Search
Environmental Education NSW 2026
Donate

Early Years

Early years educators play an invaluable role in ensuring young children are active participants in living sustainably

Early years educators play a powerful role in shaping how children understand and care for the Earth and all that is in it. Embedding sustainability into early childhood services means weaving environmental responsibility, social equity, economic and political awareness into the fabric of everyday practice. It’s more than just recycling, it’s about nurturing children’s connection with the natural world, fostering a sense of agency, and modelling thoughtful decision-making. From nature play and waste reduction to family engagement and community projects, sustainable practices can be embedded across curriculum, operations, and culture.

By taking a whole-of-service approach, educators can empower young children to care for people, place, and planet, now and into the future. Early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) is understood to be ‘a transformative and empowering process actively engaged in by children, families and educators who share an ecocentric worldview’ (Elliott, 2014). A holistic approach to early childhood ECEfS involves sustainable practices, people and pedagogy. 

EE NSW is supporting early childhood educators through:

  • professional learning seminars and conferences
  • good practice case studies
  • advocacy and engagement in cross sectoral strategies

Resources


Sustainability audit tools


Sustainability Case studies 


UN Sustainable Development Goals

 

Nature play and sustainability are essential for fostering a deep connection between people and the environment. Australian immersive nature play programs (INPPs), sometimes known as ‘bush kinder’ or ‘nature play’, occur when children are provided with the opportunity to engage in child led, nature led and adult guided play in nature. INPPs invite children into a living relationship with the world around them. Through mud, water, sticks, stones, and stories carried by Country, children learn with their whole bodies, building curiosity, resilience, creativity, and care.

Nature play nurtures a deep sense of belonging and responsibility, honouring First Nations understandings that the land is a teacher and that all living things are connected. There is a strong research base to support the benefits of play in nature for children. Cited benefits include the following; health and wellbeing; increased social, physical and language skills; increased motivation, concentration, creativity, resilience and confidence; a sense of wonder, creativity, and problem-solving skills and deeper conceptual understandings and respect for the natural environment with early and meaningful connections perhaps leading to a stronger sense of sustainability later in life.

A fundamental feature of INPPs is that children and educators spend long uninterrupted periods of time on a regular basis in natural settings outside the usual service. Some programs might prefer having children and educators in one designated space, while others might prefer that educators and children walk to a site, with playful interludes along the way (Hughes et al., 2022). Children experience new ways of connecting with each other and nature. Lastly, nature play also provides opportunities for children to connect in meaningful ways to the local community, First Nations Peoples perspectives and Western and Indigenous seasonal changes. 

Case studies
As part of the Take Me Outside NSW program, early childhood services shared their stories about how they were delivering immersive nature play programs. Every service and provider had a great story to tell, captured in these case studies. 


Supporting guidelines


Resources and websites

Planting Seeds B& B Highway  people, pollinators, plants. Planting Seeds work to protect and enhance the natural environment by engaging people in urban, peri-urban and regional settings to plant and augment native vegetation that supports endangered pollinators, sustainability and biodiversity.

These NSW ECEEN case studies were developed as part of their EcoSmart program

Embedding waste and sustainability practices in early childhood settings is about creating meaningful opportunities for children to learn how their everyday actions impact the environment. It goes beyond sorting recyclables; it’s about fostering a culture of respect, responsibility, and care for the world around us. Through hands-on experiences like composting, reusing materials, reducing single-use plastics, and involving children in waste audits, services can build awareness and lifelong habits. By embedding these practices across curriculum, routines, and family partnerships, early childhood services become powerful hubs for environmental change and stewardship.

EENSW delivered a professional learning support program Tackling waste in your early childhood service was delivered as part of the 2019 – 25 Midwaste Green Leaders program, supported by Return and Earn.

If you are an educator looking to refuse, reduce and reuse waste in your service, these online resources may be useful:

Food waste

Plastics

Purchasing


Disposable & cloth nappies


Cleaning & Paper towel


Recycling

NSW networks 

NSW Early Years Nature Connections NSW EYNC provides a space for like-minded educators to network. We share experiences, professional learning, readings and resources. Our network includes educators of all levels of experience and qualifications. We believe in fostering children’s connections with nature through play and promoting the importance of education for sustainability (EfS). We promote EfS because we recognise the long-term benefits and consequences for the Earth.

NSW Early Childhood Environmental Education Network: ECEEN evolved from an early childhood advisory group established by the NSW Environment Protection Authority in 2003 to support environmental education in the early childhood sector. This voluntary network was incorporated in 2007, bringing together interested people and organisations to promote the paramount importance of integrating environmentally sustainable education into all facets of young children’s lives. The network engaged in advocacy, support and delivered a range of sustainability projects and professional learning opportunities. In 2022, the network wound up and will now operate as a special interest group within Early Childhood Australia NSW. The work of ECEEN will continue via regional ECA groups.

Across Australia 

Australian Early Childhood Sustainability Alliance The Alliance was established in 2016 to unite the professional, not for profit Early Childhood Education for Sustainability (ECEfS) networks across Australia as an advocacy voice for sustainability in the early education sector.

Early Childhood Environmental Education, Victoria Environmental Education in Early Childhood (EEEC) is a non-profit organisation, established in 1992, that provides support, resources and professional development in relation to Education for Sustainability in the Early Years. EEEC is run by a committed and passionate volunteer committee of management that actively strive to promote and advocate for education for sustainability across all areas of curriculum and educator professional development.

Queensland Early Childhood Sustainability Network, QECSN believes early childhood learning for sustainability is about having a vision, thinking for the future, empowering positive change with children, families and communities. QECSN adopts UNESCO’s broad view of sustainability that includes environmental, social, cultural, political and economic dimensions.

Early Education for Sustainability SA, South Australia

Little Green Steps WA, Western Australia is proudly run by a committee made up of professionals in the fields of education for sustainability (EfS), environmental education, and Early Years Learning. The knowledge and experiences of these members creates a powerful team equipped to assist you in your journey toward sustainability.