Outdoor Areas

[basilbrush]

hi

 

I am about to inherit a small outdoor area for my reception class, its a small long narrow section, without space for bikes / scooters (although there is a separate session where they can use these in the playground)..

 

although its small, it has a paved area, a grassy bit which could have a digging area, and a covered section...

 

i am really looking for inspiration, does anyone have any good suggestions for this area, or have photos of their areas that they could share....

 

i am really looking forward to having it, now i just want to make sure i make the best use of it possible...

 

look forward to hearing from you

 

thank you

 

bb

[Guest]

Going on the narrowness, would it be possible to utilise the edges of your space. I'm not sure whether it is fenced along the lengths or not, but what immediately sprung to mind was having musical instruments (I use the term loosely as pots & pans etc. are also great) attached to the fence. Also, we use our fence to hang large pieces of rope netting (from Scrapstore), then provide children with lengths of sturdy, wide ribbon, rope etc. to weave with.

You could have large pieces of wood attached (or the surface may be suitable as it is) for children to do art work on: water painting, chalking. Maybe have the surface painted with blackboard paint or magnetic paint?

Don't know what the ground surface is like, but if funds allow (or if you're particularly arty yourself) you could use this for painted games, such as hop-scotch, or alphabet snakes or number lines, or random numbers in large circles, which the children could throw bean-bags in to.

I've exhausted my ideas bank for now, but I'll keep on thinking - I'm sure other people will have great ideas.

Good luck!

[Tigger]

I would recommend a book by Helen Bilton called Playing Outside, which has lots of ideas and pictures! It isn't just about buying new equipment and shows a varirty of settings. When we were developing our area I went a visiting as many gardens and outdoor ares as possible armed with a camera and a notepad as I have a poor memory!

Good luck and lucky you!

Sharon

[catma]

yup - Helen's book fabulous, went to a recent talk by her and she showed a very small area that had used the walls to hang things, put things on and generally utilised the vertical space as much as possible.

[Guest]

Have you looked on the Learning through landscapes site? They have many good ideas and although I'm a member I think you can 'visit' and glean ideas if you are not.

 

Teri