Our outdoor learning area
Catherine MacMillan, Bowmore Primary Pre-Five Unit, writes about a recent project.
In 2004 we began fundraising to develop the entrance area of the school with the aim of it becoming an outdoor learning area for pre-five and Primary 1–3 children. It was a long and sometimes challenging project, which has paid off as the area was officially opened in September 2006.
Community ownership
Throughout the whole process there was full involvement of all children, enabling them to become effective contributors and confident individuals. Parents, staff and the wider community were also involved. During our first discussion with the pre-five children we asked them what they would like to have in an outdoor play area. We recorded their suggestions and then did the same thing with their parents before comparing their ideas. The similarities were amazing!
The older children in the school were also involved in the project, for example in the design and setting up of the area. This developed a sense of ownership/community throughout the whole school.
The local community were very supportive throughout the project from helping with fundraising and planning to designing playground markings and setting up the equipment.
Transition supported
Staff quickly realised the potential this project had for furthering their transition programmes both from parent and toddler to pre-five and from pre-five to Primary 1.
The local parent and toddler group became involved in our fundraising activities and are now encouraged to use the area as part of the induction programme.
As the area is for pre-five and infant children it also helps with the children’s transition into Primary 1 as it is already a familiar environment for the children that they enjoy using. It has also been a nice way for the children to meet the older children as well as the infant teachers as we sometimes use the area at the same time.
Areas for learning
From an early years perspective the area offers fantastic opportunities for investigation and discovery play throughout the whole curriculum. We have incorporated different ‘areas’ for learning. There is a sensory area in which the children have planted a variety of plants which look, smell and feel different. One of the children’s favourite activities in this area has been number hunts. We hide tiny number confetti that the children search for, which they use tweezers to pick up and place in their little pouches.
Being creative
Our music area consists of a large turtle drum, chimes and metalaphone. We also have other instruments such as a thunder stick and boomwhackers! The music the children create outside is so different from what they do inside. The children can be really noisy and creative. The metalaphone often creates a church setting for role play as the children think it sounds like church bells.
In the role play area there is a beautiful wooden play house including furniture and dressing up costumes. We also have a log train that takes us on lots of exciting adventures.
In the physical area we have two springers, a climbing frame, swinging steps and a wooden bridge. This provides the children with a large area for developing their gross motor skills through play. Again it often becomes imaginative play – if you fall off the log stepping stones you will get eaten by the hungry crocodile!
Healthy eating
We also have lots of opportunity for planting. We have cold frames which are for bringing on our seedlings, flower beds, tubs and a vegetable patch. These areas encourage children to develop an appreciation for growing things and caring for the environment. It is a great way of enhancing children’s learning about healthy eating as it gives them hands-on experience and the opportunity to plant, care for and then taste different vegetables.
We have now started to develop our ‘wild garden’ where we will have lots of wild flowers which we hope will attract a variety of minibeasts and also birds, which we might catch interesting footage of in our birdcam.
Inside the sandpit
We have a large sandpit which offers the children the opportunity to actually get into the pit, unlike the sandpit indoors. Many learning opportunities can be planned for this area but many unplanned opportunities also arise – we have dug to find the pirates’ lost treasure (silver stones that we painted), we have planted pretend flowers in terracotta pots for the play house and there have been many, many more activities.
The children also make fantastic use of ‘old bits and pieces’. For example, they love to use old bits of drainpipes and duck tape to make tunnels for the cars to go through. These children are learning about solving problems and learning to collaborate with others as well as developing their fine motor skills and much more.
The area is used to complement our indoor environment, which means we meet all children’s interests. For example, one child last year did not particularly enjoy art and craft activities indoors but loved using the big paint brushes and rollers outside on the art easels which are mounted on our fence.
Cross-curricular links
Our project has been an excellent way of enabling all children to become responsible citizens, incorporating the Eco Schools and Health Promoting Schools projects. The children are actively learning about health and wellbeing and they are enjoying being active and getting outdoors, not only in this new area but also in other exciting places around the island, including the woods and beaches. We have also been promoting environmental awareness by encouraging recycling. One exciting way we are doing this by making a greenhouse from recycled plastic bottles. The Primary 6/7 class have taken ownership of this project with the whole school contributing.
This has been a very exciting time for all involved; the benefits for the children’s holistic development are immense and the children are displaying a clear ability to be successful learners. It is obvious to see that this whole project has been based around the four capacities of A Curriculum for Excellence.
Staff and children continue to be very enthusiastic, thinking up new ideas about what we can do in our new outdoor learning area.
Find inspiration
Find inspiration
Case studies on Early Years Online show how some centres are taking learning outdoors.