Enjoying a fire in nursery.

I have now been lighting a fire with my nursery class for over 10 years and at this point it feels very much part of the routine of the class. Before we ever light an actual fire we spend time teaching the children how to move safely around the fire, so as a class we sit round the fire pit and practise how to move seats by walking around the back of the seating area and not moving across the are circle. At present my class of 27 children are still in 2 smaller groups of 14 and 13 for 2 hours per day, so we use this settling in time as the perfect way to introduce fire safety and have a fire while in the smaller groups. 

We have a high percentage of children from a Newcomer (English is not their home language) this year so it is even more important to have lots fo practise time to make sure these children have grasped the rules. (If need be we have had families come in and run through the 'rules' with they child in their home language).

After a few run throughs we felt the groups were ready for a real fire and decided to start with the best science experiment of all times - popcorn. The children were so excited to have a fire but were a little disappointed when they saw the 'raw' popcorn - one child said 'My popcorn at home is big popcorn', so it was wonderful to allow them to see, hear and smell the transformation of the kernels. No matter ho many times I cook popcorn I always love that 'Ooooh' moment when the lid is lifted and the children see the 'big popcorn'. We have had 2 fires now with this class, popcorn and toasted brioche. They love the ritual so far, gathering around the fire pit, watching me set and light it and waiting to see what will happen to the food we are cooking. 

I regularly have other teachers come to visit on our fire days so they can see how it all operates and I am glad to say most if not all, go back to their own settings and begin to have fires with their classes. 

'Snow' such thing as bad weather!

Bear Woods in the Snow.

Every week we have an outdoor day when the class spent the majority of the day outdoors no matter what the weather and this week it was a cold, icy and a little snowy - not very deep or fluffy snow but snow none the less.
The children enjoyed exploring the playground and making mini snowmen, balancing on the crates and tree stumps even though they were slippy and pulling each other on the plastic sleds.

 

Instead of a big fire we did some tin can cooking, which I first heard about from Martin over at Highway Farm Activity Centre, the children enjoyed dipping apple and mini marshmallows into the melted chocolate - next time we'll use cocktail sticks instead of skewers.

Before heading inside for a story and a lovely hot dinner, some of the children who were still in their rain gear, headed up the hill above the nursery to visit Bear Woods and make some snow angels on the grass. 

Bananas and chocolate on the fire.

In 2008 when I first tasted a chocolate filled banana cooked on a fire I was amazed at just how tasty it was. I hoped that some day I would be able to try cooking this with my nursery class & when we got our Haba outdoor fire it was one of the many things we attempted to cook with the class. 3 years on, it was time to introduce this culinary delight to a whole new class. They were allowed to put 2 squares of chocolate and 2 mini marshmallows into their banana - they all chose to put both into them. These don't take very long on a hot fire and after around 10-15 minutes they were ready to eat. 
In hindsight, the fact that most of the children don't eat bananas, it was ambitious to assume they would eat them this way - they all did try them, I think the lure of the chocolate tempted them but the majority didn't actually like them. However, 7 children and myself thoroughly enjoyed every bit of them!

Not one scrap of banana left!

I think we'll stick to toast & teacakes with this class - though we are going to try beans next week!

A toasty day!!

I think this is for cooking fish but it's perfect for toast!

This year we have our outdoor day & cook on the fire on a Thursday when we have a wonderful parent co-working with us. This week we decided to cook some toast & offered the children a choice of butter, jam or cheese - or all 3 in some cases!

This class are incredible at all gathering together as soon as I begin to set the fire, they get the mats out & place them round the seats & then all get a place & sit chatting to each other as the fire lights & we begin to cook. 
They are incredibly good at waiting as it can take some time for 26 children to all get their piece of toast & some were asking for more before others had even had their first slice.

They all agreed that they could taste the fire on their toast & next week we'll break out the teacakes & toast them for a real Christmassy treat!!

A bit watery but toast none the less!

Afterwards some children went over to the forest area & began to cook their own toast, using sand, leaves & water & this part of the their play always makes me smile as they try to transfer what they experienced into their new play scenarios. It is wonderful to think that these children can play cooking on a fire with real first hand knowledge.
As we spend the whole morning outside, they get the chance to play for a much more extended period of time & even managed to discover the joy of walking on the Bottle Babies too!!

A perfect outdoor day!

If I am honest, Wednesday & Friday are my favourite days of the week, mainly because these are the days we spend the most time outdoors; on Wednesday we visit Bear Woods & then stay out onto lunchtime & on Fridays we plan to cook something on the fire & again stay out all morning. 

Admittedly some outdoor days are not as much fun as others, especially if it is very wet or cold but so far, this school year we haven't had to abandon the idea of the fire because of too much rain. 

Today, however was a perfect day for bring outside, it was dry & not too cold if a little cloudy. We didn't have a chance to glimpse the partial eclipse but it was a bit surreal for 10 minutes as it got quite dark.

I love getting cooking ideas from the Internet & so far we've discovered chocolate stuffed bananas, ice cones with chocolate, marshmallows & fruit & apples with butter but I think today we found our favourite treat ever - toasted tea cakes!

I had seen them on Mud Pie's page just before Christmas & was determined to try them but then forgot about it until I saw them on offer in a local supermarket a few weeks ago. I contacted Mandy over at Mud Pies to ask her how exactly she cooked them. Weirdly enough, she had just cooked them again that very same day & was able to share some great photos & tips with me.

We had some hot chocolate first while the fire was blazing & then waited until the flames had died down & placed 7-10 tea cakes at a time in the embers. Mandy had advised leaving them in for 30 seconds so the children had fun continue to 10 a few times! When we lifted them out it was so easy to just open the foil & give the children a spoon to dive in & enjoy.

As one boy said 'That was the best idea ever'! and I'd have to agree, so simple & yet so delicious. This is definitely one we'll be doing again.

The excitement of a new Cosy catalogue!

There are few things that feel as special as they did when I was a child, now I admit that I am lucky to work with preschoolers as I do get to witness many events through their eyes but it still doesn't feel as magical as my own childhood experiences!

Every year when my mum's Autumn/Winter Grattan catalogue used to drop through the door my brother & I would almost burst with the anticipation of what toys might lie within! We would spend weeks leafing through the toy section dreaming of what delights Santa might bring us that Christmas. 

Since then, nothing has ever made me feel that way until I discovered Cosy a couple of years ago!

In our school every teacher gets a set amount of money each Spring to spend on requisition, some approach this with as much enthusiasm as a trip to the dentist (in fairness for those teaching older pupils, it can't be that much fun) whereas I love this time, I pour over the various catalogues whittling down my wish list until it fits within budget. However in the past few years all the educational supply catalogues have started to look the same apart from the variety of prices & don't get me started on the fact schools in N.Ireland are charged more for the same products by a particular company!

BUT when I found a Cosy catalogue, on the recommendation of Juliet Robertson of Creative Star Learning Company, I knew I had found a new firm favourite. 3 years on, it is still the best catalogue out there, it is brimming full of quirky & affordable ideas. Almost every page has something I have been searching for & you can tell most new products have been inspired by other teachers, they are practical & you know the children will love them. 

Cosy are a young company & full of enthusiasm, their products are fun & practical. My all time favourite (for now) is the bread crate dolley, I got one last year & my class had so much fun with it, to hear them laughing as they ride around on this whilst bouncing off tyres was brilliant. It is always hard to judge products from a photo & sometimes you need to see them in action to actual see how 'worth' it they are. I know of a colleague who bought a bread crate dolley after seeing it in action in my playground as she had passed by it many times in the catalogue.  

In the latest catalogue I have many new favourites & a long list of 'I have to have that' items but I'll have to wait to see what budget I have this year before making my final decision. However, here are a few of my favourites:

New improved Tuff spot den covers, I love my tuff spots & always encourage the children to see how they can play under it as well as on the top. Turning them into a little quiet hideaway within a busy classroom will help many teachers as we struggle to accommodate more & more children with sensory issues. But it will also create another play area for everyone, we all know children love to feel out of sight of adults.

Various outdoor nature buntings, there are trees/leaves, wild flowers & birds to choose from. I can see these becoming a big feature of many playground fences.

I just have to get some marshmallow forks, much more environmentally friendly than always using throw away skewers.

A quirky favourite are the impressionist lollipops, I can just imagine these dotted around the playground or Bear Woods in my setting. And best of all they can be decorated by the children too to make them more personal to your own space.

I love the wavy log sets & think they are fantastic value but more importantly,the hollows will create ready made spaces so more pushing & shoving to get settled on a log!

My N.Ireland humour is drawn to the metal bin lids!

Having seen the natural number line planks used as seating in a friend's setting I now know they have so many uses.

The rustic number line planks used as seating at the incredible Highway Farm Activity Centre.

In this latest catalogue there are loads of resources for older children to take the learning outdoors e.g. A natural fraction set - genius!

So, if you are the kind of person who can get lost in an educational supply catalogue for a few hours, make sure you ring 01332 370152 & order your own copy today. I promise you won't be disappointed & how could a company based in a building called The Chocolate Factory not appeal!

Embracing outdoor play in Winter.

It is of course very easy to advocate for outdoor play in nice weather, when it is dry & mild - warm enough to be outdoors without coats etc. but let's be honest, it is harder on the colder, wetter days.
This week Winter really arrived for us, light snow, thick ice, sleet, driving rain, gale force winds etc. and yet we managed to be outside every day & the children enjoyed themselves & had fun in all those different types of weather. Now of course some children do feel the cold more than others, about 2-3 children tend to get very cold & need lots of extra clothing to help them stay happy outside for the hour. But honesty, the majority are so well dressed for the cold that they are more than happy to play outdoors & could probably stay out longer than the hour if necessary. And then there are about 4-5 children who are the hardiest I have ever seen, they are the ones playing with water even on the coldest days & if their gloves get wet, they just hand them over to get dried & put on another pair!
This week started off with really thick ice, our school is opposite a lough (that's a lake to most people) & so when the moisture of the lough comes across to the car park it turns into a skating rink. It was weird to hear the ice cracking as the cars drove onto it at drop off time & although our playground is more sheltered than the car park it was still covered in a layer of ice. I believe that it is important that the children learn how to walk on ice - it is a skill many adults never learned & that's why you see people creeping along on the footpaths etc. So, whilst we did treat the safety surface which ironically given it's name is treacherous in icy weather we left the tarmac for the children to negotiate for themselves. It was incredible to watch some children gingerly moving about whilst others were able to run about on it. The children enjoyed cracking the ice to expose the green safety surface below. 

On Wednesday we had arranged to walk up to the local nursing home to sing some Christmas songs for the residents & post Santa letters, this has become a real Christmas tradition for our class & the home has an amazing winter wonderland display in the foyer for the children to enjoy before posting their letters in a post box. It was horrendous weather that morning, driving rain & strong winds & we had been through a set of rain gear before 10.00. This is when I am grateful to have 2 sets as by 11.15 when we were getting ready to walk up the hill to the home we needed to get all the children into the second set to help keep them warm & dry on the walk. They had fun marching up the hill, stamping their feet to keep warm. They sang for 2 lots of residents before getting some buns, crisps & juice & posting their letters to Santa, then we braved the wintery weather again for the walk back down the hill for lunch. We did learn that the clumps of bushes dotted along the roadside offered lots of protection from the wind & we certainly missed them on some parts of the road.

We had a light dusting of snow on the Friday & it was sweet to hear some children planning to make a snowman - it was like icing sugar - and I suppose to a 3 year old that is what you do with snow, no matter how thin it is. It was lovely sitting in the snow with the fire lit waiting for the milk to heat up for hot chocolate and the children were fascinated by the way the 'snow' melted under any of the object set down on it.

A perfect circle left by the milk pan!

If this week proved anything to me it's that this class can truly enjoy any weather & make the most of it without too much complaint.

Outdoor Play Party - Winter fun!

Welcome to another Outdoor Play Party, it is so hard to believe it's December & there are only a few weeks left of 2014, time really does seem to go faster & faster every year!
I have just under 2 weeks left of first term & it is incredible how the class has become one big group & enjoys exploring our outdoor spaces & enjoying having a fire in the playground.

So far this year we had just made hot chocolate on the fire but last week we got round to toasting marshmallows & plan to make some toast this week. The children were all brilliant about not touching the fire but loved getting the chance to toast their own marshmallows. I then found some giant ones in a local supermarket so we will have to try toasting them in the New Year!
We had been on trips off site to our partner school for 2 weeks so hadn't been up to visit Bear Woods until this Wednesday & the children were so excited to be getting back to explore this little space. It really never ceases to amaze me how much they love this space & I was able to give a presentation recently to other teachers about making the most of unused spaces within school grounds & it really brought home to me how much the nursery class has gained from this little slope of land being developed just for us. A few weeks ago Mrs Carson & I had taken part in a willow den building morning at An Creagán, after all the support that Peter their biodiversity officer has given to the school we felt like giving something back to An Creagán & gaining some new skills. It was lots of fun & we managed to bring some smaller willow sticks & Mrs Carson built a little mini den up in Bear Woods. The children enjoyed sitting in here reading books this week.

Every year I like to let the children decorate the small bush in the middle of the playground with coloured baubles - it always looks so effective when decorated & cheers the playground up on gloomy, winter mornings.

My favourite post from the last Outdoor Play Party was from Cuddles & Muddles & Muddy Puddles, this post showed how children can be entertained for a long time with a few simple natural resources - sticks, puddles & mud.

"Now it’s time for this week’s Outdoor Play Party. We would appreciate it if you included a link back to this post (either in your post or sidebar) to help us spread the word about the importance (and fun!) of outdoor play! In return, we’ll gladly further share your post on Pinterest. Please feel free to grab the Outdoor Play Party button from the sidebar and/or include a text link back. Please note that by contributing you are giving permission for an image and link to your post to be republished if featured.(If you have been featured, please feel free to grab the ‘featured at’ button from the sidebar.) Share your ideas for outdoor play activities with us every other week!"

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Outdoor Play Party - A whole new class!

My new class are now all one big group now, they have been in school for almost 7 weeks & in the big class of 28 for just over 2 weeks. It never ceases to amaze me how different each class is & how they use the space in unique ways - this is the one aspect of my job that I love & the reason why it never feels like I am doing the same job year after year.

This class has 17 boys & 11 girls but it doesn't feel that way, the girls so far are the more dominant force in the class, they decide what games will be played & where & when, the boys tend to trail after them. So far hide & seek & chasies (tag) seem to be the most popular games - I honestly don't ever remember a class introducing hide & seek either by themselves or this early in the year. They love the mud kitchen & after a really dry September, they have embraced the rain of October & loved having water to play with in the kitchen. Mrs Carson's dad was good enough to make us a water station for the kitchen from a couple of pallets & some of our Cosy bowls.

Our new water station - adds a new element to the mud kitchen.

For the first time ever, the children began to try to climb the willow dens - 2 boys started climbing up the inside like spiderman but then realised they couldn't go too far inside & moved outside, one got right to the top of one of the dens. We could have stopped them but as the willow are very strong & they'll only be able to see the branches to climb in the Autumn & Winter, we decided to let them get this climbing urge out of their systems. After a week some are still climbing the dens sporadically but it's not like all 28 are lining up to scale up the dens.

We have had 4 visits to Bear Woods & 2 as a big class & they are enjoying this space as well. The ropes are proving a big hit but so are the books that we have in 'we go' storage system on the fence. 

The 'We-go' storage system allows us to have books, gloves, hats etc. to hand in Bear Woods.

We have also had a practice run with the fire circle - where they learned about not running across the fire circle & how to move from seat to seat by walking around the back of the logs.

Then on Friday we had our first fire - a disposable BBQ - when we cooked some popcorn. Considering it was the first time it went very well & only a few forgot about how to move about the seats without crossing the fire. I had picked up a load of mouse mats at the scrap store over the summer with the intention of using them as seats up in Bear Woods but they have proved perfect for the fire circle when the logs are damp & it saves having to make everyone get into their rain gear just to sit on the logs.

Mouse mats make perfect seat pads on damp days!

As the weather gets colder & damper it will be interesting to see how this class reacts to the challenges this will bring & how it will impact on their play.

A very kind past (and future) parent made this new seat for us!

My featured post from the last Outdoor Play Party was from Mommy Crusader & her Knights & Ladies - you can read about their scavenger hunt over here:

http://mommycrusader.com/country-themed-scavenger-hunt/

Any kind of children's outdoor play-related posts are welcome!

We'd appreciate it if you included a link back to this post (either in your post or sidebar) to help us spread the word about the importance (and fun!) of outdoor play! In return, we'll gladly further share your post on Facebook/ Twitter/ Pinterest. Please feel free to grab the Outdoor Play Party button from the sidebar and/or include a text link back. Please note that by contributing you are giving permission for an image and link to your post to be republished if featured.(If you have been featured, please feel free to grab the 'featured' button from the sidebar.) Share your ideas for outdoor play activities with us every other week!

An InLinkz Link-up

Outdoor Play Party - Guest Post 5.

For the final summer Outdoor Play Party guest post, I am returning to the inspirational Lesley Romanoff, Director of Takoma Park Cooperative Nursery School.

"Sit Stones" and concentration cards along with a book I used for inspiration, "A Handful of Quiet" by Thich Nhat Hanh

Networking helps with Planning

Over the summer I began planning for our new school year and how to introduce different components that will expand our outdoor education.

Lots of different ideas were swirling about, many inspired by a session led by Amy Beam at the Irvine Nature Preschool Conference. I used our international staff meetings with Kierna (Learning for Life) and Martin Besford (Highway Farm Activity Center) to work out details.

First things first – we introduced cooking campfires last year and then worked out the hiccups during our Summer Tinkering sessions. Both Martin and Kierna have a collection of great things to cook over the campfire, so there were plenty of ideas to share about good things to eat!

After the summer sessions were over, Kierna and I talked about how each time we were scheduled to hold a campfire a few key things would happen; to begin, we both agreed that the fire consistently signaled the same thing to the children -- as soon as the fire is lit, the children gather ‘round and instantly settle. It is a very easy, quiet time and storytelling is a perfect fit. The other thing that would happen is that I would find out that I had forgotten something inside the school, like a hot pad, the tongs, or I would have to make several trips back into the school, for matches or platters. We both agreed that having a bin that held all the gear needed for a campfire session in one place. After talking it through, we put together a list of must-haves from materials to light the fire, safety (I have a fire extinguisher, protective hot pads, and a fire blanket), to utensils and prep items needed for cooking.

Inspired by both Martin and Kierna, we will be offering regular sessions for nature studies that will include components of dramatic play, art, adventure, and simply enjoying the outdoors. We will begin these sessions slowly (another thing I learned from these two) working at first in our own play yard and then moving out, as the weather cools, to our local park grounds.

I have worked out plans for the children to create their own knapsacks that will also serve as seating. These knapsacks will hold a clipboard, a pen, and a small muslin bag that I have personalized for each child. Inside the bag is a small stone for each child to use as something I am calling a “sit stone.” We will use these stones as a way to begin each session outdoors. I also made small cards to fit inside the muslin bags along with the stones which will help the children visualize different components of nature as they sit with their stones. Later they can use these cards to find something that matches during their play (I made both color cards and object cards). We will use the clipboards, pens, and paper to document their discoveries and play.

This Summer work brought about a lot of idea sharing and inspiration. Now school begins and the real work will bring about new ideas and inspiration. I am glad that I have Martin and Kierna to share both the successes and the failures and get their feedback as we go along!

Once again thanks to all those who supported the last Outdoor Play Party by linking up or leaving a comment. My featured post from the last one is from Wild Family Fun - 3 generations went hiking up Pen-y-Fan & the photos prove how much the youngest family member really enjoyed this challenging experience.

• Any kind of children's outdoor play-related posts are welcome!

We'd appreciate it if you included a link back to this post (either in your post or sidebar) to help us spread the word about the importance (and fun!) of outdoor play! In return, we'll gladly further share your post on Facebook/ Twitter/ Pinterest. Please feel free to grab the Outdoor Play Party button from the sidebar and/or include a text link back. Please note that by contributing you are giving permission for an image and link to your post to be republished if featured.(If you have been featured, please feel free to grab the 'featured' button from the sidebar.) Share your ideas for outdoor play activities with us every other week!

An InLinkz Link-up