Rocks, stones and pebbles make wonderful loose parts. Early childhood is a time for climbing over large rocks and stuffing small ones into pockets. Some children collect interesting rocks, including precious stones and crystals. Their colours and shapes are mesmerising and magical.
The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) supports children connecting with natural materials (4.4) that promote respect for nature (2.4) and provoke curiosity, imagination, creativity (4.1), problem solving, inquiry, experimentation, hypothesising, researching and investigating (4.2).
Learning experiences
Weigh rocks
Collect some rocks and stones. Feel them in your hands. Guess which one is the heaviest and which one is the lightest. Now use a set of scales to weigh each one accurately. Was your guess correct?
Create rock-inspired art
View the Layers of the Earth Exhibition at Boorai, a children's art gallery in Melbourne. Use other children's artworks as inspiration for creating your own rock-inspired drawings and paintings. What do rocks look like and what materials and techniques can you use to represent them?
Leave kindness rocks
Kindness rocks is an international trend. Children paint rocks and leave them in the community for others to find. A message on the back of the rock usually asks the recipient to take a photo and post it to a dedicated Facebook page. However, you can make your own rules!