Think back to your best memory of outdoor play.
When was that?
You might have been a child, climbing a tree or getting lost in creative play outside, creating worlds with your imagination.
You might have been an adult, on holidays or spending time outside with a child.
Smiling, laughing, open to adventure. Making time stand still.
Even if you feel a little “down” – a walk in the forest does wonders!
An approach to outdoor learning that considers experiences rather than equipment places children at the centre of the provision being made.
What if you could bottle that feeling and bring it into your every day life?
Babies are born with a brain full of neurons. Learning about the world through the five senses develops pathways between these neurons. The more of one type of experience the baby (and child) has, the stronger the pathway becomes. The stronger the pathway, the easier it is for a child to learn more about that part of the world, not just for now but for life. Pathways which are not used often, will eventually disappear.
Does outdoor play excite all the senses? Indeed! The perfect learning experience for children…building strong neural pathways…creating happy memories!
Some lovely ideas to engage children in while outside to excite all the senses:
- Making mud cakes – a favourite! Yes, messy – it brings hours of fun!
- Weaving – a great and inexpensive way to use old crates with wool/ other materials
- Using small world – making a dinosaur land
- Different sized and shaped logs, poles, sticks, wood shapes
- Blocks, crates, tyres
- Natural items – sand, water, leaves, stones, bark chip, earth, mud , clay, rock, shells, seeds
- Ropes and string of different sizes and lengths
- Different coloured, textured and sizes fabric, cloth, tarpaulins
- Mallets, pegs, clothes pegs
- Pulleys
- Baskets, bags, buckets, watering cans, containers
- Pipes of different shapes and lengths
- Chalks, charcoal, crayons, pens, pencils, brushes with water, paints, large paper or fabric, rollers
- Tools for digging, planting and caring for plants
- Tools and benches for woodwork and making
- Nets, bug pots & brushes, magnifiers, binoculars, trays, tanks
Have fun re-thinking and engaging parents to help change your outdoor area to become another learning area and fun experience for the children!
