Parents always want the best for their children. For Bavanie Suppiah, 35, this means ensuring her kids not only have the space to play and learn, but also opportunities to develop a genuine bond with nature.
However, finding a playgroup in Malaysia that aligned with environmental ethics was not easy. Many, she noticed, were doing more harm than good to the environment.
"Most playgroups rely on artificial materials and create a lot of wastage," explains Bavanie. "Some organised visits to petting zoos which don't align with international standards of animal welfare." "I also noticed that playing with real sand and nature elements were missing in these playgroups," she adds.
Faced with these limitations, Bavanie decided to create a solution. Drawing from her lifelong passion for the outdoors and hands-on learning, she started her own nature-based playgroup and gave it the name pokok, which means tree in Bahasa Malaysia. "The name reflects my love for trees and to me, pokok sounds more fitting," says Bavanie.
Passion into purpose
Bavanie's interest in animals and nature began at a young age. She once aspired to be a veterinarian and even worked in veterinary clinics when she was older. However, she was unable to live up to this dream.
Despite achieving straight As in her SPM, Bavanie was not accepted into any public universities that offered a veterinary course and due to financial constraints, she could not attend private universities. "I ended up reading law because my friend said I could still work with animals by fighting for their rights, but that didn't end up happening," says Bavanie.
After working in a law firm for a year, she felt it wasn’t meant for her and so, she sought a different path. “Life was hectic. I barely had time for my son. I needed something that allowed for a better work-life balance,” she says.
She realised her love for nature never faded and set on to do something that involved going back to it. “Between 2013 and 2016, I led hikes, gardening projects and outdoor games for my son and children around the neighbourhood,” says Bavanie.
She eventually found the flexibility she needed by going into real estate. She was able to focus on both work and discovering scenic areas by going off-road cycling and hiking.
“In 2022, I joined Cava, an organisation for camping and volunteering adventures, and carried out adult-oriented hiking and camping trips along with clean-ups. I also had the chance to work with notable conservation societies including Kapas Conservation Society, Reef Check and River Serendah,” she adds.
Each experience made her further committed to environmental management and equipped her with useful skills to implement in her playgroup. But a difficult pregnancy in 2023 brought everything to a pause.
After Bavanie recovered, she officially founded Pokok playgroup in 2024.
Nature-based community
Tuesdays are for forest school activities. “This is where children get to play in nature and engage in tasks like tree bark rubbings, mud kitchens, painting berries with non-toxic paint and much more,” says Bavanie.
Thursdays are dedicated to hiking. Hikes are done on a weekday specifically so that the children can have freedom of movement without getting rushed by the weekend crowd.
“I choose easy trails so that the kids can hike independently. Along the way, I point out mushrooms, burrows, birds, butterflies and other creatures and tell interesting facts about what we spotted. I also try to incorporate story times to keep the kids interested,” she states.
Saturdays are reserved for themed messy play sessions. “We try to mainly incorporate natural materials in each station like sand, mud, flowers and kapok (silky fibre obtained from the seed pods of the kapok tree). We also put up stations that involve a lot of balancing and motion such as slacklines, swings and hammocks,” she says.
“Occasionally, I organise special field trips like going to see horseshoe crabs in the wild at Port Dickson beach or private tours of Baya Weaver Birds at Cyberjaya,” she adds.
Pokok's reputation has grown steadily, attracting like-minded families and receiving great feedback.
"I have a regular participant who travels weekly from Kuala Lumpur because she wasn't able to find any nature-friendly ones in the city," says Bavanie.
"Many parents who joined have told me that their kids have improved in terms of physical health and communication skills. The parents also observed that their kids are more independent and love nature," she states.
Throughout the short time Pokok playgroup has been operating, Bavanie has had some meaningful moments that make her efforts all worth it.
"It makes me so proud and happy when a kid can show and identify a particular kind of bird or flower. I had a two-year-old who could identify a kingfisher bird just from its sound," says Bavanie.
"Also, it might seem simple, but it gives me a sense of accomplishment when the children voluntarily pick up any trash they see (even if it isn't theirs)," she adds.
What began as a mother's passion has transformed into a caring, ecologically mindful community.
Bavanie hopes that more children and parents will fall in love with nature and take action to preserve Malaysia's natural beauty.
