Outdoors in the Young Children’s Community

As we reflect on the Young Children’s Community, we can sometimes tend to focus most on what is happening indoors. We beautify and add materials; we develop the practical life area and think about language opportunities. We observe children and give presentations according to interest and developmental readiness. It can then be all too easy to see the outdoors as an escape from all this activity and “work”. But if we truly want seamless indoor/outdoor flow we need to consider what the purpose of the outdoor environment is, maximise our use of it and work to develop the outdoors in the same way that we carefully prepare the indoors.

Dr Montessori said “There must be provision for the child to have contact with nature, to understand and appreciate the order, the harmony and the beauty in nature...” (Secret of Childhood) The sensorial possibilities of the outdoor environment are enormous; with different textures such as water, sand, mud, grass and stones; scents from flowers and fruit or the rain falling at the end of a hot afternoon; sounds of insects and the leaves blowing in the trees; and the colour palette of nature is far greater than any experience we can hope to provide inside. It is easy to see how we can connect the child with nature when we allow the freedom to move between the indoor and outdoor environments and free exploration. What about the work you might ask? After all, if the child is spending most of their time outside are they missing out on work? And often I have heard adults wondering if they can add this or that activity to the environment. Is it “Montessori”? they ask. We can answer these questions ourselves if we stop to consider what the aims of the Young Children’s Community are?

To provide an environment that supports the child to –

• Develop independence skills to take care of self, the environment and others.

• Develop vocabulary and language for self-expression and communication.

• Develop fine and gross motor movement.

• Contribute and belong to a community through the process of adaptation including developing social and emotional awareness.

• Develop concentration and the ability to make simple choices.

• Make discoveries and follow interests.

• Build self-esteem and self-confidence.

Let’s be clear though – with these guidelines we can justify nearly any activity – Cinderella’s stepmother might have said she was providing practical life when she threw the rice that Cinderella had to pick up before she could go to the ball, so we also need to ask how does the activity provide a help to life? Does it truly aid development or is it just keeping the child occupied? A good rule of thumb to follow is asking, “Is this an experience I would want to repeat myself?”

Ideas for the outdoors

• Trees to climb

• Climbing frame/monkey bars

• Swings

• Balancing apparatus such as logs, tyres or beam

• Gardening - planting, maintenance and harvesting

• Sweeping and raking

• Window washing

• Scrubbing furniture, bikes, sandpit equipment

• Feeding birds

• Hanging out and bringing in laundry

• Sandpit and water play – a water source that children can access independently

• Watering the gardening

• Composting and worm farm

• Finding and observing insects

• Quiet places to contemplate

• Group games, music, singing, reading books

• Caring for pets

• Painting easel

• Hammering log – attach the hammer so it stays with the activity

• Items to push and pull such as a trolley and wheelbarrow

• Bikes if your environment is large enough for it to be safe

• Items to transport, arrange and sequence such as pine cones, shells, rocks, driftwood – it’s nice to have a variety of natural materials as loose parts

• If it’s possible have the letterbox accessible so children can collect the mail v

• Balls in a variety of sizes

• Taking a walk through the natural environment

This is by no means an exhaustive list and we can clearly see there are a great many ways to involve children in meaningful learning and development outdoors. Remember that children need space to make independent discoveries and share them with us and other children in their own way. By valuing what the outdoors has to offer we can relax knowing the children’s development is being optimised and have some fun.

Aroha Nui

Carli