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Outdoor Learning For Early Years – The outdoor environment can have tremendous value when it comes to inspiring mathematical play and learning. There is a whole world of possibilities, free from the confines of the classroom. Outside, children have more opportunities to play on a bigger, bolder and louder scale, making it a place where we can inspire future mathematicians. However, it is important to highlight that ‘outdoor maths activities’ need not only be indoors, but outdoors. The outdoors is important in its own right as a place where children can be inspired to engage in rich, meaningful activities.
Natural, outdoor treasures lend themselves wonderfully to outdoor math activities. Here are some ideas to get you thinking…
Outdoor Learning For Early Years
These items can be included in a range of play experiences that influence mathematical learning and development. The range of outdoor math games is huge but here are some ideas to get you started…
Actions School Systems Can Take To Support Children’s Outdoor Learning
A clay kitchen area is rich with opportunities to develop mathematical language and thinking. It is a place to weigh, measure, tip, flow, find language related to time, count, sort, compare and use money. Children love to treat acne and will naturally experiment with volume and quantity. They will learn about quantity, deciding how much water they need compared to the clay – perfect clay pies are a fine art! Children will also look at numbers in numbers, jugs and cookie books, counting spoonfuls of dough, how much mixture is needed in a cake tray and using language related to size.
The humble stick can offer a lot of potential for mathematical learning – the more you have, the more mathematical possibilities! Use them as a measuring tool, letting kids find something that’s taller, shorter, longer, or shorter than their stick. Task them with measuring how many sticks long certain objects are (short sticks are better for this!) – How many sticks long is the table? How long is the cable rail? Sticks are also great for counting, sorting and comparing. They can also be used to create shapes or frames, great for temporary art or playing natural notes and crosses.
Make a collection of rocks and write numbers on them, or maybe use wooden cookies or even hessian squares. Then the children can arrange them to form a number line. Next, challenge the children to find the correct number of natural objects that match the numbers. It is also great for developing children’s observation skills.
Getting kids involved in creating an obstacle course is a great way to encourage them to think about the space around them. They will consider what fits in the space, the space required, the shape and height of the items and how to attach the equipment. When children are participating in an obstacle course, adults can introduce positional language such as in, on, under, over and through. Add some extra challenge by introducing a timer, measuring who comes first, second, third, etc.
Outdoor Learning In The Ecc
Encouraging children to find you a set number of objects is a way to encourage them not only to count but to subdivide them. They begin to recognize what ‘2’ looks like, for example, and to do so they don’t need to count anymore. It’s also a great way to practice listening and focusing skills!
The role of adults is to encourage children to be excited about outdoor math, whether it’s cold and wet or dry and sunny. Adults can facilitate an environment rich in opportunities. This is where children feel safe and ready to engage with the world around them. There are a variety of interesting resources, experiences that offer challenge and risk and appeal to all the characteristics of effective learning.
Adults play an important role in observing children, assessing their progress to build a picture of how learning can be enhanced through scaling. These observations also enable adults to make sense of the environment – how, where and when children engage in mathematical play outdoors and whether there is room to improve provision and practice.
An understanding of how valuable the outdoors is as a way to increase children’s interest in mathematical play is important. This is where practical observations, critical discussion and monitoring come in. Some adults may find outdoor play challenging and need support through professional development opportunities. Sometimes, it’s as simple as just taking it back to basics and making the most of what you have around you or things you’ve gathered yourself outside of the setting.
Why Free Play Is Crucial For Early Years Children
The adult is an encourager, supports children to ‘go’, learn in play and hold hands. There are opportunities for learning through sensitive, timely communication. This is particularly valuable in terms of language development, a key focus in the revised EYFS. Outdoor math can inspire a lot of rich language related to size, shape, length, weight, space and patterns. Adults can create vocabulary patterns, offering language that children can add to their vocabulary bank and use in a variety of contexts, indoors and outdoors. For example, think of mathematical words to describe a humble stick. On their own, children can use ‘big’ and ‘small’. However, adults can offer many other words such as big, big, small, thin, narrow, think, stubby, curve, etc.
The outdoors is a place to truly understand mathematical thinking and concepts. Hands-on activities enable children to experience and build confidence in their skills, as well as put their skills into practice. It is a method of problem solving, testing ideas, challenge and risk as well as social learning. The outdoors is a place of freedom, awe and wonder, and a place to develop an inquiring mind. Outdoor math activities.
We hope you got lots of ideas to take away from our outdoor math activities post. Don’t forget to tag us in your math setup.
Tags: outdoor play, outdoor math, play and learn, numbers, early math, play-based learning, math, tennis frame, counting, outdoor math activities and 1000 hours outdoors, early childhood teachers know how An inspiring outdoor play space for kids can be created on a budget so if you are looking for some ideas this blog is for you!
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No need for a big budget or fancy materials, just a little out-of-the-box thinking and a commitment to upcycling and recycling! Some projects require some basic crafting skills but others can be done by anyone with a little effort.
Outdoor play areas that draw children to explore, experiment, and build are those that typically have a combination of fixed spaces as well as open spaces and many opportunities to access open-ended materials. There are, which they can visit, rearrange and add to the places. Different ways to improve their game.
In the MyEmpowered Educator Community on Facebook we have many dedicated members who regularly share their outdoor playgrounds and projects with us, and each month here on The Empowered Educator website we present a collection of some of the great ideas that our community has come up with. have inspired – and I hope sharing them inspires you to maybe try something different in your early childhood environment or backyard.
Keep in mind that everyone has a different space, skill set and budget to work with and the idea is not to get bogged down by what others have created but to come up with some basic ideas and a little inspiration to create something that works for you. can do The playground is different.
The Importance Of Play And Outdoor Learning In The Early Years
Misty shared her beautiful secret garden with us. His garden invites exploration and the engagement of the senses … it includes an element of touch, taste (fruits and vegetables) and smell (herbs).
Veronica shared these photos with us after updating her outdoor area. He introduced new shelves and plants, many new spray bottles, cups, spoons, squeeze bottles and rocks, shells, twigs, and pine cones for his sand and water tables.
Davina shared her spacious outdoor play area, complete with sensory bins and an outdoor kitchen. I love the simplicity and textural element of wood!
Erica shared her natural play area and outdoor kitchen – a wonderful little secret space at just the right height for toddlers.
Think Outside The Classroom: Revelstoke Schools Go Outside To Learn
Janelle shared her creative outdoor music hub – a great example of how to create a simple yet fun learning and play resource using upcycled materials.
Melissa made an outdoor music wall – the kids can grab some sticks and bang each object to make different sounds.
I bet this secret cave is popular in Jenny’s outdoor play area! Little imaginations grow in outdoor spaces!
Renata from Renata’s Family Daycare always inspires with her dedication to creating exciting outdoor spaces. This outdoor nook is a lovely relaxing spot for the kids to spend some quiet time on their own or with a special friend.
Outdoor Learning In The Early Years: Management And Innovation: Bilton, Helen: 9780415454773: Elementary Education: Amazon Canada
Teigen shared the beautiful outdoor space she created for kids to relax and spark imaginative play.
Thank you for the water wall of Joe! I think it is very popular in the summer.
Jade shared her engaging outdoor art area. I absolutely love the table – what a wonderful place to gather
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