Professional Development

Professional development

Fun, practical, hands-on PD for early childhood staff

Our leading educators, scientists and ‘creative types’ can provide tailored professional development workshops on a range of sustainability or environmental topics, all linked to National Quality and Early Years Learning Frameworks.

We’ll inspire your team with ideas of how to engage children in fun, play-based activities that enable them to connect and contribute to their environment. We’ve got experience and case studies from all early learning age groups to share and can cater for different staff roles and experience.

Little Sprouts incursions are also a great way for your team to see environmental sustainability education in action – and gain ideas that they can continue to implement.

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In this session children will explore:
• reducing, reusing and recycling
• how paper is made
• why trees are important to people, animals and ecosystems
• the different steps to making recycled paper.
Children explore the topic creatively by working as a group to make several pieces of recycled paper.

Recycled Paper

Up to 1 hour, ages 3-5

*$357.50 (GST inclusive) for one session of up to 25 children. $9.90 per additional child.
*Book our extended seed card workshop (1.5 hours, $495) if you would like children to make their own individual recycled paper creation.

This activity introduces children to worm farming. They become familiar with different types of waste, including organic food waste and other material that can go in a worm farm rather than to landfill. This is a fun way to make rich fertilizer and mulch for the garden. Children explore what earthworms can and can't eat, the biology of earthworms, and how to keep worm farms healthy. They help to set up a mini worm farm at the centre to continue the practice.

*Rather than a mini worm farm, we can help your service to start or revive a worm farm during the incursion to embed this into your practices. Your centre will need to supply the worm farm. We will bring the worms and other materials.

Worm Farming

Up to 1 hour, ages 3-5

*$357.50 (GST inclusive) for one session of up to 25 children. $9.90 per additional child.

Children will explore:
• The different parts of a plant and the roles they play
• What plants need to grow and survive
• The diversity of plants (through sensory play)
• The lifecycle of a plant (through movement and music)
• How to plant a plant and care for this.
Children each get to plant a seedling to take home to their families.

Growing

Up to 1 hour, ages: babies-5 year olds

*$357.50 (GST inclusive) for one session of up to 25 children. $9.90 per additional child.
*$165 for a 30 minute session with babies or toddlers (up to 15 children) if we are already visiting the same day for other standard (1-1.5 hr) incursion/s.

Children will develop a basic understanding of the water cycle and where water comes from. Through play, they investigate different states of water and how much water is available for us as freshwater to use. They will then use this knowledge to demonstrate the water cycle through a science experiment, music, and dance. Children develop ideas for how to conserve water.

The Wondrous Water Cycle

Up to 1 hour, ages 3-5

*$357.50 (GST inclusive) for one session of up to 25 children. $9.90 per additional child.

In this session children become familiar with different types of waste, including organic food waste and material that can be composted to create useful fertiliser and mulch for the garden. Children experiment with how long different types of waste takes to break down and learn how to keep compost healthy.

Do you want help to revive or kickstart a compost system at your centre? We can include this in the incursion (compost system to be supplied by your centre).

Composting

Up to 1 hour, ages 3-5

*$357.50 (GST inclusive) for one session of up to 25 children. $9.90 per additional child.

In this experience children explore:
• what rubbish is
• different types of materials that waste is made of
• where waste comes from (who produces it)
• what we do with it once we don't use, need or want it anymore
• impacts on the environment from rubbish, particularly plastic
• refusing, reducing, reusing and recycling.

Children put learning into action by making a hanging garden at the centre out of old rubbish.

Waste Not, Want Not

Up to 1 hour, ages 3-5

*$357.50 (GST inclusive) for one session of up to 25 children. $9.90 per additional child.

This session encourages children to investigate water, where it comes from and where it goes. Children will act out the story of a river to explore how different activities can affect water quality. They will develop an awareness of the impacts of water quality on animals, plants, humans, and habitats. Children will share ideas for how they can reduce pollution and protect water quality.

The Story of a River

Up to 1 hour, ages 4-5

*$357.50 (GST inclusive) for one session of up to 25 children. $9.90 per additional child.

Children explore where we find water on earth and share ideas about how we, as humans use water. Through play, they investigate different states of water and how much water is available for us as freshwater to use. They participate in a filtration experiment to try to clean water and play a water savers game. Children develop ideas for how to conserve water around the centre and at home.

Water for Everyone

Up to 1 hour, ages 4-5

*$357.50 (GST inclusive) for one session of up to 25 children. $9.90 per additional child.

During this experience children will explore:
• What pollination is
• A range of important local pollinator animal species
• Why we need pollinators
• How we can help pollinators
Children will play a flower pollination game and put learning into action by making pollinator-friendly seed balls to take home, to help grow pollinator plants at home or in their local area.

Powerful Pollinators

Ages 3-5

*$357.50 (GST inclusive) for one session of up to 25 children. $9.90 per additional child.