Story from Children's Ground, Aus.

Children engaged in a rich, hands-on clay experience, creating animals and people using natural materials. They were supported to shape and mould the clay with their hands, exploring how to manipulate its texture and form. They added kwatye (water) when needed, discovering how this changed the clay and made it easier to work with. Using sticks, twigs, and leaves, they thoughtfully added legs and other body parts, bringing their creations to life. The children were deeply engaged and demonstrated enjoyment and creativity throughout the experience.

This play-based activity supported meaningful learning by connecting children to their environment and cultural knowledge. As they created, educators introduced and practiced language for the animals and objects being made, including inarlenge (echidna), apmwe (snake), thipe (bird), as well as kwarte (eggs) and antywe (nest). Through repetition and shared conversation, children strengthened their vocabulary and confidence in using language in context.

The experience was further enriched through storytelling, with an educator sharing a narrative about how the apmwe climbs a tree to hunt the thipe and its kwarte. This storytelling element invited children to use their imaginations, connect their creations to narrative, and begin to understand sequencing and relationships between characters. The idea of creating a storybook from this experience also introduces early literacy concepts and values children’s ideas and creations.

Overall, this experience highlights the power of meaningful, play-based learning. Through open-ended a strong sense of identity and belonging while fostering holistic development across multiple learning areas. of identity and belonging while fostering holistic development across multiple learning areas.