The Journey to Enchanted Childhoods

If you were asked to think of a favourite memory from your childhood, what would it be?

This is an exercise I have completed often with students in my developmental psychology class. Overwhelmingly, there are a few central themes that underpin people’s responses to this question. These are freedom, fun, and friendship in the great outdoors. Is this true of your favourite memories too?

Sadly, we know childhood today is changing. Aussie kids are now spending less time outdoors than ever before, with fewer opportunities for these lasting memories to be created. As a parent and educator, this concerned me as I know from my studies and research, as well as my own observations, how valuable time in nature and fostering a sense of care and connection with the natural world is for children's holistic development. So, we decided to do something about it.

While on maternity leave with my youngest son back in 2016, I attended a talk by Angela Hanscom, paediatric occupational therapist, about the importance of unstructured outdoor play for children, which resonated deeply with my own values and aspirations. If you'd like to learn more, she also has a great TED Talk you can view HERE. This led to us bringing Angela's TimberNook program 'down under', with our team at TimberNook South Adelaide providing hundreds of hours of transformative outdoor play experiences for children over the past six years. This experience strengthened our belief in the importance of time in nature for children as we witnessed the growth in their confidence, creativity, capabilities, problem-solving, social skills, and understanding about and appreciation for the natural world.

At the same time as running TImberNook programs, our family commenced a search for our dream home. We were seeking an acreage property that allowed us to be strongly immersed in and connected to nature and also to provide a wonderful space where we could care for a variety of animals and expand our program offerings into the future. In 2021, we were lucky enough to find an amazing property just outside of McLaren Vale, South Australia and knew it would be perfect for continuing our mission to (re)connect children with the wonders and beauty of the natural world. And so the journey to Enchanted Childhoods began!

Over the past few years we have been gradually making improvements to the property and creating new infrastructure so that we can share this beautiful space with children in our local community. We are now ready to launch Enchanted Childhoods programs here from our beautiful home base! Enchanted Childhoods continues our journey as a team to provide meaningful play-based experiences in nature that nurture children's learning, growth and development, while also fostering lifelong connections and caring for the natural world. Through Enchanted Childhoods we will also be celebrating the flora and fauna of our unique Australian environment, providing meaningful opportunities for human-animal interactions, and incorporating practices that enhance nature connectedness- which is emerging as a key determinant of psychological well-being.

What makes us unique is that:

• our explorers can connect with nature in a secure and private use facility

• we have access to nature play spaces, a large vegetable garden, a farm and a variety of farm animals, as well as our 'bush block' for wild play adventures and exploration

• we have an incredible outdoor classroom that allows for all-weather use of our site

• our team are highly qualified and experienced, having worked together for over four years facilitating outdoor experiences for children and bring to our programs a wealth of professional experience as teachers, early childhood educators, kindergym instructors, and researchers

• there is an intentionality to everything we do! Our programs are carefully crafted to provide opportunities for free play as well as structured experiences that have been thoughtfully chosen to support different aspects of children's development. Our programs are informed by the latest knowledge and science regarding children's development and the benefits of outdoor play

Enchanted Childhoods is about bringing a little of nature's magic to every child, and providing a safe community, where everyone is welcomed to be their unique and wonderful self. We are inclusive and welcome children who are unschooling, homeschooling, in school, neurodivergent, neurotypical, able-bodied or living with disability. The dandelion in our logo was chosen as it is a symbol of resilience, strength, hope and transformation and these are attributes we see fostered when children spend time immersed in the wonders of the natural world. We also selected the dandelion for their abundance (including in our play spaces) and because most children find them awe-inspiring and magical- an opportunity to make a wish- and this resonates strongly with our desire to bring a little of nature's magic to every child.

We hope you'll join us on the next chapter of our journey and help us to foster a generation who have abundant memories of freedom, fun and outdoor adventure to cherish as they grow up...

Elissa Pearson-Reed

Director: Enchanted Childhoods

Associate Professor in Psychology

PhD (Psychology) | Grad Dip Ed (Early Childhood) | Grad Cert (University Teaching) | B Psych (Hons)

References

McHugh, T., Litchfield, C., Pearson, E., & Le Busque, B. (2023). The Relationship Between Parental Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviour: Australian Primary School-Aged Children and Nature Experiences. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 1-18.