Promoting Children’s Understanding of the World in an Outdoor Area by Naiyana

The reason I chose to promote this area of children’s learning is because of the mostly positive responses received from parent questionnaires, which were enthusiastic for their children’s learning and playing outside the classroom.  Additionally I am very in favour of outdoor play, as I believe that there is great potential for children to explore which I experienced in my early childhood.  I mostly learnt about the world surrounding me through my outdoor play.  I found out about lifecycle - learning how fruit and vegetables grow and what animals or plants could be dangerous but also good for nature.  Therefore, by the time I was in primary school I had learnt how to amuse myself by using nature as my third teacher.  Outdoor resources were part of my everyday life which is one of Reggio’s principles which sees the environment as a third teacher (Thornton and Brunton, 2014).  For example, I used to go bug hunting and learnt what insects like to eat so I went to the trees where they were most likely to be.  Adding to this I used to collect fish from streams, rivers or rice fields and keep them as pets, caring for them by finding out what they to eat.  I learnt about their need for unpolluted water to survive and my parents reminded me that wild creatures were happier in their natural habitat.  In England these would be known as Forest school activities (Knight, 2011) or “Understanding of the World” in characteristic development (DfE, 2014).  As I had first-hand experience of the environment, this encouraged me to care for my community and the world when older which is also Reggio’s philosophy that children feel loved and have a sense of belonging in the community, “Education Based on interrelationship” (Edwards, et al. eds. 2011, p64).  I have learnt so much from outdoor play that I can talk about it endlessly and its positive potential to promote children's holistic learning, linked with Forest School philosophy (Knight, 2011). 

Before:

The rationale from the above is the reason I chose “Understanding of the World” as the area I want to promote. As you can see, the area is quite bare so I saw the potential to use it as a continuous provision for the children in the nursery.  Moreover, one parent mentioned on their questionnaire feedback that there is nothing in the garden; therefore, their child is scared of all creatures there.  I believe that this continuous provision activity will allow this child to become more familiar with garden creatures as they will have access to the activity every time they attend the nursery.  Under one of the EYFS guidelines, the practitioners must ensure that they provide an “Enabling environment” for all children and their individual needs (DfE 2014).


After:

The purpose of this provision is to encourage children to explore their own environment; some is based on their own knowledge, which we aim to extend.  Therefore, children can build on their own knowledge and some might be willing to have a go due to positive peer pressure (DfE, 2014).  This activity will be mostly child led because the adults will be there as support learners, for instance asking children questions that could prompt their thinking.

These activities and resources are suitable for children of all ages, however we will need to adapt a little to ensure children’s safety while participating in the activity.  The babies and toddlers will need extra adult supervision especially as this will also include children with additional needs,  whereas preschool and after school club children's play will be more child led. This is stated under “Unique child” and “identify any need for additional support" (DfE 2014).

The buckets and paintbrushes should encourage children to  make marks and do mud painting which children can use to express their thoughts and reflect on their everyday home life  (TLC-Essex 2016).