Blue Flax-Lily: our 2027 Nominated Supervisor Diary cover, and 3 ways to explore it with children
Meet Dianella caerulea, the blue flax-lily on our 2027 Nominated Supervisor Diary, plus three easy EYLF-linked nature-play ideas.
Each of our 2027 covers is named after an Australian native plant. The Nominated Supervisor Diary wears Blue Flax-Lily, and here is a little about it, plus three easy ways to explore it with your children.
Meet the Blue Flax-Lily
Dianella caerulea is the tough, strappy lily you will find holding the edges of gardens and bushland right along Australia's east. It sends up sprays of starry blue flowers with bright yellow centres, followed by vivid purple berries, and its strong leaves have been used for weaving by First Nations peoples for generations.
We chose it for the Nominated Supervisor Diary because that is the role: the strong, steady clump that quietly holds the whole garden together.
Bring it into your program
Three simple experiences, each with a link to the EYLF so you can drop it straight into your planning.
1. Weaving with strappy leaves
Long strappy leaves (or wool and paper strips) are perfect for first weaving. This is also a respectful doorway to local Aboriginal weaving traditions, an ideal moment to connect with local knowledge holders or Elders and learn whose Country you are on.
EYLF: Outcome 2 (children respond to diversity and connect with community) and Outcome 4 (fine-motor persistence).
2. The purple rule
Flax-lily berries are a spectacular purple, and they are for looking, not tasting. Use them to practise the golden bush rule: we never eat anything we find without an adult saying yes. Then hunt for every other purple in the garden.
EYLF: Outcome 3 (children take increasing responsibility for their own safety).
3. Who hides in the clumps?
Grassy clumps are apartment blocks for lizards and insects. Sit quietly beside one and watch for movement, then build small-world clump homes from blocks and grass cuttings for the creatures you imagined.
EYLF: Outcome 2 (children become aware of the ways living things depend on habitat).
Notice and document
As the children explore, jot down their questions, theories and discoveries, and keep the service view in your Nominated Supervisor Diary. That is the Butler Method in action, planning from real interest and making the learning visible.
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