A Letter to Parents on Outdoor Play
What We Do and Why
Outdoor play is an important part of our curriculum. When the children
are outdoors, they like to run, jump, climb, and use all the large muscles
in their bodies. They need space to work out and let off steam. They can
race around, breath the fresh air, look at the clouds, or catch a ball
or a bug. They not only satisfy their physical need for large muscle activity
but also develop a sense of wonder about the miracles that take place in
nature.
When we take the children ourdoors at school, we talk about the things
we can see, hear, touch, and feel so that the children become aware of
changes in the weather and the seasons, the growth of plants, and animals.
We help the children notice changes by asking them what is different about
the trees, the caterpillars, or the sky. They lie on the ground and look
up, or they climb the jungle gym and look down. We point out the many kinds
of birds that fly overhead, butterflies, mosquitos, milkweed seeds, falling
leaves, and rain as it begins. We wonder aloud where all these things come
from.
By playing outdoors, your child can learn the following:
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to notice changes in nature;
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to discover what happens to people, animals, and plants when it is cold,
hot, dark, or light, outside;
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to use his or her body in increasingly skillful ways; and
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to be a good observer.
When the children play outdoors, we encourage them to talk about what they
are doing. For example, we might say:
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"What happened to the sun just now? I don't see it any more."
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"What is making the trees bend the way they are today?"
We also ask questions that help children extend their thinking as they
play outdoors. For examples, we might say:
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"What happens to the water in the pan? It's hard now. What do we need to
do to make it pour?"
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"If you keep digging your hole, how far down can you go?"
What You Can Do at Home
You can provide wooden boxes and boards for playhouses or an obstacle course;
gardening tools to dig, plant, and cultivate a little garden; a big paintbrush
and a pail of water to "paint" walls or fences; large balls to kick or
throw; or old blankets or sheets to make a tent. You can take a walk around
the block with your child and talk about all the different colors of cars
that pass by. Your child will take great pleasure in collecting rocks,
finding bugs, watching birds and airplanes in the sky, or pretending to
go camping.
You can try some of these ideas with your children outdoors at home
or on a trip to the park, the beach, the woods, or wherever you can find
a place to run. Playing outdoors is fun for parents and children and enhances
children's learning in many important ways.
Also see the Letter to Parents on Blocks,
House
Corner, Table
Toys, Art,
Sand
and Water Play, the Library,
Music
and Movement, Cooking,
Computers,
and Outdoor
Play.
For more information on The Creative Curriculum for Early Childhood,
please contact,
Teaching Strategies,
Inc.
Post Office Box 42243
Washington, DC 20015
(800) 637-3652, (202) 362-7543
(202) 364-7273 [FAX]
info@TeachingStrategies.com