The smoke from the fire drifted silently through the leaves of the trees as the first warm rays of sun began to peek over the fence, their dappled light playing with the smoke.  The outdoor environment was still and quiet, as if taking a breather, waiting in anticipation to be filled once again with joyful laughter, and the excited sounds of children at play.

The tell tale signs of yesterday’s adventures could be seen scattered around the yard.

A quick wander revealed nature in all its glory. Our trees are beginning to fruit,

strawberries ripen,

tomatoes producing the first of their crop,

the bean teepee has finally wound its delicate tendrils all the way to the top of the frame and the leaves are beginning to provide some cover,

and Daisy continues to sit patiently on her eggs in hope of new life emerging in another couple of weeks.

The children arrived to a cracking fire, and the sounds of birds welcoming them to another day.  The aroma of freshly toasted fruit bread filled the air and one after the other the children spent time at the fire, greeting us and each other, chatting, and enjoying the experience of toasting over the glowing coals, their bodies warmed by the fire.

Then the joy of spreading butter on the hot bread, and watching intently as it melted into a sweet delicious morning treat to enjoy together as we planned our day and watched the flames as they danced their mesmerising dance.

Giant bubbles blew though the air, a glistening rainbow of colours reflected by the light, there fragile silhouette ever changing as they flew so high they drifted out of sight, or until they were popped as the breeze pushed them towards a wayward branch or an excited child ….

There were more bugs and beetles discovered….

The ice cream shop, complete with bellowing street sellers anouncing their wares, was open to keep the early morning crowd satisfied…

Rose flavoured icecream by Rosie 😉 …

and the very exclusive rainbow unicorn icecream….

Our memorial totem pole now stands as a precious reminder of a special little boy  – Liam.  The totem pole was painstakingly created piece by piece, by last years kindy children, staff and Liam’s family under the guidance of a local artist.

It looks stunning standing proudly next to our Claude Walk boardwalk (our memorial to an inspiring lady who held a very special place in the lives of so many involved in our kindy, and who’s memory continues to make so many smile)  Today we added a plant to the top of the totem pole.

Surrounded by our newly planted native garden, it is a wonderful reminder of how precious life really is, and how we should always treasure every minute of it.

A few of us went for a visit to the shop to buy our very own wombat stew billycan and cooking supplies.

We took time to reminisce about the koala we saw down the road a few weeks ago, chatted to the lovely girls in the supermarket, admired the beautiful colours of the flowers that are growing across the road, and had a photo by our special outdoor kindy welcome sign as we made our way back ‘home’.

Our favourite story ‘Wombat Stew’ came to life today as we re-enacted the story and made our very own Wombat Stew on the campfire.  There were onion and freshly picked herb ‘feathers’,

goopy tomato paste and beef stock ‘mud’, sliced olive ‘flies’, pasta ‘slugs, bugs, and beetles and sausage ‘gumnuts’.

As we read the story around the campfire,

the animals added all the magic ingredients one by one.

The platypus added some billabong mud…

Then the emu added some feathers…

the blue tongue lizard added some flies….

the kookaburra added some slugs, bugs and beetles…

and the koala added some gumnuts….

we stirred it and left it to bubble away on the fire until it was cooked – even though when the Dingo took a sniff he howled and ran far away, never to be seen again!

The melodical chant of the familiar rhymes in wombat stew created a wonderful sense of belonging for all the children.

Our ‘wombat stew’ ready to be served….

The fire was a hive of activity all day today.  The children also made flat bread.  They carefully measured, mixed, kneaded and let it rise, it was then shaped and cooked.

lots was eaten straight away….

but there was still plenty to cook up and savour with our delicious wombat stew…

Flatbread is a definate favourite with all the children everytime we cook on the campfire.

Our recipe is simple and would be (nearly as) delicious cooked at home on the BBQ. Why dont you have a go with the kids.

Clay and natural materials were transformed by little fingers into amazing creations…

Yet more Wombat stew, a gigantic batch,  was made in the digging patch…

Everywhere you looked, children were totally engaged in the most wonderful learning experiences.  They constantly challenged themselves and others, worked together as well as played alone, encouraged each other, worked through their differences, managed risks, made decisions, negotiated rules, created games and led their own play in the most amazing ways….

There was lots of time for just hanging out and enjoying each others company…

and time to regroup as we snuggled up with our comfort kits and rested under the apple tree…

As I made the most of rest time and once again began the days blog under the shade of the tree…..

I also decided to hand it over to the children, and asked each of them to share their favourite part of the day with us…..

“sitting around the campfire” Hannah

“made a shell necklace with Maddy” Sienna

“swinging from the rope” Max

“Making icecreams and cupcakes in our shop” Tayisha

“making icecreams” Rose

“making wombat stew in the campfire and the digging patch” Oscar

“loved being the platypus when we read wombat stew” Taylor

“the campfire” Lyra

“i loved digging the wheel out of the sandpit when we got bogged” Jayden

“sitting by the campfire” Cam

“by the bonfire” Cassidy

“going in the digging patch and jumping in puddles” Madeline

“making flatbread, it tasted really good” Ari

Making flatbread, i made a circle” Eddie

Our day concluded with a good pack up so we could leave the environment ready for the bug groups first day of outdoor kindy tomorrow.

As parents and grandparents began to arrive, they joined us around the fire, we shared more wombat stew, and cooked marshmallows on sticks….

Then we all headed home.  Im pretty sure will all sleep very soundly tonight!

Written by Nic.