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!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Nature Deficit? Not Here!

I've mentioned in past posts how I've been trying to add a greater emphasis on natural elements in our yard. We've added bins and buckets filled with pinecones, hay, large tree cookies, small tree cookies, shiny stones, logs, stumps and more.
Today my heart nearly skipped a joyful beat. As I was walking through the yard during nap time, a special something caught my eye. There, in the middle of the sandbox, was this ornate little sand castle. The castle was adorned with rocks, leaves, pinecones, and even one large tree cookie. The children obviously took great pride in their work because their masterpiece was surrounded by protective cones from the bike area. This little piece took concentration, effort and collaboration. It was a beautiful sight to behold!






Nature deficit disorder? Nope...not here!
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4 comments:

  1. Let the Children PlayNovember 9, 2011 at 11:46 PM

    Don't you just love stumbling across things like this?

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  2. KristinNovember 10, 2011 at 6:41 PM

    I do! It turned out to be the pre-k class who has discovered the art of building sand-castles on the playground. They were at it again today and made some more beautiful creations :-)

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  3. Mom to 2 Posh Lil DivasNovember 20, 2011 at 8:21 PM

    ah, how nice to see what they've done. It does make you so excited when they "get it"

    Thanks for sharing on the sunday showcase. Hope to see you this week.

    Bern\http://momto2poshlildivas.blogspot.com/search/label/Sunday%20Showcase

    ReplyDelete
  4. DebiNovember 29, 2011 at 3:22 PM

    I'm just beginning a collection of natural elements for our backyard. I'm not surprised to find that my two boys prefer the tree stumps & rocks to the plastic slides & cars.

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