Taking Play Outside
The Importance of Play
"When we play, we are engaged in the purest form of humanity, the truest expression of our individuality. Is it any wonder that often the times we feel most alive, those that make up the best memories, are moments of play?" -Brown, S., Play, 2009
Play allows for us to express our joy and connect most deeply with the best in ourselves, and in others. The engagement that takes place during learning, more specifically learning outside, nourishes the social and emotional development in our children. The following activities have been carefully selected to encourage the expression and extension of children's interests and ideas.
Tips:
- Encourage your child to lead the play, based on their interests and/or questions
- There isn't a right or wrong way to explore the activities
- When asking your child open-ended questions, give them enough time to process and respond
- During moments of challenge or difficulty, support them by helping them to solve problems. Inviting children to engage in this way will support skill development and increased self confidence.
Taken from Let's Play, 2019.
Branch Weaving
Materials: Yarn, string, ribbon, nature (leaves, grass, feathers), strong forked branch
Sit Spot
Materials: All of your senses
A Sit Spot is visited regularly to cultivate awareness, expand senses and study patterns of local plants, birds, trees, and animals. The practice supports mindfulness, builds routine and increases focus.
Check out this video: Sit Spot
Extension: Create a sound map at Sit Spot connecting it to literacy.
Taking A Closer Look
Teach your children how to slow down, use their senses and observe what is around them more closely.
Materials: frames
Bioblitz
Activity: Choose a species and place. Count the number of different species there are in a predetermined time limit e.g. 24 hours. Collect data and record/graph. Discuss and track over time to determine if a particular species is thriving.
Resource: Whistler Naturalists BioBlitz
Loose Parts
Natural Materials: acorns, sea glass, sticks, logs, tree cookies, shells, feathers, seed pods, leaves, fresh and dried flowers, pine cones, chestnuts
Activities:
sort, create patterns, create shapes
representation of the value of number using natural materials and creating number and number sentences visually i.e. pinecones=100, leaves=10
For more ideas, check out:
Worm Bucket
Make usable garden compost from food waste and worms!
Story Sticks or Nature Bracelets
Materials: Sticks, clay or playdough, tape
Get stick or bracelet ready to stick items on.
As you go on a nature walk and see or experience something of interest, attach a piece of nature to your stick or bracelet. (i.e: small pebble)
At the end of the day, touch each item and tell the story
Visit: Making Story Sticks
Place-Based Legend/Folktale
Have a discussion about components of a legend. Discuss the kinds of settings and characters as they relate to place.
Go for a nature walk. Record names of physical features that are visible in the area looking high and low. Record names of plants and animals that are part of the local area.
Discuss that a legend originates from the local environment which explains why we wouldn’t use places or animals from another country in our legend if we were telling a local story.
Brainstorm list of local physical features and animals as a group.
Create an oral story about how a feature or animal came to be.
Creativity Metaphors
Think imaginatively about the flora/fauna of the forest by using metaphors.
For example, "This isn't a fern, this is a giant's toothbrush."
"This isn't a mushroom, this is a gnome's footstool."
"This isn't a tree stump, this is the gatekeeper of the forest."
Nature Journal
How to make a paper bag
NATURE JOURNAL
Materials: 3 brown paper bags, hole punch, ribbon/string, scissors
Place bags on top of one another, fold into a booklet, cut off the ends to create openings, hole punch and string ribbon to tie together.
Note: you can punch holes on the other side so that the journal can be tied closed. Reinforce these spots with tape or paper before hole punching so that the ribbon doesn’t tear through the paper when tying.
Go on a nature walk and use the book to document what is observed and found. Store found nature objects in the pockets of the jouranl pages. These journals serve as really great keepsakes and can hold a limitless amount of nature stories.
This CBC article explains how "risky play in early childhood can help develop a child’s self-confidence, resilience, executive functioning abilities and even risk-management skills."
Andy Goldsworthy Transient Art
Use found materials in nature to create art in the tradition of Andy Goldsworthy.
Flower Windows
Materials: clear contact paper or Plastic Wrap, an assortment of flowers and cardboard.
Flower Pounding
Materials:flowers/leaves, pounding tool (rock, hammer), heavy weight paper or fabric.
Place flower onto paper or fabric
Cover with another piece of paper/fabric
Gently pound with a rock or hammer
Remove top layer to reveal flower print