Growing With Trees

Boorloo📍

This inquiry with six-to-seven year olds began with children collecting seeds – small treasures that sparked questions about where they came from and what they might become. As educators, we followed this curiosity, listening closely to children’s theories and allowing the learning to unfold naturally. Over time, attention shifted from the seeds themselves to the trees that had gifted them. A potted tree, lovingly named Myrtle, entered the classroom and became a living companion. Through daily encounters, children developed a relationship with her, noticing her rhythms, changes and needs. Myrtle was not something to learn about, but someone to learn with.

This relational way of seeing extended beyond the classroom to the Meeting Tree, a place where children gathered, listened and returned over time. Through repeated experiences, the Meeting Tree transformed from a space into a place – rich with memory, ritual and meaning. Children began to understand trees as communities, noticing the many beings who live within and around them. They discovered that trees hold stories, relationships and interconnected lives.

Through slowing down, returning and paying attention, children developed a deeper sense of belonging. What began with seeds grew into an inquiry about connection – moving from noticing trees to knowing them, and from seeing themselves as separate to recognising they are part of a living community.