It’s mid-morning at Little Scholars Yatala, and a small group of children are crouched at the edge of the Albert River, watching something move in the reeds. One child points. Another asks what it eats. An educator crouches down beside them, in no hurry to move things along. A few metres away, a bridge leads toward the bushland that sits right on the campus’s doorstep — today’s destination, once everyone’s finished watching the water.
For these children, it’s an ordinary Tuesday at Kindergarten.
Why time outdoors matters for young children
Most parents remember a version of childhood spent outside: trees to climb, cubbies to build, grass stains that told a story at the dinner table. Plenty wonder whether their own children get enough of that today, sandwiched as it often is between screens, structured activities and reduced outdoor spaces.
Time in nature does real work for a young child, beyond simply being pleasant. It engages the body as well as the mind, balancing a child’s academic and social development with their physical and emotional needs in a way that’s harder to recreate inside four walls. A log to balance along, a hill to climb, a puddle to navigate around — each a small physical challenge, but they all build strength, coordination and confidence with every attempt.
There’s a cognitive and school readiness side to it too. Hands-on experiences in a natural environment — working out how to get over an obstacle, figuring out why a shelter keeps collapsing, noticing how a plant changes after rain — build critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are hard to teach from a worksheet. And socially, shared outdoor challenges tend to bring children together in ways that structured indoor activities sometimes don’t: cooperating to build something, taking turns on a climb, or simply sitting together to watch for birds.
There are countless opportunities for outdoor exploration at Little Scholars Yatala
Getting muddy with Outdoor Explorers
At Little Scholars campuses, outdoor learning is a cornerstone of the day, with the Little Scholars Outdoor Explorers Program, the group’s nature-based learning program that takes learning beyond the classroom. It has three parts, each suited to a different age and stage.
- Bush Kinder and Beach Kinder take children out into bushland and to the beach, connecting them with the natural environment through hands-on, meaningful experiences. Nature walks, bird watching, building shelters and learning about Indigenous culture, alongside plenty of climbing, scrambling and jumping in nature’s own playground.
- Babies and toddlers aren’t left out. Through Pram Kinder, the youngest children take in the sights, sounds and smells of nature from the comfort of four-child prams. This is an early, gentle introduction to the same outdoor world their older peers are exploring on foot.
Across all three, the aims are consistent: children get to explore and discover their environment, learn about plants, animals and ecosystems, build social skills and friendships, develop physical skills and, perhaps most importantly, grow a genuine sense of wonder about the natural world. Along the way, they also start to understand why looking after that environment matters, and what small part they can play in it.
Students at Little Scholars Yatala Outdoor Explorers program
Little Scholars Yatala: Where this happens every day
Little Scholars Yatala is the perfect setting for a program like this. The Albert River is within a stone’s throw of the campus, complete with a bridge and natural bushland. Children step outside and explore it with their educators as part of their routine, not as an occasional excursion.
On campus, there’s more than an acre of open outdoor space to match, with a veranda wrapping around the building to blur the line between indoors and out. The campus’s own outdoor classroom features a mud kitchen, a water play area and a sensory garden, built from natural materials like rocks, logs and sand — designed to feel like an extension of the bushland just beyond it, rather than a separate “outdoor time” bolted onto the day.
Set on a quiet street at Rivermount Drive, Yatala, the campus is within easy reach for families across Yatala, Beenleigh, Ormeau, Eagleby, Loganholme and the wider Logan and northern Gold Coast area — offering long day care and early learning, including the Queensland Government-approved Kindergarten Program, for children from six weeks to five years.
“At Little Scholars Yatala, stepping outside means stepping into a classroom that changes every day,” says Melanie Excell, National Operations Manager at Little Scholars. “With the Albert River and natural bushland right on our doorstep, a walk to the bridge becomes a lesson in birds, plants and weather, and a scramble over a log becomes a lesson in balance, courage and teamwork.”
Outdoor learning space at Little Scholars Yatala
Safety first
None of this works without careful supervision, and outdoor sessions are led by educators experienced and qualified in both outdoor education and child development. Every session takes place in a safe, secure outdoor environment, with clear protocols in place to support each child’s wellbeing. This allows children the freedom to explore, get curious and get muddy, with adults close by who know exactly where every child is and what they’re doing.
Questions to ask about outdoor learning on a tour
For parents trying to determine how much outdoor time actually happens, here are a few questions worth asking on a tour:
- How often do children get outside and does that include time beyond the campus fence?
- Who leads outdoor sessions, and what safety protocols are in place?
- How do the youngest children, still in prams, take part?
How does what a child discovers outdoors make its way back into what they’re learning in the classroom?
The answers tend to say a lot about how seriously a campus takes outdoor learning; whether it’s a genuine, daily part of the program or an occasional extra.
Read more about Little Scholars: What is an ‘Exceeding’ childcare centre? A guide for families
See Outdoor Explorers Bush Kinder for yourself
The best way to understand what Outdoor Explorers looks like in practice is to see it in person. Families can book a tour at Little Scholars Yatala to walk the grounds, see the outdoor spaces firsthand, and learn more about the Little Scholars Outdoor Explorers program.
Settling-in visits are also offered before a child’s first day, giving both children and parents a chance to feel at home before care begins.
Limited vacancies available. Contact 1300 896 139 or mylittlescholars.com.au.
