I was on my way to work one morning and was looking through early years apps on my phone when I came across SKITCH, an app that enables you to annotate photos by text or simply by writing with your finger. Now I am a bit of a technophobe and always seem to have issues with ICT, however, this was simple and easy to use from the start.
It is such a shame that when it snows the only children usually outside are from early years. Of course, there are reasons for this such as inappropriate outdoor clothing, lack of spare clothes and space to dry wet coats and gloves.
We need to make the most of snow, when it arrives, and expand our horizons from making snowmen or having snowball fights, and take advantage of this rarely seen (in the south at least) material to provide for numerous learning experiences across the curriculum.
Here are some ideas to get you going:
I first became aware of the power of outdoor learning as an NQT, teaching my first Reception class. There were so many children who needed to spend more time outside, other than ‘playtime’ as it was apparent that the sedentary activities on offer were not providing for high levels of engagement.
I moved towards an integrated free-flow approach to teaching and learning which enabled children to choose where and with whom they worked – inside and out!
It became apparent that, for many children, more purposeful learning was taking place outside and that I needed to adapt my teaching methods to harness this interest as there were some children who were disinclined to return inside for table-top activities. I soon realised that teaching and learning can happen anywhere, I just needed to adapt my style of teaching and so my interest in outdoor learning was born.
I can’t pass a charity shop or ‘pound shop’ without having a look to see what I can find to add to my resource repertoire and I regularly trawl the internet looking for good ideas that I can implement and pass on to others.
Don’t underestimate the need for natural resources. If you have little in the way of trees then go the local park, common or woods and collect fallen leaves and bags of leaves. You will be amazed at the excitement that this will cause, and all for FREE!
