Nature Play Every Day

Even in the middle of the biggest Australian cities, somewhere not too far away, there will be a possum. Ringtail or brushtail, possums are among the most versatile and adaptable of Australia’s marsupials; living much of their lives over our heads in the suburbs, and even under our roofs. 🌿

Native to Australia, possums can be found in other countries around the world too.
At night they emerge from their nests known as dreys and criss cross their suburban territories in search of food, over rooftops, through treetops, and along power lines and fences avoiding the ground where they risk dog attack or being hit by a car.

Possums are mainly herbivores (plant eaters) favouring eucalyptus, wattle, leaves, fern, buds, flowers and fruit. They are also known to eat insects, moths, grubs, snails, birds eggs and even baby birds.

While possums are usually wary of people and do us little harm, they can make nuisances of themselves by eating fruit and flowers from our gardens and, in the case of the brushtail possum, by taking up residence in the ceiling space of our homes.

By taking a few simple steps, like possum proofing your home (and even providing a nest box), brushtail possums can become a harmless, welcome sight; and living proof that people and wildlife can be good neighbours.
Having a possum nesting box in your nearby trees is a great way to encourage these nocturnal marsupials to stay where they belong and out of your roof.

Possums prefer to nest in hollows in trees however it can take decades or even centuries for a natural hollow habitat to form and possums have fierce competition from others.
Installing habitat you have helped to create can be very beneficial to both humans and possums! Your children will love decorating the nesting box too with pictures of possums. Enjoy crafting ‘Junior Carpenters’ (A person who builds and constructs using materials).

Enjoy ! 😃

🙂Ring toss, also known as ‘Quoits’ is a fantastic indoor or outdoor game enjoyed by people of all ages. Playing Quoits can assist children in the development of their fine and gross motor skills and hand-eye coordination. 🙂

The wonderful thing about this activity is that you do not need to buy a fancy game from the shops. You can make a set at home to play with, by repurposing, re-using or upcycling bottles otherwise destined for landfill.

Please refer to the poster attached for ideas on how to make and play ring toss.*We advise using plastic bottles with young children.If you do not have bottles, you can poke sticks outside into the ground and make rings using native grasses.

There are so many fun ways to modify this game. If you want to turn this in to a Maths game, numbers can be written on the bottles and you can play first to ‘20’. If your combined numbers add up to more than 20, the player returns to ‘0’ and starts all over again.

Children will have fun making and modifying the rules to create their own games using Quoits.

Each bottle could have ‘tasks’ on notes inside them them. eg. unpack dishwasher, walk the dog, vacuum the house, make lunch.
You can even use this game to increase children’s physical activity with exercises written on notes inside the bottle: 10 sit ups, run around the house, 5 star jumps, 3 forward rolls, 20 step ups.

If you are brave, Quoits can be a fun game at night, played in the dark using ‘glow stick’ bracelets as the rings to toss.

Enjoy!

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**Please note, first day will commence on Saturday March 28th, in the meantime please refer to our previous post for '50 things to do with a stick!'**

50 THINGS TO DO WITH A STICK!

Named the ‘world’s oldest toy’ by the National Toy Hall of fame, the humble stick has been entertaining children for generations. The play possibilities are endless. We are sharing some of our favourite activities to do with the ‘fallen’ sticks you find next time you are out and about in the natural environment.