Re: designing an outdoor classroom/playground
Posted by Donna music/TN on 5/20/08
One of the child care programs I do music at has one, and I
love it-and I've noticed that in each age group there's one
class which seems to use it more than others, and those kids
just seem to have more to say and tell me about each week than
the one which does a more structured curriculum.
It's really just a LARGE section of land, fenced off, with
trees and grass for the children's use. One part of the grass
is allowed to grow a bit more, so the kids have a jungle. The
kids go outside, collect leaves, play in snow, observe bugs,
dig in the dirt, climb trees, and this Spring grew a garden.
There's also a rope swing in a tree, but mostly the goal is
just to let the kids interact with and explore the outdoors.
Not a lot of props or materials, although sometimes they'll
take things outside with them, like art materials to draw what
they see, kites to fly and the like. But overall, the kids are
playing with nature and with things that come from nature, and
not much else. The kids really love it, and the kids have the
hardest time coming in from the "outdoor classroom" when I call
them for music (I only take part of a class at a time)-even
harder than they do on the playground with equipment.
The kids all have boots to keep at school to wear outside when
it's wet, snowy, etc. Usually there are 2 classes out there at
the time, or about 40 kids, ranging from 3-5 yrs old, just
interacting and playing.
Having seen this, I've been more aggressive at getting my own 3
yr old outside as the weather warms up, and she, too, can play
for hours with dirt, leaves, rocks, sand, water and the like.
Posts on this thread, including this one
- designing an outdoor classroom/playground, 5/19/08, by Heidi Head Start WI.
- Re: designing an outdoor classroom/playground -long, 5/19/08, by pktchr.
- Re: designing an outdoor classroom/playground, 5/20/08, by Schari.
- Re: designing an outdoor classroom/playground, 5/20/08, by pktchr.
- Re: designing an outdoor classroom/playground, 5/20/08, by Karen PK GA.
- Re: designing an outdoor classroom/playground, 5/20/08, by Donna music/TN.
- Re: designing an outdoor classroom/playground, 5/26/08, by Heidi Head Start WI.
1996 - 2008. All Rights Reserved. Please review our