Sustainability Garden

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Cuddly Bear recognises the importance of children learning how to respect nature and its elements found within our surrounding world.

Educators’ can scaffold discussions with the children that build on their preconceived knowledge and skills to enhance their learning surrounding safety, life cycles, the natural world, and even everyday skills such as cooking. Our resident chickens play a pivotal role in our daily program.  Children can develop empathy by understanding the needs and signals of the chickens. They also learn about the importance of routine and discipline, which are crucial life skills. Creating a structured routine for our pet care tasks is essential in teaching children about consistency and reliability.

In addition, the people of the Kulin Nation believe that Bunjil the Eagle is the creator and protector of the land. At Cuddly Bear, we like to instil the value of respect for our country. Like Bunjil, we too must protect our local land to ensure it remains respected. Each Friday we gather together to engage in our ‘loving our country initiative’. After our service wide Acknowledgement to country around our yarning circle, the children break off into groups with educators and work collaboratively to achieve common goals. This may include raking, washing the playground, gardening projects etc. It is so wonderful to witness, and we are so proud of how children take ownership over the tasks. We hope we are making Bunjil the Eagle proud.