It's summer and it's time to go outside and play! On the preschool playground, flowers are growing, the sun is shining, and it's a great time for learning. Here at The Adventurous Child, where we design children's outdoor play areas and sell outdoor learning equipment and outdoor playground equipment for preschools, we are always thinking about how important it is for children to have time for outdoor play. Outdoor play in natural playscapes provide young children with important opportunities to learn new things, reinforce previous learning, experience nature, exercise their bodies, and be creative.
Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, says "Everything - critical-thinking, mental health gets better outside. . . It is enrichment that gets dismissed as recreation" (Ogintz). At The Adventurous Child, we are dedicated to making sure outdoor time at preschools isn't "dismissed as recreation" but is seen for what it truly is, "enrichment" for the children.
Some of our outdoor play equipment for preschoolers which we designed to connect young children with nature include our Garden and Natural preschool play equipment. Gardening is a great way to teach preschoolers many important concepts such as problem solving (How do we grow vegetables?), experimenting (This flower isn't growing, maybe it needs more water), working together (If you dig the hole, I will put in the seeds), and being creative (Let's wrap the vines around these sticks to make a tent). Gardening also promotes math skills as children count seeds and plants, measure the height of plants, and make patterns with different flowers. Learning about science is also a prevalent theme in gardening. Learning about how plants grow, what they need to live, the bugs in the soil, etc. are all science concepts that are taught through gardening. Nutrition is also taught as children grow, nurture, and harvest their own food. With The Adventurous Child's Pizza Garden, young children can plant herbs and vegetables (and whatever else one might put on a pizza) learning how we grow, harvest, prepare, and cook our food. Also with the Pizza Garden, preschoolers can make a pattern of flowers, for example, alternating yellow and red tulips, showing the math skills of pattern making, predicting patterns, and counting.
With The Adventurous Child Root Garden and the Garden Box with Peep Holes, preschoolers can open sliding doors to take a peek at what goes on underground when a plant is growing. Observing root systems and learning about how the plant eats and grows is certainly a good opportunity to incorporate science on the preschool playground. Also, with The Adventurous Child Mini Gardens, preschoolers have 3 separate areas for planting. Choosing types and colors of flowers is an exercise in both science and art concepts. Working together to plant and tend to the gardens promotes social-emotional skills and encourages children to work together towards a common goal.
We at The Adventurous Child also believe that natural items add wonderful learning opportunities to preschool playgrounds. Our natural playscape products include Water Log Troughs, Creeks, Stepping Stumps, Tree Cookies, Stepping Rocks, Log Benches, and Log Balance Beams, among others. With preschool play equipment such as this, we hope to bring more natural elements to the preschool playground, helping young children develop a love and understanding of nature. With our Water Log Toughs, children experience water play as water rolls down carved out logs. Here, children learn about the scientific concepts of flow, sink vs. float, movement, and they can conduct various other water experiments. With our fitness preschool outside play equipment (Stepping Stumps, Stepping Rocks, and movable Tree Cookies) children exercise their bodies, estimate distance as they jump from object to object, and learn about what their bodies can do, how to balance, and spatial reasoning. Young children can move and rearrange the Tree Cookies, giving new obstacles, patterns, and distances a try.
Creeks provide endless learning opportunities in a natural playscape. For example, counting stones or measuring the creek bed reinforces math skills. Playing with sand and gravel provides new and different sensory play. Also, Creek beds provide the opportunity to observe mini-environments. Young children can take a closer look at the insects who make the spaces between and under rocks their home and the plants that like to grow near the water. Then, with the addition of rain or a hose, the Creek bed becomes a whole new place for discovery and water play.
In today's world, children are increasingly separated from nature. However, "Children have a natural affinity towards nature. Dirt, water, plants, and small animals attract and hold children's attention for hours, days, even a lifetime" (Moore and Wong). The preschool playground is the perfect place to turn this trend around. By creating natural playscapes with outdoor learning equipment inspired by nature, we can reconnect young children with the natural world, encouraging a lifelong love and respect for the outdoors. Gardening and natural preschool playground equipment bring nature back to children's outdoor play areas and encourage young children to wonder, investigate, discover, and learn. Let's go outdoors, experience nature, and play!
Sources:
Ogintz, Eileen. "Combating Nature-Deficit Disorder in Kids." MSNBC. 8/10/11.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44077506/ns/today-travel/t/combating-nature-deficit-disorder-kids/#.T2du8BFukRo
Moore, Robin C. and Herb H. Wong. "Quotes and Sayings About Children and Nature." Children Nature and You.
Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, says "Everything - critical-thinking, mental health gets better outside. . . It is enrichment that gets dismissed as recreation" (Ogintz). At The Adventurous Child, we are dedicated to making sure outdoor time at preschools isn't "dismissed as recreation" but is seen for what it truly is, "enrichment" for the children.
Some of our outdoor play equipment for preschoolers which we designed to connect young children with nature include our Garden and Natural preschool play equipment. Gardening is a great way to teach preschoolers many important concepts such as problem solving (How do we grow vegetables?), experimenting (This flower isn't growing, maybe it needs more water), working together (If you dig the hole, I will put in the seeds), and being creative (Let's wrap the vines around these sticks to make a tent). Gardening also promotes math skills as children count seeds and plants, measure the height of plants, and make patterns with different flowers. Learning about science is also a prevalent theme in gardening. Learning about how plants grow, what they need to live, the bugs in the soil, etc. are all science concepts that are taught through gardening. Nutrition is also taught as children grow, nurture, and harvest their own food. With The Adventurous Child's Pizza Garden, young children can plant herbs and vegetables (and whatever else one might put on a pizza) learning how we grow, harvest, prepare, and cook our food. Also with the Pizza Garden, preschoolers can make a pattern of flowers, for example, alternating yellow and red tulips, showing the math skills of pattern making, predicting patterns, and counting.
With The Adventurous Child Root Garden and the Garden Box with Peep Holes, preschoolers can open sliding doors to take a peek at what goes on underground when a plant is growing. Observing root systems and learning about how the plant eats and grows is certainly a good opportunity to incorporate science on the preschool playground. Also, with The Adventurous Child Mini Gardens, preschoolers have 3 separate areas for planting. Choosing types and colors of flowers is an exercise in both science and art concepts. Working together to plant and tend to the gardens promotes social-emotional skills and encourages children to work together towards a common goal.
We at The Adventurous Child also believe that natural items add wonderful learning opportunities to preschool playgrounds. Our natural playscape products include Water Log Troughs, Creeks, Stepping Stumps, Tree Cookies, Stepping Rocks, Log Benches, and Log Balance Beams, among others. With preschool play equipment such as this, we hope to bring more natural elements to the preschool playground, helping young children develop a love and understanding of nature. With our Water Log Toughs, children experience water play as water rolls down carved out logs. Here, children learn about the scientific concepts of flow, sink vs. float, movement, and they can conduct various other water experiments. With our fitness preschool outside play equipment (Stepping Stumps, Stepping Rocks, and movable Tree Cookies) children exercise their bodies, estimate distance as they jump from object to object, and learn about what their bodies can do, how to balance, and spatial reasoning. Young children can move and rearrange the Tree Cookies, giving new obstacles, patterns, and distances a try.
Creeks provide endless learning opportunities in a natural playscape. For example, counting stones or measuring the creek bed reinforces math skills. Playing with sand and gravel provides new and different sensory play. Also, Creek beds provide the opportunity to observe mini-environments. Young children can take a closer look at the insects who make the spaces between and under rocks their home and the plants that like to grow near the water. Then, with the addition of rain or a hose, the Creek bed becomes a whole new place for discovery and water play.
In today's world, children are increasingly separated from nature. However, "Children have a natural affinity towards nature. Dirt, water, plants, and small animals attract and hold children's attention for hours, days, even a lifetime" (Moore and Wong). The preschool playground is the perfect place to turn this trend around. By creating natural playscapes with outdoor learning equipment inspired by nature, we can reconnect young children with the natural world, encouraging a lifelong love and respect for the outdoors. Gardening and natural preschool playground equipment bring nature back to children's outdoor play areas and encourage young children to wonder, investigate, discover, and learn. Let's go outdoors, experience nature, and play!
Sources:
Ogintz, Eileen. "Combating Nature-Deficit Disorder in Kids." MSNBC. 8/10/11.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44077506/ns/today-travel/t/combating-nature-deficit-disorder-kids/#.T2du8BFukRo
Moore, Robin C. and Herb H. Wong. "Quotes and Sayings About Children and Nature." Children Nature and You.
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