As the weather grows warmer, the children in Preschool 1 have been able to explore the new playground through a variety of activities. One of the more popular areas of the playground is the sandbox. Here the children are using their creative thinking skills to create all types of fun things. Cooking in the mud kitchen is a favourite activity and the educators have had many delicious meals of pizza, cookies, muffins and ice cream. Rocks and wood chips have been used to decorate birthday cakes and dinosaurs stomp through big sand volcanoes that have been built. The children have also been able to build their gross motor skills, when climbing on, swinging from and jumping off of the climber. Balancing skills have also been observed, as the children walk across the logs and sit on the giant rope.
The new playground has allowed the children to use many of their senses as they engage in activities outside. Sound is used when they incorporate music into their play, using the giant wooden xylophone and metal drums. The children are able to hear the different notes and sounds that each of the instruments make and have been observed creating their own songs to different beats. Touch is used when various textures have been investigated. An example of this is when the children engaged in a chalk rubbing activity. They used the bark from the trees, the rocks/bricks from the walls and the wire of the fencing as their surfaces. They were able to compare them to each other and describe what they were able to feel.
One of the most important things that the children have been learning on the playground is how to take care of their natural environment. As the grass was growing they were able to respect their educators' wishes to not walk on the delicate area for two weeks in order for it to take root. They observed their educators watering the grass and trees every day and when a water play activity was happening outside, some of the children made sure the grass received some of their water. They are beginning to understand that the trees need their leaves in order to survive and to let the flowers bloom on the bushes if they want to reap the benefit of eating the serviceberries when they are ready.
Natural playgrounds provide many opportunities for learning experiences and growth and this can be seen in the various activities previously mentioned, along with many others that were not. The outdoors has become another learning environment for the children as well as the educators and not only for the children but adults too.
