the role of play in environmental education

The Role of Play in ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Www.ConverseConserve.com

ENVIRONMENTAL

EDUCATIONAL GAMES, and

ACTIVITIES for teachers, school

camps, holiday programmes and

parents in the education for

sustainability (EfS) process.

PPT 2.

www.ConverseConserve.Com

Time to put all the ‘serious stuff’ aside and get back in to some play …

Time for a Play ‘Work-Out’

Two Obvious Benefits of Play in the context of learning -

(1) Play is something children do naturally!

(2) During play, children let their guard down and become more receptive!

In this presentation, we focus on Protecting Habitats

Sand play - habitat stories

Sand Play Inspiration

Reconnecting with Nature

Bringing material

on to a level children can engage

and emote with.

Enables the telling of a Story

Stories for empathy and behaviour change

• Stories convey information and arouse empathy.

• Empathy is the first step to creating MEANING and sparking

behaviour change.

• Story-telling teases out the personal (micro - empathy) and the

universal (macro – cause/effect, rationale) effectively

• Story-telling can be used in the context of SAND PLAY, DRAMA &

KIDS BEING TEACHER WORKSHOPS.

Connecting with Nature via Play is Instinctive

Sand-play preparation.

• Children supply toys (Fish/Animalia), plastic tub, twigs, plants from

the garden

• Teacher supplies sand, marine dried plants, seaweed (pref. imitation)

or these are made from recycled materials in craft class

• Sand play – use of smaller tubs or sand-pits, or in troughs with water

drizzling from a higher level (tin trough)

• A treasure hunt tale evolves or a sand play story is told …..

Sand–play story (marine life cycles)

• Seaweed flutters across the shallows of the sea water, only to catch the eye of a

fish floating by. The fish fossicks for the sea weed which it catches in its mouth.

It ventures out in to the deeper waters and swoops down to the sea floor where it

spies a sea urchin. Feeling generous, it offers the sea urchin some sea weed to

eat. The child can tell this story and act it out in their own words, and their own

way.

• This play activity needs a fish, sea urchin like creature, and some artificial sea

weed. Teacher asks pupil what is happening in their story, or story is told to the

group.

Young children will love that elephants as seed distributors ‘pooh out’ new

vegetation habitats. Cartoon courtesy : Rohan Chakravarty – Green

Humour.com

Elephant habitat sand-play story

• Elephants and their impact on other habitats – elephant forages through the forest (add dense trees).

• As it walks the elephant creates a pathway through, displacing bushes so grasslands form to sustain other species. Elephant’s deep paw prints fill with water, creating potential waterholes for smaller animals.

• Elephant dung is left behind, breaks down and seeds are distributed for regermination.

Tale of … Elephant Habitat trail

Reveal magic of elephant trail. Elephant footprints are MARKED on page to indicate path through the forest of elephants. Collect small sticks & leafy twigs to show where the elephant came through.

Collect bark - scatter about to indicate elephant dung – which disperses seeds for revegetation.

Collect grass and scatter next to the sticks to show new grasses are growing.

Help the elephant find the tallest grasses and draw on to page.

(Guess what forms inside the giant footprint when the rain comes?)

Required: poster size sheet of paper, drawing pencils, twigs, sticks, seeds, bark, grass, toy

elephants.

Habitats and Drains - Story

• Children tell uplifting story about what happens when plastic bags and other rubbish are picked up before they enter the storm-water drains -Pictures of pristine rivers, trees that are not strewn with plastic refuse are shown.

• One picture of a ‘gyre’ or oceans filled with plastics can be shown. Overdo these images - the problem can seem insurmountable.

• After telling the story – work out catchy slogans to promote marine health.

• One catchy campaign is – Take 3 for the Sea

Keeping Drains Clean = Keeping Seas Pristine

Adapt Games, Puzzles, Word Games and other activities

to include environmental themes

Make Greeting Cards, Bags, Party Hats,

Calendars, including eco themes

‘Mermaid’ Workshops about protecting our oceans. Student led Recycled Fashion

Parade using items from Op Shops dressing up as their favourite marine animals or

land mammal - AKA Bargain or Thrift Shops. (Georg Schobel Painting)

See our other Powerpoint Presentations

For other examples of Activities and Games to be played

All content by Nicolle Kuna, Creator and Writer for website -

www.converseconserve.com - blog and Educators’ page

Sea Anemones by Ernst

Haeckel

Thanks for viewing this Presentation. Visit our Educators page -

http://www.converseconserve.com

• Recycled materials were used

in the making of this

presentation including bread

ties, recycled cardboard, fish

poster, and printing done on

paper made from industrial

waste.

Andrew Ioannidis – Bug painting

Acknowledgements

• Baz Catlin for Starfish Photograph

• Kristian Laimmle-Ruff for Marine Photograph

• Rohan Chakravarty – Elephant Cartoon (via Green Humour.com)

• Ananda Marga Sunrise Child Care and Shenley Manor, Regis for photographs of the Sand Play tubs

• Wikimedia Commons for Paintings by Georg Schobel and Ernst Haeckel.

• Andrew Ioannidis for Bug Painting