Outdoor fun in the Southern Hemisphere

Outdoor play link-up - Guest post from Australia, Niki Buchan.

I was delighted to be asked to contribute a guest blog post for Kierna who I met in person while I was Head of the Claire Warden outdoor Nature Kindergartens in Scotland. I am now based in Australia as an Educational Consultant promoting consultation with children and the concept of children also having access to wilder spaces such as bush, beach and forest. Kierna and I still share our passion for naturalistic learning through Facebook and our blogs as I am the author of the blog Precious childhood and who knows...maybe one day we can do a shared blog when we meet up again in person.

 I am delighted to have someone with such an amazing background as Niki, guest post this week whilst I still enjoy my summer break. I feel privileged to call her a friend & colleague.

Children outdoors in Australia - any different to UK & Ireland?

Are children different the world over? As the children in the northern hemisphere celebrated the summer solstice, children in the southern hemisphere celebrated the winter solstice! Children benefit from being able to revisit the same space over time where they can shape their environment, build on past experiences and really notice seasonal changes.

Last week I was a visitor in this centre in Newcastle, NSW, Australia where children from the age of 2 years have access to a range of naturalistic opportunities. They engage in a variety of self selected opportunities that offer developmentally appropriate challenge and risk. Climbing trees, caring for the chickens, digging in the sand, using the woodwork shed, having a conversation in the garden and looking for frogs in the trickle creek are all experiences within the outdoor space valued by the educators and of course the children.

Our journey into the bush offered different learning opportunities - it was the unexpected surprises wild nature offers us that most engaged them. Muddy puddles, uneven tracks, birds and bugs, seasonal changes are all opportunities that invite closer exploration and the appreciation of the wonder of being in wild nature. 

Some of the children moved through this space at a fast pace while others wanted to explore in greater depth - some children were unable to follow through on their own interests with some being held back and others being rushed to keep up. I felt that this is a disadvantage of a journey to a specific site while having a time restraint...the temptation is to rush the journey. Nature time is children’s time and as adults we need to slow down and put in place strategies to support all children.

Once the group reached their destination some children were able to continue running and scrambling around a large circular track where they were at times not visible to the adults while others started to explore the space and soon discovered a slope resulting in happy children with muddy bottoms!

To support children not really engaging in the environment, I moved to a space that interested me and started to create a small basic structure on a log. I was soon joined by a number of curious children who took over the construction of what became a fairy house complete with roof, beds, lights, flower garden and, as we were in Australia........ sunshine and pet snakes! 

After having modelled this opportunity I withdrew to observe the play and of course identify the learning that was happening - all totally unplanned but so motivating to me and the children. While searching for loose bits for their creation some children noticed interesting features on some of the trees as well as a burnt tree trunk with holes - a perfect tunnel to go through. 

It was time to leave the bush but we noticed a ‘moving’ log - perfect for a future investigation, maybe leading to a natural see-saw or a teetering bridge .....more scientific explorations for children! 

 I have come to the conclusion that children the world over are motivated by similar experiences and learn in a similar way and that it is irrelevant what curriculum the adults create ....... children choose to keep playing and learning the way children always have! Thank goodness!

PS. I hope the Educators remembered that the children were expecting a miniature thank you letter from the fairies?

My favourite post from the last link up was from Kaisa over at Living Life and Loving It

I love to see children being allowed to enjoy being outside in all weathers & her photos of her family in the rain are gorgeous. 

 

 

How did your kids play outdoors this week?

• 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! The linky goes live every second Friday at 12:01 GMT+1. 

Outdoor Play Link-up - developing an outdoor area - Guest Post

It is my privilege and honour to be asked to write a guest post for Kierna on her wonderful blog. For those of you who don’t know me I am Greg Harvey, an early childhood teacher from Australia and author of the blog Males in Early Childhood.

I am taking full advantage of the summer break to take a rest from the outdoor play link up & am so delighted to have so many great guest bloggers that I could call upon to help me out. Once again, I have to say that the honour is all mine, to have Greg, a great cyber friend & colleague contribute to the blog this week.

It’s not very often you have the opportunity to revitalise an entire outdoor environment, yet recently that’s exactly what occurred at my centre. What was once very sterile and artificial surroundings have been transformed into a place full of natural materials presenting challenging and interesting locales amidst a serene and welcoming atmosphere.

As the work progresses you can see how the bland, flat and unfeatured playground begins to take shape as logs, stumps, rocks, balance beams, a creek bed, bridges and a stage all slowly form in front of your eyes.

You may also notice that here are convex mirrors, a reading circle containing sandstone seats, timber benches, a digging patch and a huge, kidney-shaped sandpit 3 times as deep as our previous one and more than twice the size all being added to this environment.

And if that wasn’t enough, there are some hidden treasures such as a fairy statue and a frog statue lurking in the gardens, a lizard lounging somewhere watching the children play, and a dragonfly keeping an eye on everything from its vantage point.

You probably won’t see some of these unless you visit in person, but to know that they are there paints a picture of a place full of imagination, wonder and adventure. You also cannot see the herb and vegie gardens that have been added to the once lone garden that existed before.

Now I can’t speak on behalf of the children, although if I was to make an educated guess I would say that they love their new outdoor environment. However, for me I have to say it’s at least as good as anything I’ve encountered during my relatively brief early childhood career.

Now I realise it’s difficult to make judgements about something you haven’t seen for yourself, but I think you would agree that the new look playground beats the old one hands down in every aspect of what an outdoor environment should offer.

A huge transformation like this is beyond most services, but there are some wonderful ideas that could be introduced to any play area with a little creativity and not too much of a shock to the budget. Some mirrors strategically placed, or a few creature statues located in out-of-the-way places, or the placement of logs, cut tree trunks and large rocks, or some timber balance beams and benches, or even the creek bed.

Some of these items would undoubtedly cost more than others, but much of it could be acquired reasonably cheaply through targeted campaigning for donations, discounts and volunteers to save labour costs. Actually, the possibilities are only limited by your imagination and determination.

So let’s get to it and provide all children with the outdoor environments they, their families and you deserve.

There were many brilliant outdoor fun ideas linked up again but the one that appealed to me the most was from  Making Boys Men . I've pounded pumpkins with golf tees but hadn't thought of doing it with melons! And to then use the melon shell as a container for the vinegar & baking soda fun - genius! There were plenty of ideas of what to do in types of weather in this post.

How did your kids play outdoors this week?

• 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! The linky goes live every second Friday at 12:01 GMT+1.