Thinking OUTSIDE of the box Thursdays: How can you bring the outdoors inside?
I’m wondering if any of you have found ways to incorporate outdoor materials in your classrooms. I created a sensory bin with leaves, acorns, and other materials that I found outside during the fall. I also set up a projector so that the children could experiment with light and shadows.
What is an
example of a way that you can bring outdoor materials into your play inside of the
classroom?
This is something our centre actually does really well! We are always bringing the outdoors inside: snow in buckets to paint, hide animals, scoop, watch/experiment with melting, etc.; leaves to use in sensory bins, artwork, magnifying glass exploration, sorting, classifying, etc.; pine needs and branches for artwork, paintbrushes, sensory (touch and smell), etc.; grass, pinecones, sticks, stones, etc. I even found some bunny fur in my backyard and brought it in a baggie to observe. I have brought in a fallen bird's nest, and found bird's eggs cracked open on the sidewalk, bringing them in for observation under a plastic dome we had (now broken and needing to be replaced!). The children really seem to like to have these items come into our classroom for exploration and use in art. It is ironic that, for the most part, due to out yard lacking natural items, the majority of their exposure in Child Care to the outdoors' natural items is inside! We do bring leaves into our yard in the fall for the children to rake and jump into, which is always a big source of enjoyment while they last!
ReplyDeleteThose all sound like such fantastic explorations! It's amazing that you are able to bring in resources from other areas!
Delete