Possum magic

You’re probably familiar with the magical story of Grandma Poss who made little Hush invisible to protect her from snakes. But what you may not have realised is that the possums’ trip across Australia to find out how to make Hush visible again is a wonderful illustration of the joys of inquiry-based learning. After some preliminary research in her memory and her books, Grandma Poss comes up with the hypothesis that they need to find the right “people food” to make Hush visible and they embark on a quest.

Through trial and error and true hands-on experiences – nope, it wasn’t the Anzac biscuits or the pumpkin scones – they finally find the answer to their question. A lot of what we and the children do every day is inquiry-based learning. Keep an eye out for mysteries that could send you and the children on a quest. And when you’ve found the last piece of the puzzle, you could celebrate the moment by dancing “Here We Go Round the Lamington Plate” till early in the morning.