Outdoor Learning

Outdoor play is a vital part of childhood. When young children play outdoors, they naturally explore their surroundings, develop curiosities, and express joy as they discover what is around them.

There are many benefits of outdoor play for young children. Some include improved physical strength & coordination, increased imagination, reduced stress levels, opportunities for hands-on learning, and gaining knowledge & appreciation for the natural world.

As you head outside with your child, consider slowing down! Engage all of your senses. You will be surprised where your child's learning takes you!

Nature Treasure Box

Create your own nature treasure box from recylced materials! Take a nature walk with your family (respecting social distancing guidelines of course) and collect a variety of interesting and unique treasures. Bring them home and take a closer look. Document your treasures by drawing them and labelling them.

Gardening

Now that the spring weather has arrived (for the most part) let your child help with some yard work and gardening. Look for and notice new sprouting plants and buds, let them help rake and dig, and try to spot some little critters or bugs crawling around. Connecting with nature is such a wonderful thing!

Backyard Bird Scavenger Hunt

Visit this link: Backyard Bird Observation Sheet to find a helpful guide for all of the birds that can be seen and found in the Waterloo Region! Use it as a guide to observe and spot birds near your home or while out on a nature walk. Maybe you'll set up a bird feeder to invite birds to visit a tree in your backyard!

What signs of spring have you noticed?

Can you find shapes in nature? Can you make your own shapes using natural materials?

What patterns can you find or create in nature?

Chalk Activities

Do you have chalk at home? If you do, there's so much you can do with it while you play outside! Practise writing your name, letters, words, or numbers. Draw colourful pictures! Leave uplifting messages for others to see as they take walks around the neighbourhood. If you're looking for some fun games and activities to extend chalk play, press More Chalk Activities below!

More Chalk Activites

Chalk Writing

You will need: chalk, water, containers for water and paint brushes

Prepare by writing the alphabet in large chalk letters on your driveway or sidewalk. Encourage children to trace the chalk letters after dipping their paint brushes into water. By tracing the alphabet, blossoming readers and writers practice recognizing and writing the letters in an unconventional way.

2. Numbers and Loose Parts Activity

You will need: chalk, loose parts (e.g., rocks, pinecones, leaves, sticks)

Prepare by drawing 10 circles on the concrete with sidewalk chalk and number them 1-10. Place a small pile of loose parts nearb). Ask your child if they can put the matching number of rocks in each number’s circle. Help them identify numbers where necessary. You might also opt to have your child “trace” the numbers with the loose parts.

This activity promotes the development of one-to-one correspondence (the skill that assigns one item to each number). Students get to practice identifying written numerals and counting objects simultaneously.

3. Letter Tracing Activity

You will need: chalk, loose parts (e.g., rocks, pinecones, leaves, sticks)

Prepare the area by drawing the alphabet on the sidewalk or driveway (approximately 12” in size). Place a small pile of loose parts nearby. Model how to place the items along the lines and curves of a letter to “trace” it. Can they cover the letters completely?

4. Outdoor Math Game

You will need: family members, chalk, rocks

To enjoy some outdoor playtime with a learning twist all you need to do is create a math game in your driveway. You will need a large area of pavement or concrete, sidewalk chalk and five rocks. Draw a large grid with 30 squares and write 5’s in each of the boxes in the top row, 4’s on the second row, 3’s on the third row, 2’s on the fourth row and 1’s on the fifth row. Leave the five boxes on the bottom blank as that is where players would stand when they took their turns.

How to play:

A player takes turns standing in each of the empty boxes at the bottom of a row while holding a small rock. They then try to throw the rock into one of the numbered boxes in each row. A number does not count if the rock lands in a different row than the one you are standing in. For example, if you are standing in the first row and you rock lands on a five in the 3rd row, that does not count and you have to take that rock and take the turn again. Also, if a rock lands on a line that does not count and the player tries again. If the rock goes off the grid, the turn for that row is over and they get zero points for that row.

After a player has made throws from each of the blank boxes, they can jump to the numbers where rocks have landed and add them up. That number is their score for the round.

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