Teaching Children to Care for the Planet: Sustainability at Redfern Cottage
Young children are natural stewards of the environment — they’re curious about nature, enthusiastic about caring for things, and remarkably open to the idea that the choices we make every day affect the world around us. At Redfern Cottage, we build on that natural curiosity through a sustainability focus woven into everyday learning, from the materials we use to the conversations we have.
Why Environmental Awareness Starts at Preschool
Habits and attitudes formed in the early years tend to stick. Children who grow up understanding that natural resources are valuable, that waste has consequences, and that small actions matter are far more likely to carry those values into adulthood. Early childhood is a powerful window for building this awareness — not through lectures, but through hands-on experiences that make sustainability feel normal and meaningful, not abstract.
Learning with a sustainability lens helps children develop:
Environmental awareness — understanding that the natural world is worth caring for
Responsible habits — recognising the value of recycling, reusing, and reducing waste
Creative thinking — using natural and recycled materials to create opens up inventive, resourceful thinking
Connection to the natural world — handling natural materials like leaves, bark, seeds, and soil builds a sensory and emotional connection to nature
Science thinking — observing how natural materials look, feel, and behave introduces early scientific concepts
Sustainability in Our Everyday Program
Across our rooms at Redfern Cottage, sustainability is embedded into creative and play-based experiences rather than treated as a separate topic. Our Tiny Wanderers explore colour and art using natural resources and recycled materials alongside traditional craft supplies, building an early familiarity with sustainable choices. Little Explorers deepen their understanding of shapes and the natural world using natural resources, discovering how leaves, bark, and found objects can be tools for learning as much as any manufactured toy.
Our older preschoolers engage in deeper sustainability conversations — exploring recycling, what it means to care for the environment, and the practical ways our choices affect the world around us. These discussions are always age-appropriate and grounded in experiences children can touch, sort, and interact with directly.
Sowing Seeds of Change
Literally as well as figuratively — seed sowing activities are a wonderful way to bring sustainability, science, and patience together in one experience. Children learn that growing things from scratch requires care, time, and the right conditions, a lesson that extends well beyond the garden bed.
Continuing the Conversation at Home
Families can extend this learning in simple, everyday ways: letting children sort the recycling, choosing natural materials for craft at home, growing something small on a windowsill, or talking about where food comes from. Children are naturally receptive to caring for the environment when the adults around them model and discuss it openly.
Together, We Grow
At Redfern Cottage, we believe that the children in our care today are the environmental custodians of tomorrow. If you’d like to learn more about how sustainability shapes our program, get in touch with our team — we’d love to share what we’ve been doing.
