With a biomedical background, Niki has lived and worked in South Africa, and Scotland and has been calling Australia home since 2011. She has a great love for the outdoors and has been working with both adults and young children in very consultative, naturalistic environments both indoors and outdoors for more than 38 years. She is an award-winning author and has vast experience working directly with children and educators as an educator, pedagogical leader, head of centres, as well as founder and owner of her own childcare and education centres.
Niki works internationally as a conference keynote speaker, nature pedagogue, mentor and author and has been invited to work in the UK, USA, Canada, Iceland, Sweden, South Korea, China, New Zealand, Norway, Denmark and South Africa. Niki has developed a reputation as a strong advocate for children’s right to a high-quality childhood with a deep concern about children’s mental health and trauma. She trusts children as being capable and competent and believes children have a right to regular access to nature and to have their voices heard in matters that affect them. She is considered a leading voice in promoting Nature-based practice and is the author of “Children in Wild Nature”, adapted for the UK as “A Practical Approach to Nature-based Practice” translated into Chinese for China. She is also the author of “Adventurous Play”and co-author of STEM Detectives and the “Look, Look, Look Again” series of seasonal books. She has been commissioned to write a book on Behaviour and Well-being due to be published soon.
Episodes coming soon
As a guest on our new TTS Talking podcast series, Niki shares the importance of nature-based practice in the Early Years and the benefits of taking children’s learning outdoors.
