the first star you see in the night sky? How many stars you can spot at night? Turn off the outside lights for a better view, then lie back and look up.

Bird watching

Watching birds can be relaxing and rewarding. Every day, sometimes unnoticed, birds are part of our lives. We hear them in the morning, occasionally during the day and again in the evening.

Exploring the world of birds you can discover a new language and a new way of looking at nature. Some birds will sound their alarm when they see cats, others will chase smaller birds away and some will be seen building nests.

Remember to be super quiet so you can hear them better.

Bird watching resources

Explore

  • Go on a minibeast safari. Carefully look under fallen branches, rocks, on and around tree trunks for insects. Remember to use your eyes and not your fingers. Never trap them. Watch them with a magnifier - describe how they are moving.
  • Be a wildlife detective - who’s been here? Look for animal tunnels, feathers, animal tracks and poo, leaves chewed by insects and listen for animal sounds.
  • Follow an ant trail and see where they are going and what they are doing.
  • Notice growing flowers. When are they open or closed?
  • Roll down a hill or climb and balance on a fallen tree or rocks.
  • Make up active games such as running, jumping, hopping and move like native animals you know.
  • Talk about the changing seasons and weather.
  • Take a torch out into your backyard at night with an adult and see what nocturnal animals you can see and hear.
  • Make an explorer’s map at the park or in your backyard.
  • Discover puddles after it's rained. Try to catch rain on your tongue.

Treasure hunt

Go on an adventure to see if you can you find the following, or make your own list of things to find!

  • A tree that feels smooth
  • An ant carrying food
  • Something swimming in a pond
  • Clouds shaped like animals
  • Something that smells nice.. or something that smells stinky!
  • A heart-shaped leaf
  • Seeds from three different plants
  • A flower
  • A chirping bird
  • A spider’s web
  • Animal footprints
  • Something round
  • A feather

Create

  • Create art on the ground from fallen twigs, leaves and stones.
  • Collect fallen leaves and sort into shapes and colours. Take them home to make confetti with a hole punch, or thread them together to hang up.
  • Press some leaves or flowers between the pages of a book, then when they have dried you can paste them on cards for friends.
  • Make silhouettes, use a spray bottle with water and spray around objects, then remove to see the silhouettes.
  • Make a crown by weaving grasses and flowers.
  • Collect fallen leaves and branches to use as paint brushes.
  • Make your own paint, find different coloured dirt and mix with water. Use a paintbrush on paper, a tree or bark and leaves.
  • Create a weaving frame using sticks, string, leaves and bark.
  • Make a nature dreamcatcher or mobile to hang inside.
  • Start a nature journal and draw, write or take photos to capture moments and thoughts while in nature or at the end of your day.
  • Build a cubby in your backyard using fallen branches and leaves and old pieces of material.
  • Have fun with a camera, smartphone or tablet. Use ‘slo mo’ for a bird flying or ‘time lapse’ for a snail moving.
  • Endless things to do with sticks. Why not dig in the soil, pretend it’s a wand, build a nest, use wool and make a Ojo de Dios or yarn stick.
  • Mix leaves, herbs, flowers and water to make potions in your garden. Crush in a mortar and pestle to release the scents. Experiment with different colours and textures.
  • Gather up old pots, add water, dirt and a few bits of nature and make some soup or mud pies.
  • Make nature boats using bark, leaves and twigs. Get a tub of water at home or float them down a creek.
  • Make a whistle from a stalk of grass. How else can you make music outside? Rocks, seed pods, sticks and water in bottles.

Grow

  • Grow sunflowers, strawberries or vegetables.
  • Plant seeds in old yoghurt containers and watch them grow.

Staying safe outdoors

Safety is important when playing outside. To ensure you stay safe and enjoy your time outside, a bit of planning can make all the difference to your adventures:

  • Dress appropriately. Check the weather forecast, and wear comfortable clothes and sturdy shoes. Consider packing spare items - you may get dirty and in colder weather you want to be comfortable.

  • Be sun smart. Regardless of the temperature, make sure you check the UV rating. UV rays can't be seen or felt, and can damage your skin even on cool or cloudy days. Check Bureau of Meteorology’s daily UV Alert or download the SunSmart app to keep track of UV levels.

    Sun protection is recommended whenever UV levels reach 3 or higher:
    • slip on clothing that covers as much skin as possible
    • slop on SPF50 or higher, broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen
    • slap on a broad-brimmed hat
    • seek shade
    • slide on sunglasses.

    For more information visit SunSmart.

    Bring water and healthy snacks. Playing is hungry and thirsty work! Make sure you have enough food to keep those tummy rumbles at bay and to stay hydrated in warm weather. Make sure you take any rubbish home with you.

  • Be alert for snakes. As the weather starts to warm up and we head outdoors, it’s also the time for snakes to emerge from their winter slumber. Be careful near long grass, hollow logs, water, or rocks in sunny positions. Stick to wide paths, watch where you step, and do not walk through long grass. Snakes hear vibrations and not sounds, so practice stomping really hard as your play outside to warn snakes you are nearby.

    If you see a snake, don't panic. Stay still at first, then back away quietly and slowly.

Technology and nature play

Technology is often seen as the enemy of nature, but perhaps we need to reconsider this view? It's about ensuring that children engage in active screen time, rather than passive consumption.

Screen technology can support children to interact with and learn about nature. Use apps to take photos or record birds, or join citizen science projects like recording frog calls or bird sightings. Technology used in these ways can been seen as a bridge, rather than a barrier to nature.

Hear Dr Jo Bird discuss technology and nature play:

Watch on Youtube

It's important for parents to understand technology that children are using to ensure their safety. For more information on children and technology safety Visit eSafety Commissioner website:

Nature apps and online communities

  • Aussie Bird Count - The Aussie Bird Count is a fun, easy way for all of us to take a national snapshot of the birds we see and start noticing the nature around us. With just 20 minutes, you can help build a picture of how our feathered friends are faring and contribute to something that really counts.
  • Echidna CSI - Although an iconic native Australian animal, we do not know much about echidnas’ wild populations, as they are extremely hard to find when you’re actually looking for them. You can help fill in the gaps!
  • Frog ID - Our frogs are under threat from habitat loss, disease, and climate change. Record frog calls with the free FrogID app and help gather essential information to better understand and conserve Australia’s frogs.
  • Geocaching - Join the world's largest treasure hunt by using the Geocaching® app on your smartphone to find hidden containers (known as caches) all around the world. Sign the log book, then put the container back for the next person to find.
  • iNaturalist - The iNaturalist app lets you can upload images of each different plants or animals you find. Every observation is shared with scientists to help them understand more about our natural environment. All you have to do is observe.
  • VIC ROCKS - A little bit of creativity and nature play right here in Victoria. Hunt for painted rocks in parks and playgrounds, or paint some yourself to hide for others!

Helpful links

Free resources

Back to top