Experiential learning in nature for knowledge that sticks.
Developing observational skills, building vocabulary and practicing narrative skills through curiosity about the natural world.
If you are worried your children won’t be learning vital prereading skills when they are playing outside, don’t be. Nature is full of rich and interesting details. I use these details to teach children to become expert observers. When it’s time for them to notice the differences between the letters b, d, and p, they will be ready.
Continue readingLooking for a way to motivate your students use calendars? Make planting calendars with them!
The purpose of planting calendars is so the children can remember when to plant which seeds. We looked carefully at the pictures on the seed packets to determine the best planting times for our seeds. This led to a conversation about the importance of planting different seeds at different times and why.
Continue readingPotatoes are easy to grow so they are a great starter plant if you are new to gardening or new to growing vegetables with children.
On Thursday, the children and I began building a snow fort. Click here to see Snow Construction Play – Part 1.
On Friday, we returned to school to find a sagging, melting fort. And no new snowfall. Our hopes of continuing construction were dashed.
The fourth grade students learned of our problem and quickly had a solution!
I’ve waited five long years for this day!
We finally got enough snowfall, and more importantly the right kind of snow, to build a snow fort!
Continue readingKeep warm outdoors with a hot snack!
Having an outdoor snack requires a bit of forward planning and flexibility. Whenever we plan a fire, we always have a back-up snack to prepare and eat indoors in case of rain.
On cold days, it’s especially nice to eat snack outdoors around a fire. This was the first time we had our snack in the snow! That was exciting.
Continue readingHere’s an idea to get your students excited about playing outside on an icy day and maybe even awaken the inner oologist in them!
Some children are happy to play outside on a cold day. Others need a bit more encouragement. To help everyone have a great time, I like to create a little mystery and excitement. One of my favorite icy day provocations is to make dinosaur “eggs”. Continue reading
Create some anticipation for cold weather play by making ice with your students.
When we returned to school after the winter holidays, we returned to cold, wet mud in our outdoor learning environment. Our part of Germany gets a lot of drizzly rain. That’s great for our mud kitchen play. However, after more than sixty-five days of wet mud, that had now turned into COLD, wet mud, the children and I were ready to play with something else. Continue reading
Recently a colleague from fourth grade asked, “What about the Reception students, they don’t do student-led conferences, do they?
“Yes, they do,” I said.
“Really! What does that look like?” she asked.
Does your outdoor learning area look like this? Need to clean up your space before parents visit? Here’s a fun Autumn idea that will spark your students’ imaginations, get them dancing and singing, AND tidy up your outdoor learning area at the same time!
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