Our secret garden – a space for wonder, ako and empathy
Nestled behind our centre is a secret garden, that is tucked away from the busyness of the world. Throughout the day this space is used by our tamariki, Kaiako and the creatures that live within it. In the mornings the preschool classrooms can be seen making their way out of the main entrance, through the carpark and into the garden eager to discover what is waiting for them to find. At lunch times you may stumble across Kaiako and the chef having their lunch breaks in the sun, amongst the vegetable gardens. It is a space to pause, reflect and just be
When venturing to our secret garden the children understand there are rituals to keep them safe, to protect and to nurture our beautiful space. The children pride themselves upon their understanding of these boundaries, often working collaboratively to kindly remind their peers of these rituals and the valuable meanings behind them.
Before each visit the children gather to discuss the secret garden, revisiting what they remember from our last visit. On our way to the garden the children continue this discussion, pointing out landmarks that we use to recognize that we are going in the right direction. This has proved to be another point of connection to the community and world around them.
Through our regular visits to the secret garden the children have had the opportunity to build a relationship with this space. They have created a sense of familiarity with all of the plants and other forms of life that occupy the area. As we arrive the children are immediately drawn to the certain trees and plants. Sometimes this is because they look exactly the same and create a sense of familiarity. Other times it is because they have noticed changes to the plants with showing either concern or excitement. Showing care and concern for this space is reflective of the loving, nurturing relationship between the children and the secret garden.
Many of the preschool investigations have blossomed from this strong connection to the secret garden. One such investigative interest arose from the children’s interest in what was growing in this space and why and how it had come to grow there. From there we stripped this back to the basics and started our in depth study into seeds.
We posed the questions ‘what is a seed’ ‘where does it come from’ and ‘how does a seed know what to grow into’. The tamariki expressed imaginative answers to these questions and during these discussions they created a lot of working theories building onto the knowledge they already had about seeds and plants. When it came to questions where they had no previous experience they started to come up with some very creative answers.
To further build on this special connection we then planned an excursion, with the help of some wonderful parents and made our way to a nearby garden centre. Here the children selected various vegetables and flowers for our secret garden, keeping in mind to pick vegetables that our chief could use as part of our daily meals.
The experiences that the children have gained in relation to The Secret Garden, have helped to instill a richer life-long care for nature and the environment around us. They have also built on their sense of belonging through actively taking part in something bigger and an ongoing project.
– Bear Park Kohimarama
If you’re interested in booking a tour to visit Bear Park Kohimarama, we’d love to show you around. Head to Book a Tour to organise a booking.
