From left, Eva, Ella, Lucy, Angus and Callum march off to water the plants. Picture: JOE MASTROIANNI
GUMBOOTS have become an essential part of the uniform at Somers Parade Kindergarten thanks to the addition of a new rain garden and active play habitat.
The environmentally-sustainable area was officially launched last Wednesday by children, parents and teaching staff at the kindergarten.
The project, affectionately known as the Somers Parade Singing in the Rain Garden, was made possible thanks to a $5500 City West Water Community Support Program Grant and funding from the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
Somers Parade Kindergarten Director, Liz Ryan said the new area included a classic cast-iron water pump that allowed children from the three and four year old programs and playgroup to pump recycled water along a shallow water run, and a rainwater tank stored in a seat.
“Water-play is an essential part of early childhood learning,” she said.
“They learn to pump, pour and empty water.
“They experiment with sinking and floating, and when they carry buckets around, they learn that things get heavy when they fill up,” she said.
“Playing with water offers endless opportunities for enjoyment, encourages social interaction, introduces sustainability and promotes both physical and concept development.”
Liz said rain gardens help clean and slow the rate of storm water entering rivers and creeks by capturing and filtering storm water through layers of sandy soil.
Rain can now be captured at the kindergarten in tanks and distributed in the garden where it is filtered and returned to the soil.
