Outdoors
Outings
Outings are a very important part of the nursery and are offered on a nearly daily basis. The outings allow the children to run, climb and explore physically. Interacting with the world around them. The outings and other physical opportunities given to the children help with concentration and allows them to sleep better and have a healthy appetite
To enable this to happen the nursery is equipped with outdoor clothing; coats, raincoats, hats, scarves, and gloves. For summer sun hats and sun cream. Even if a child has come to the nursery without the correct clothes they are still able to take part, as the clothes will be provided.To ensure comfort and safety there are numerous car seats, buggies, walkodiles, trolley buses, reigns and rings available
“Children have wonderful daily opportunities to develop their understanding and concern for nature and living things. They develop a sense of responsibility as they help to care for hens and ducks and collect the eggs that are laid. This also helps children to gain an understanding of where their food comes from and the changes that take place when they use the eggs in cooking activities. Children show high levels of enthusiasm and engagement with the animals and demonstrate a caring and gentle approach, often stroking the hens and talking to the rabbits. This helps to support children’s self-esteem, confidence and consideration for others. The large bird aviary has a colourful selection of birds which provides rich stimuli of sound and movement. Children explore, experiment and build with natural materials including wood. For example, they help to build wooden enclosures for the animals. They learn about using real-life tools in a safe way, including electric screwdrivers, hammers, and nails. Staff members recognise how daily activities in the garden can be captured to support all areas of learning for children. For example, they continually extend children’s communication skills through questioning and introducing vocabulary, including concepts of shape, measure, and number.”
Playground
The ingredients of independence are fundamentally missing from the education system from babies upwards. At ABC123, we encourage the self-starter and the imagination in every child.
Surrounded by a multitude of animals and attractions that entice the local wild animals, the children play, explore and learn about the world around them.
Whether digging, feeding, moving around in a tractor or climbing and balancing on a frame, the children are given space to make choices and have their own fun.
In addition to the facilities on offer a fundamental benefit is the size of the groups playing here. The family sized groups remain intimate and comfortable.
Adult-led play examples:
-
Using microscopes
-
Outdoor games
-
Parachute games and other adult led fun
-
Playing with children’s cars, motorbikes, bricks, balls and hoops
Through adult led play, the children learn to work as a team, take turns and share.
Exploritory Area
I find animals and plants hugely fascinating and nature in its entirety is miraculous.
Adventuring into the world around us, exploring in greater detail the seemingly obvious, is both interesting and exciting.
With a great deal of thought, we have created our exploratory area. The children are enticed with bouncing bunnies, noisy guinea pigs, curious turtles and a menagerie of other birds and animals.
On the surface, the children learn from the animals behaviour, their noises, the eggs they lay, their fur and feathers. They notice how they burrow and how they behave when they are nesting.
This understanding is developed further when the children get to change their bedding, start feeding and watering them. On outings, the children will pick dandelions for them and they start bringing vegetables from home. They begin to feel a sense of love, affinity, responsibility and respect for these animals.
We also encourage wild birds with feeders and insects and butterflies with plants, flowers, and hides. The children build a confidence in approaching animals that are seemingly unattractive but begin to observe, learn and respect the beauty and importance of all the creatures around them.
The growing area is appealing initially for the digging and the rooting around in the mud. However the excitement of growing different things and the ‘magic’ in this can draw the children into a lifelong fascination in gardening and nature.
We have green houses and potting sheds and our development of the outdoors far exceeds growing watercress and sunflowers. We want to initiate in children the knowledge that plants grow from seeds and inspire them to eat an apple, pear or melon and then grow their own plant from the seeds.
All this intrinsically ties in with our global concerns and environmental awareness. I passionately believe that our emphasis on the environment coupled with the many recycling stratages we use within the Nannery, has a positive influence on the children.
We hope we have encouraged them to be young environmentalists with a sense of responsibility in their world.