Outdoor Spaces for Learning and Play

Outdoor Learning Area

Please help keep our Outdoor Learning Area organised & tidy.

The following photo's and video show how the Outdoor Learning Area was used in 2019/2020 and how, if you are using it this year, we would appreciate it being left and organised. We have reduced the amount of loose parts available, due to COVID 19, but staff should make their own risk/benefit decisions about what should be used and taken onto the site.

Creating clusters of similar materials makes it easier for groups using the area to tidy up and leave everything in the correct place and ready for the next class.

The area has been populated with a variety of loose parts that complement play in a natural space and provides a wide range of scope for learning and play for children from nursery to P7.

If the same group uses the area regularly, they will experience working in different seasons and weathers.

When classes are halved like the one in the video below, the group in the classroom enjoy more focussed time with their teacher and the group in the outdoor learning area benefit from having their learning reinforced in a different environment.

In the session shown in the video below, the teacher asked the PSA for the outdoor session to be used to reinforce whole word recoginition and sequencing of days of the week. Cooperative learning, team work and problem solving eventually lead the group to realise that one of the days was missing. Video 20 seconds

Balance Course for learning and Play

The planks and stumps are moveable and children are able to make up their own balance course. Nursery children play on this after nursery, so the children are asked to leave the course in a way that is suitable for nursery children to play on.

The planks can be reorganised to make a fire pit.

The uneveness of the planks makes them challenging to balance on, but this also makes them more fun.

The planks also make a good base for a number line.

Tyre Zone

Tyre Flower

With the smaller tyres arranged around the big tyre the children describe it as a tyre flower. This helps them to remember how to replace the tyres if they have been moved. The tyres are used to balance on, hide and store things in and as a learning base.

Learning Base

The tyres here were used as a learning base for these children exploring 3D shapes.

Group Base

This area is designed for a large group to sit down.

Creating a routine for the Outdoor Learning Area is really important. We always start our session here with a briefing and learning demonstration. We end our sessions by lining up behind the same tree and on the way back to school we stop in the same places to check the group number and if everyone is safe.

Smaller groups and individuals use it as a learning base or for playing in as a den or house.

Whilst the other children are free playing on the rest of the Outdoor Learning area. The Group Base can be used by the adult for 1:1 learning.

Mud Kitchen

Our mud kitchen is just a table with pots and pans, but it has provided hours of fun and imaginary play opportunities. At the end of the session all the pots and pans should be gathered up by the children and put onto the table top, so they are ready to be used by the next group.

Cable Drums

Large clusters of cable drums means you can have large groups learning together and provides an opportunity to take out activities such as science or crafts, that might make the classroom messy. The cable drums are also fun to climb and balance on.

Skills for work activity

Pipes

Children collect water and put it down the shoot. They will sometimes race the water or put things in the pipe to slow it down or change the course of the water.

The pipes are stored alongside the fence where the children can have free access to use them.

Mud Pit

The mud pit is surrounded by large logs at the top of the slope. This is the only place that children should dig as there is not enough grass space for them to dig holes all over the area. There are 4 spades that are stored in the brown cart at the bottom of the hill beside the pipes.

Long sticks

Long Sticks should be placed around the designated 'long stick' tree in a den shape.

The long sticks can be used in situ like the photo above, to make a den or moved for other activities or den building. At the end of the session, all the long sticks should be put back around the 'long stick' tree for the next group to use.

Shorter sticks, Large stumps and stones

The double tyres are used to provide storage to shorter sticks, planks and logs. The large stumps are often chosen by the children as a learning base or to make a den that is open topped. Being so close to the mud kitchen often leads to pots and pans being brought into the area to make a 'home'.

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