Why does the phrase “Drive fast, take chances” elicit both laughter and fear? Researchers have identified a kind of developmentally important play called “Scary Funny.” Listen to this engaging conversation between Occupational Therapist Kathleen Lockyer and Dr Mariana Brussoni, risk researcher from the University of British Columbia to learn more about how a little bit of risk can go a long way towards a child reaching their true potential.

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Length: 1h : 33m : 00s

Subject Area: Risky Play

This excellent resource from Scotland, clearly explains the Reggio Emilia approach in early years settings and asks what the Scottish early years education system can learn from this. Whilst relevant to Scotland, the reflective content can easily be applied to our own education system. The document explains why direct replication of the Reggio Approach would be both difficult and not recommended, yet can undoubtedly serve as a stimulus for much needed change within our own system.

 

 

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Subject Area: Reggio Emilia

With this App you need never be lost in a National Park, nor chewing through data trying to find your way out. Avenza allows you to download a selection of free or paid maps, then view and use them offline. You can record your movements including speed and elevation, track it in realtime and export the data.  Drop place markers at your location and measure the distance to an end point to work out how far you are from your destination. Avenza Maps allows you to take photos and plot them in your map and search for points of interest. There is an optional Pro subscription with advanced features but the average nature playing family will find the free version more than sufficient. Remember to familiarise yourself with the features in this App before you set off and ensure you have a fully charged battery on your device.

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One of the most comprehensive field guides to Australian birds is now available in App form as either a paid (large download) or free ‘Lite’ version with reduced content.  Features of the full version include 3000 hi-res bird images covering 790 bird species, detailed text descriptions including measurements and breeding behaviour, 1800 clear sound recordings for 600 species, the ability to filter a search by geographic location, the ability to compare any two images, maps, or sounds, side by side on the screen, a “Smart Search” to help identify a bird by distinguishing features, a personal species list that saves your bird sightings to your device and easy to use optimised controls. By eliminating the need for heavy reference books, this App is an indispensable field resource for early enthusiasts and serious birders alike.

 

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This easy to use App from FrogWatch SA contains a regional catalogue of frogs found in South Australia with species identification information including full colour photos and frog call audio. It also gives users the chance to contribute valuable habitat information to a public online database via the Frog Survey tool. The survey tool has provision to auto capture your location via GPS, allows for audio recording, picture taking and habitat information collection for each survey conducted. You can create groups, submit your surveys and read other people’s surveys easily from a map view.

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This fascinating dissertation from well known researcher Roger Hart is almost 40 years old but is as relevant now as ever. It is a beautiful depiction of life not that long ago which seems worlds away from the indoor, screen dominated, car-oriented lives of children today.

Hart spent two years in a small New England town, following and mapping children’s movement and perception of their landscape as they built cubbies, fished at the river, explored, biked and roamed. He became part of the neighbourhood as these children shared their most treasured and tucked away play areas, far from watchful parents. Footage taken of the children at play during this time can still be found on the internet. Thirty years later, Hart returned to the town where some of the children still lived, now grown up with children of their own. He found that despite their rather free-range upbringing, these parents would not dream of letting their children play unsupervised that far from home.

Hart makes some beautiful observations.

– “Small patches of dirt throughout the town are the most intensively used of all children’s places.”

– Children like to find small places, as “places of retreat, to look out upon the world from a place of one’s own, as places for experimenting with how to put things together… In each of these activities a child is probably exploring his or her relationship with the environment, both social and physical.”

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