It Not "Just Recess" Anymore!

Teachers often heave a sigh of relief when they take their students out to recess. Finally! The children can burn off the pent up energy they had been accruing for the past few hours indoors. But what if we change our outlook on outdoor play time? What if we create an outdoor environment that offered all of the learning opportunities that one would typically find indoors? What if children could run out to a well-planned play yard to find experiences in math, science, nature, dramatic play, water, building and construction, sensory activities, physical development, art and music? What if they play yard developed critical thinking, discovery, problem solving, and cooperative skills? The result would be that we wouldn't have "just recess" anymore. We would have The Outdoor Classroom!

Monday, November 28, 2011

Many Thanks!

I was so honored to receive a Nice Blog award from Vera at Make and Play. It is always such a treat to have a mention from another fabulous blogger :-). Thanks, Vera!


This award has 2 rules: specify 3 songs that are important to you and tell what you dreamed about. I am also to pass on the award to other "Nice Blogs!" (check below to see my top picks for the Nice Blog award!)


To be honest, I don't listen to music a lot. I do, however, LOVE children's songs. For some reason, singing children's songs brings me straight back to childhood. Here are my top three outdoor songs for children (I chose the outdoor theme since this is the nature of my blog ;-)). I don't usually remember my night dreams, so here is a hope and dream of mine: I dream that children will once again reclaim their right and desire to play outside; and that their parents will take the same initiative.


1. I love "Over in the Meadow" because it has such a beautiful folky tune. It is calm and peaceful and brings back childhood memories of scampering through the forests, streams and meadows of the Canadian Rockies and seeing such an abundance of wildlife.




2. Another beautiful folktune - "The Rainbow Connection"




3. Tradition and fun - "Five Little Ducks"



And the Nice Blog award goes to:


I Work 4 Kids for inspiring me to write my own blog.
I'm a Teacher, Get Me Outside Here!  and Learning for Life - For sharing the passion of outdoor learning.


Recipients...
Feel free to copy and paste the Award into your blog. And don't forget to pass it on!





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2 comments:

  1. Juliet RobertsonNovember 29, 2011 at 12:21 AM

    Thanks Kristin

    What a lovely surprise to wake up to and your choice of songs has given me a couple of blog posts of ideas.

    Best wishes
    Juliet

    ReplyDelete
  2. KristinNovember 29, 2011 at 5:40 PM

    Glad you enjoyed the surprise! You are an inspiration. Btw, I watched your video on numeracy and thoroughly enjoyed it!

    ReplyDelete

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