If we take Louv's arguments seriously, we must re-consider the outdoor spaces we provide in our programs - and uses of spaces beyond our playgrounds. How much do children have an opportunity to experience nature in our programs? What changes would we have to make, in structure or policy, to increase that exposure?
To what extent do our outdoor spaces have what Louv calls "loose parts" that can be used by children in creative and malleable fashion? Are their pragmatic barriers that keep us from taking steps in this direction?
Do we see children in our care seeking out the edges of the spaces we provide them, away from the play structures we have provided? What do they do there? To what extent do children in our programs have a chance to get off by themselves, alone and in small groups, to entertain themselves, explore, create, ponder, invent, and imagine? How much are natural elements a part of those activities?
Are we encouraging or discouraging their attempts to connect with the natural world on their own terms?
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Fortunately, my property is bordered by woods between houses. Even though I had all the plastic play equipment, built-in sandbox, large swingset, above ground pool, etc. I would often see the children gravitating to the edge of the woods. There they would gather pinecones, find great sticks, collect rocks, and so on. On the playground they would toss around pine needles and examine the bark on the pine trees. Summertime, the pool was very popular. If I were still in business, I believe the new regulations due out this summer would prevent me from using the pool unless I had another adult on the premises. My backyard had some sloping surfaces where the children enjoyed rolling down the hill. The front yard boasted a large, leggy, overgrown rhododendrum that became a fort. The children loved to climb on some of the branches and poke their head through the leaves. A stone wall in front was great for exploration and balancing. A low Japanese maple provided a safe climbing experience. Despite many ride-ons, playhouses, climbers, etc. many children did gravitate toward the natural elements. I was pretty flexible about letting them dig under a pine in the front yard, roll rocks around a flower bed to search for bugs and so on. I did find that during the interview process many parents mentioned wanting a large, open outdoor space for their children to play in and asked about the amount of outdoor time the children were allowed.
Andrea
I also have a yard full of the usual play equipment which the kids do love to use and run around in the back yard. But I
also live across the street of a large wooded area with a large field. I take the kids over there all the time to explore. We
look for bird nests, pine cones, all kinds of things to get them interested in their surroundings. We leave bread crumbs for
the birds and take nature walks. Sometimes we will take a picnic lunch. The kids love to run through the trees and explore,
they always want more!
I have 3/4 of an acre in Brockton which is unusual for most parts of the city, I'm also in a Cul de Sac with currently only one other house, so we have seven empty lots to explore. I have the usual play yard with the swing set, sandbox, play house, picnic tables, water table, etc. We are outside alot, during the spring, summer, and fall, unfortunately in the winter, it's too difficult to dress everyone and get them out there for the little time we have before someone gets cold. This past summer, we had the summer olympics and used half the yard for all sorts of games. We also occasionally use the drive way for basketball, sidewalk chalk and using the big wheels and cozy coop cars. Along the back of my yard I have a low rock wall and the kids LOVE to climb and explore that wall, I must admit, it attracts more boys than girls. I do think that given the opportunity I would have little wanders just following nature, but unfortunately I need to pull them back. I think in my program we get alot of outdoor play and have experienced alot of nature, we've seen a turtle cross the street, watched a hawk on the other side of the yard, have seen deer across the street, saw a coyote (from inside luckily) walk across the backyard, we have also caught frogs. I felt that I was giving my daycare kids as well as my own great experiences to the outdoors until I started reading the book and then it brought back huge childhood memories of really leaving my own yard to explore and I admit that I definitely keep my kids within an arms length. Also, I know for a fact that several of my parents utilize parks in their neighborhood and walk with their child to the parks.
I live with a conservation land in my back yard We have many deer, coyotes and wild turkeys the kids love playing outside they call the back yard a zoo sometimes I tell them no it's not a zoo it's nature in the woods. I could'nt imagine living in the city I would'nt be comfortable it would be to noisey and busy. The parents of these children look at me like I have 2 heads when I say we saw turkeys or we saw a buck they just don't get the whole nature thing.
In evaluating my outdoor space, I am reminded of Louv's observations that children are drawn to the rough edges of the yard. My yard consists of the typical preschool play structures (slide, swings, climbers, playhouse, ride on toys, and various balls for sports). All these are set on a thick green lawn and while the children do use and enjoy this play area, it is not long before someone makes their way to the edge of the yard where there is a array of nature. We find leaves, wildflowers, sticks, stones, pine cones, acorns and the most awesome treasure of all, "live creatures". Worms, snails, frogs, toads, insects, dragonflies, butterflies, snakes, squirrels rabbits, chipmunks and birds are all there.
The book examines the need for "loose parts" in a natural space to foster a child's need to create and invent. I was able to observe this first hand one early winter afternoon last December. Two young girls decided to decorate a very small and bare dogwood tree in the yard. They set about gathering sticks, leaves, dried up wildflowers, pieces of string and grass, pine cones and even small toys. Soon the entire group joined in and worked as a team to find "ornaments". Every one's contributions were accepted and added to the tree. The children worked on this project for several days and even now they return to the tree to rearrange or replace the items that have blown off.
I am fortunate to live across from a small pond surrounded by conservation land. We are able to observe nature at its best throughout the four seasons in this small natural space. In the Fall we see leaves turn different colors and eventually fall. Wild turkeys roost in the trees. In the Winter we see deer tracks and walk on the frozen pond. In Spring the mallard ducks return to the pond to hatch their ducklings and the sound of peepers fill the air. In Summer we see how thick the vegetation has grown in and around the pond which is all but dried up.
There is also a beautiful park at the foot of my street that we visit daily in all but the most extreme of weather. There is a structured playground that we enjoy but once again the bulk of our time is spent on the rough edges. Here we have played hide and seek in the pine trees, gathered crab apples, peeled bark off the hickory tree, chased butterflies, flipped rocks in search of salamanders, collected rocks, observed squirrels, gathered acorns and peeked under a thick bush for the resident garter snake. The large rocks in the park are our ships and the green grass is our ocean as we sail away. There is also a field with an enormous old maple tree where we sit and observe the sky for clouds, the sun, moon, birds, or planes. We also check the flag atop the high pole to determine the wind. Our small but rich natural environment has provided all of us with ample opportunities to connect with the natural world.
At our Center, we feel that the children should get outside every day, twice a day unless we have extreme weather(hot or cold). Being outdoors in the fresh air and sunshine surely helps to keep them healthy as well as encourages physical activity. I agree with Louv's statement in Ch.7 page 97-"Nature presents the young with something much greater than they are; it offers an environment where they can easily contemplate infinity and eternity."
Outdoors there are no scripts to follow, they can make up their own rules to their games and there are no levels to beat to be successful, like on a computer game. They have the freedom to wonder and discover
nature and it's daily offerings at their own pace. This can lead to true creativity in children as they ask questions and problem solve
while learning about the world that
is most important to them.
Our playground has a climbing
structure, swings, a wooden car, sandbox and a picnic table. We have use of a hardtop area for the children to ride trikes and scooters. In an enclosed grassy area there are pine trees and some flowers. The children enjoy feeding the birds daily and watching them in a bird house donated by one of our families. They also collect pine cones and play in the pine needles. We often bring out binoculars, magnifying glasses and bug catches to enhance their play. In another enclosed area we have a small flower and vegetable garden which is very popular with most of the children. They have the opportunity to be involved
in the whole process from digging, weeding, planting seeds, watering and eventually eating the vegetables that they grew. Finding worms, spiders and bugs is usually
the highlight of the day. To broaden their horizons, so to speak,
we take nature walks around our playground and school building. There are several trees that we observe throughout the year to note the changes that take place.
We encourage them to use their senses as we look at trees, clouds, flowers, birds and squirrels and what else we may find. We also bring nature items into the classroom for the children to further explore on their own. While we do have an array of nature at our disposal, I feel that there is more to be done especially in the area of the "outer edges".
No matter what age child that we have from 2.9 to 6 years old, they can all be a part of the experience and gain something at their own level of understanding.
UGH! I had a long post & had to leave the puter & now it is gone...oh well! You all might be just as glad! HA HA
Thinking back on the outdoor play space I had in my FCC I did have the typical climbing structures, swing, sandbox, etc. I am also lucky enough to have enough space to leave a lot of it natural. There are/were large bushes to climb under & through & the area is bordered by woods. I did find the children attracted to those edges & truth is so am I!!
Along these edges I would find them picking up rocks to see what was under them, picking up leaves & acorns, feeling the bark of the trees, & generally looking at & feeling everything!
My yard has several bird feeders & a large veggie garden the children planted & picked. I also have a flock of chickens they would help to feed & gather the eggs from.
I absolutely love the visual I got from Susan B's description of the tree decorating & I hope to share that with others. It was beautiful!
Currently I work with approximately 30 Providers & the truth is it can be a lot of work convincing them to let children just experience the outdoors. They do not always have to have planned activities!
I realize that sometimes the issue of liability comes up. What if a toddler pokes their eye out with a stick they are playing with, what if the baby eats the grass they are crawling on, what if the bug bites the child then I will be responsible!! I understand these fears & honor them but the truth is how realistic are they? Are we too worried about how our litigation happy society functions to allow children the freedom to explore? Unfortunately I think the answer may be yes.
I work with one Provider who chose to move her playspace as she was building a deck off her house. To access the space the children had to walk past a lovely man-made koi pond with a mini waterfall. I could imagine how this would excite the children; they could help feed the fish, count them, name them, talk to them & simply watch them! How very much they would learn! Her licensor informed her that regulations require the pond to be fenced off so the children did not have access to it on their was to the playspace. I understand the idea but in my mind the children are really losing out! Because of this regulation the children end if spending most of their time indoors as the Provider cannot afford to move her playspace till the summertime. Fencing off the pond would not really be an option, what is the sense of having it if you cannot see it to enjoy it!
One of the greatest gifts being an FCC afforded me was the chance to simply observe children & see what they were truly interested in. From here I would try & expand on their interests & that is one of the reasons my program was nature based,...the children were fascinated by it.
I often took the children on field trips; the library,nature trails, playgrounds, & in harsher weather the museums. Their favorite by far was the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History. It is a small, simple museum with lots of areas set up for the children to simply explore their environment. For example, they have a hall you walk down with glass cases of all the local birds you might see (yes, they are stuffed), they have a section where you can press a button to hear the sounds they make & at the end of the hall was a huge nest that the children spent an awful lot of time in pretending they were birds. These experiences translated to their play in the yard where I would often find them building nests from the natural things they would find on the ground.
One of the beauties about FCC is your ability to go more with the flow of things. It is a small group & yes you need to provide a curriculum but you are not tied down to time frames. For example, I can remember having what I thought was a great art project ready for the children to experience but they were much more interested in collecting pine cones so...that's what we did!
With all the regulations & all the focus on making sure the children learn so much before entering kindergarten I do feel that we take away a lot of their time to just explore.
Think about how much one can learn simply from spending some lazy time watching the clouds...think of all the questions that can inspire & all the "concepts" they are naturally learning.
My center has a typical fenced in preschool playground with sand and play structures and some hardtop for riding vehicles. Trees offer shade but as they are outside of the actual fenced area, they do not offer opportunities for climbing. Unfortunately, the school is located in a rather industrial area of town and is on the corner of 2 busy streets. The gate to the playground opens out to the parking lot and not much else. What we find in the winter (especially this winter) is that sometimes when the snow gets plowed, the plow truck pushes some of the snow against the gate and we cannot get the gate opened, rendering the playground useless for a period of time. I cannot tell you how frustrating it is to want to get the children out to play in the snow, with no place to go! Yes, we let the landlord know and he talks to the plow people. Sometimes it gets resolved and sometimes it doesn’t. When this happens, we try to emphasize to the parents just how much the children need to get outside when they get home. What I failed to mention is that ours is a half-day program, so even if the children stay through the lunch program, all are home by early afternoon. It certainly is not the ideal situation and I dream of finding a new location for the school to provide a better situation, but so far it is just a dream. We need to make the best of what we have and provide what we can.
It is very unfortunate that our pre-school only has mulch on our ground. Under 6" of mulch is cement. So there is really no digging. We do have a sandbox, however, once you dig down the 6" is the cement again. We are on the corner of a busy intersection so we do not have many times to explore different parts of nature. In the good weather we do walk to our town forest (very small but enjoyable) and explore it. We also walk to the park for more areas to run. We do container gardening and have many, many plants indoors. One thing we do have in the mulch is some bugs. This makes some children very happy. :)
At the edge of one side of our chain link fence is a small area of green grass. The children are often at the fence, reaching through. Unfortunately the grassy land is not ours so we can only look, but we do make the best of it. And children are always allowed to bring in parts of nature to share. I often bring in buckets of dirt (from my yard) with whatever is in it for them to explore.
We have a large fenced playground behind our school. It is shaded by big trees and bordered by private property and a town owned parking lot. Last fall, with funds raised over a number of years, we installed a beautiful all in one structure that offers climbing, sliding and tunnels. It is accessible to all children and designed and built so that staff does not need to one on one the children as they play on it. It allows them autonomy and freedom. It is a wonderful structure and we are grateful for it BUT the children do spend most of their time playing around it and under it and on the rough edges and with the loose parts we provide. We only mulched half the playground so the structure was accessible. The other half is sand which the children use for every conceivable reason. They love the ability to create play out of the elements they find in the playground - bugs alive and dead, roots, sticks, seedlings, etc.
One day the pine trees in front of the building let loose and there were 300 pine cones on the front lawn. I took a handful of the oldest children out front and we ferried those cones into the playground where they immediately became food, money, hair combs, pet toys, game pieces, etc. They were buried and unburied, they were launched down the slides and up the slides. they were bartered for and shared (for the most part) beautifully. We played with them until they all eventually disappeared. Taken home? Eaten by animals? Buried too deep?
Our staff allows the children to create their own play outside and only intervene when it doesn't seem to be working out. In the summer we add water: sprinklers, hoses, shallow pools, holes of "quicksand", etc. There is much you can do even with the restrictions of licensing - you just have to remember "to go back to the child".
We have a fenced in playground with the usual climbers, slides, trikes, balls, sand area, shade structures, and picnic tables. We have also set up a construction area complete with workbench, real tools, wood, and building manipulatives... a house area with dishes, babies, tables, chairs, and stove..... and a barn.
A few years ago we replaced our woodchips with rubber chips made from old recycled tires... The children and teachers love it! The children are always searching for treasures and use the chips for digging, pretend food, gardening, money, etc.
The rubber chips also make an awesome surface for practicing gymnastics skills and sitting on and relaxing while chatting with friends or reading a book.
Maple Little Angels is located in a nursing home. There are grassy lawns that the children are welcomed and encouraged to use to run, play games, and run through the sprinker in the summer. In the winter, we make forts, trails, angels,snowmen and the snowbanks are fun to slide down.
There is a field and small wooded areas that have a variety of wildflowers, trees, and small wild animals. We have seen a hawk enjoy a tasty meal, a female snapping turtle dig and lay her eggs beside the building, and Mrs. Mallard Duck take her little ducklings for a walk around the building.
The nursing home is also located beside a vernal pool which has brought us eastern painted turtles, mole salamanders, baby snapping turtles, and the sounds of peepers and wood frogs in the evenings.
Behind part of the building is a stand of 5 white pine trees which we call the forest. Oh, what fun! We searched the forest during last week's snow storm and discovered that the trees protected us from the wind. It is a place with lots of loose parts.... sticks, snow banks, pine branches to make campfires with and low branches to swing from.
Today we returned to the forest. While the girls "planted" their flowers, the boys played hide and seek behind the trees. I soon noticed a poison ivy vine growing up one of the trees. I brought the children over to show them and to explain that, even in winter, you can get a poison ivy rash from the vine. It was really cool when Sean's mom picked him up after lunch and he told her all about the poison ivy explaining what the vine looked like, etc.. Mom was very intersted in learing about Sean's adventures.
As I mentioned in a previous blog, we spend our summertime outside. We are very fortunate to have a very large playground complete with lots of shade trees. We do have commercial climbing structure and swing set but we also have a nice combination of sany spaces and grassy spaces. The top part of our playground is hilly so the kids love to roll down the hill in all weather. We also get a chance to watch various animals such as squirrels, chipmunks, and different kinds of birds that explore the playground.
Our Own Outdoor Spaces
When we first opened our school, we rented space from a church. The playground had the usual slide, sandbox, climbing structure and swings along side of a parking lot next to the entrance of the school. The playground was adequate but beyond the playground, we had a beautiful cemetery with some open spaces, hundred-year-old oak trees with limbs that looked like arms that could come down and sweep you off the ground into a swinging limb. We used this space as often as we could from fall nature walks taking small samples of nature to make nature boards of our own to finding nests and bird eggs and sometimes just to listen to and discover the natural sounds of nature. Although it was a cemetery, we found that the children and parents did not mind walking through forgetting the given purpose of the space and accepted the chance to experience nature.
Our new space has a playground a climbing structure with a slide, three club houses out of plastic and one made of wood for alone spaces, a sand box, an airplane bolted to the ground, picnic tables and a dome climber and a space big enough for a small garden. Our first year in our new space we planted a pumpkin garden in the spring and when the children returned in the fall the pumpkins were growing, only the squirrels managed to eat every last pumpkin. We are very cautious about the safety of the children so we have rules to ensure that each child develop a sense of responsibility and will make a safe choice while on the dome and other climbing structures. The children often use their own imaginations using the climber with the slide as a hide out. A rocket ship etc and dig forever in the sand discovering that under the play sand is a different kind of sand and dirt. While digging the children often discover roots growing out of an acorn they insist a squirrel hid away for winter and forgot where he hid it. Out school is about 1000 feet from a state forest, and a sidewalk is planned for the street in the near future, which will allow us to walk to the forest and begin to enhance our nature studies. With this additional outside space, when we go on our nature hikes it will allow the children to feel the comfort of surroundings of nature. (Now only if we could find a bathroom).
Our playground is located on the east side of the BSC campus, which does provide some open fields and wooded areas. We spend the majority of our time in our structured playground environment, which the children enjoy, but I have to say that they seem happiest when they are freely exploring the connecting garden or running through the field on the opposite side of the fence. I love to watch them run through the grassy area, as if they have been given freedom for the first time. The shrieking and running is a wonderful sight! They can't really get too far ahead or out of our site, but sometimes I think that we, as adults, still feel the need to verbally guide them, instead of sitting back and watching. It took the teachers quite a while to let go and allow the children to explore the garden without our direction. When left to their own devices, the children's imaginations came alive and they created a sunflower house and "jungle." What I'm trying to say is that I do believe their are times for "teachable" moments, but it's just as important for adults to sit back and watch.
What a difference between family child care and centers. The descriptions of FCC play spaces sound like nature vacation spots with all that is happening, but many centers are confined to fenced in areas with metal and plastic equipment. However, it is what the teacher makes of it. I remember one day, one of my staff came back from observing a center where she had gone outside with the preschool. She was telling about the plants they saw, how they watched and listened to the birds, how they looked for bugs, and how they stood very still to listen to a frog. I was entranced by her description and wanted to visit this wonderful place. I then found out it was a center in which children leave the building, follow a walkway, then cross the parking lot and walk down a slope to a paved playground. The teacher had taken advantage of every element of nature that was there and given the children a wonderful experience. It was almost unbelievable given the environment that she had.
In response to Carol's post...you make an excellent point...teachers need to be able to use whatever is available to provide these experiences. I feel a bit sad that we need to actually "train" folks to be aware of their surroundings & share that with the children. There are some folks who truly will have trouble developing this skill as they are so focused on watching the children themselves to ensure their safety.
Kathleen...I find cemetaries peaceful places, I think you used what was available creatively!!
Abagail...exzcellent point & so simple..we need to see things through the eyes of the children. From their perspectiove that blade of grass pushing up between the cracks in the sidewalk is an amazing thing!! We need to spend more time at thie eye level!
I can absolutely relate to what Carol was describing in regard to a center-based playground that was paved and yet the teachers made the most of any opportunity to explore nature. As I had mentioned in a previous post, our playground also is in what I would call a more industrialized part of town and the playground is completely fenced in with only paving for riding vehicle and sand under the play equipment. But Carol's post reminded me of the excitement we experienced last spring when a very colorful slug made its way onto the playground. The questions, observations, and examinations that followed were wonderful. What we could not answer right there on the spot, prompted the teachers to research more about slugs to share with the children the next day. What made things even more exciting was that the slug apparently made a new home for himself on the playground and we were able to visit him for several days. As adults, many of us would see a slug and simply grimace at the sight, but the children brought all of us closer to the situation and allowed us to truly stop and admire the beauty of its colors and observe the animal’s movements. Reflecting on this experience makes me realize that not only do we as adults need to lead the children to admire nature but we need to remember to let the children lead us on a new journey as well.
In response to Vera...YES YES YES I think we need to let the children lead us! I may have said this here before but one of my greatest joys in working with young children is to see where they lead & observe how they interact with the world. The time I spend with children, I mean REALLY spend with children are the times I truly learn what is important. It has taken & continues to take practice letting go of my own agenda & plans so I can be in the moment with them.
An example...over this past school vacation week I took a walk with my youngest daughter along a trail leading to a pond. One of my fav things to do is walk & hike but sometimes I can approach it like I am "on a mission"! I can be so focused on the walk that I forget to see what is around me! Anyway, we walked down to the pond & I just wanted to keep on going but much to my annoyance my daughter wanted to hang around & "skate" along the frozen edge of the pond. Well, I finally "got it" & realized that I was not on a mission & I could stop & "smell the roses". So, I joined her (very carefully mind you, last thing I want to do is fall & break these bones..LOL) & it was wonderful! She pointed out the rocks frozen under the water & they were beautiful! We explored the patterns the ice made as it froze & it was truly beautiful. I am glad I stopped & let her "lead".
I also responded to Vera's reminder to "let the children lead us on a new journey as well". I combined this with Louv's discussion on pg 86 about loose parts. His theory is that they support open ended experiences. I have experienced a correllation between artificial play structures and social dominence play. Territorial possession of these structures and positioning on them does seem to enhance that type of play, where as green spaces just seems more peaceful and calming. Louv suggests a "loose parts" inventory. It includes; water, trees, bushes, flowers, long grass, sand, places to sit in, on and under structures, woods, fields& streams. I include some of the items mentioned in our blogs as well like; magnifying glasses, bug catchers, binoculars, bird feeders, rocks, pinecones, acorns, leaves, dirt, sunflower houses, veggie gardens, bugs, worms, caterpillars, slugs! Doesn't this bring to mind a great visual with many children exploring and content. Most of those play structures are outrageously expensive anyway. Wouldn't it be better to share a list like this with parents?
We do make opportunities to take regular nature walks (using all of our senses of course). The change of scenery is a nice supplement to our own play area. There are times when the sidewalk is more passable like when the plow has our gate under a snow bank.I find the shape walking line from Discount to be the best in keeping the children safe and teacher's anxiety low.
The other night I was surfing the net seeing if I could find any more articles or information regarding outside play areas and I came across articles by Randy White. One particular article states that "currently few states have any requirements in their child care licensing requirements for naturalized playground; nor do N.A.E.Y.C. accreditation standards or Head Start standards” It goes on to show naturalized outdoor environments, play gardens and playground designs. All of the designs are ideal and beautifully laid out playgrounds with natural gardens, plants and trees and some vines giving shelter from the sun, rock climbing areas with play equipment blended into the natural contours of the land. Several examples of these playgrounds around the country were highlighted including Davis Farmland, in Sterling, MA. The Davis Farmland has been open for several years and is a good example of an outdoor play space with a children's zero-depth water playground and an indoor enrichment center. A great field trip for families, family daycare and for centers, but it is a bit of a drive.
After reading Louv's book, I think I am doing a good job of making my outdoor space interesting. I have a sand/water table where I like to "hide" plastic insects and dinosaurs. The children love to discover them and make homes and trails for them to live in. We take nature walks in the woods near my house and look for squirrels, birds, changes in seasons, leaves, pinecones, etc. I try to get the children to appreciate the nature around them. Not to hit the trees with sticks,(very difficult for the boys to understand) but to take the stick and make trails through the pine needles, look under rocks for creepy crawlys, abandonded bird nests, etc. All these things will encourage their interest for their enviornment. But a lot more has to be done to keep our open spaces, open, to maintain areas for all of us to enjoy nature and benefit from its beauty. I enjoy taking my daycare to the Trailside Museum in Milton where we can take small hikes at the bottom of Blue Hills and also go into the museum and see some of the animals that are native to the area. These are animals they would not normally see now that the area has become so populated, it is a great learning experience for them!
Joanne Hogan and Debbie Drago have already described our playground at the BSC Children's Center in this section, so I won't repeat what they have already written. Instead I will focus on our small school garden.
When I first brought my big Troybuilt rotto-tiller to school in June of 1996, I wanted the garden we were creating to be a process-oriented garden, rather than one focused on products (vegetables and flowers), as my gardens at home are. However, like Patricia Policastro, I have had to work at letting go of my own agenda and plans so I can be in the moment with the children. In the early days I would have a planting project in mind and the children would all want to be involved. Once we started work they were much more interested in hunting for worms, insects and watering the weeds than following through with whatever I had planned! This forced me to rethink things.
In recent years I haven't been able to spend as much time in the garden as I wish, because prime gardening time conflicts with the end of the fiscal year when I have many budget responsibilities (not my favorite part of the job!). I am very grateful that my teachers, particularly Joanne Hogan and Eileen Estudante, have kept the garden going because the children do love it so much. We're all much less structured in our approach to the garden now, and I'm sure that has everything to do with the children's satisfaction and interest.
Yuck, I have a sterile playground.
We‘re a public school program with a very well tended playground, too well maybe, as there are no “loose edges”. We are on a beautiful campus, incredible acreage, wonderful flowerbeds at the front of the school and many well-tended sports fields. We are also “license exempt” which gives us some additional freedom.
The playground itself is a sunny, tree-less, rectangular fenced-in space. In the middle are a new mid-sized Little Tikes climber and its surrounding sand fall zone. To one side of the climber is on open grassy area, which the children like to use with the student teachers, balls and other equipment. On the other side of the climber is a new, large plastic-edged sandbox, a Little Tikes picnic table and a section of shady grass near the gate. There is a maple tree on the outside of the fence.
I plant fall bulbs with the children near the building. I added a birdfeeder. I bring natural things in. I encourage and support every outdoor idea that the student teachers come want to try.
We have limitations though; we are a 3 hour, Sept-June program, we have time constraints about being away from the classroom (for the high school schedule) …, no sledding, no plantings that will get in the way of the big commercial grass mowers, some vandalism concerns, you know public space issues.
I’m looking here for some easy to implement ideas that are low cost/big improvement, which will be acceptable to the school and will soften the playground and the area around my classroom. So far, I’ve had the dangerous equipment removed, had the fence replaced and enlarged the playground at the same time. I don’t want more equipment, but a more inviting outdoor “classroom”. I’m thinking about turning the corners into “gardens”, that don’t take up too much playground space. Because we are not there over the summer, I would want them to be spring or fall blooming. I’m thinking azalea and rhododendrons, butterfly bush, sedum, and pussy willow… they can’t take up too much space in the playground either.
Any other ideas?
Over the past few months, my co-teachers and I have been thinking about adopting the project based approach based on the Reggio Emilia philosophy of learning. The major obstacle that we faced was determining just what our focus should be. We originally looked to our campus community for ideas, but have come to the conclusion that we have the perfect place to start-the garden in our own backyard! As I mentioned earlier, all of the children find the garden to be an exciting, fun, stress-free environment and it can be easily expanded into many different learning experiences. We recently asked the children to describe what our garden looks like now and listened to them as they gave us ideas about what needed to be done to prepare it for the spring planting. Many remembered that we have started seedlings under a grow light in the past and mentioned this in their discussions. As we let the children lead us through the garden preparation, planting, maintenance, and finally the fall harvest, it will be interesting to see how this project influences their social and emotional growth. What we put in the garden isn't as important as the experience itself. I think that this discussion has helped me to realize this. Ideally, I'd like to see our playground area expanded and changed into a more natural environment, but this may not be feasible right now, as our funds are limited. I do look forward to using the resources that we do have and feel that we are headed in the right direction.
Our center has only been open for four years and as our program has developed, so has our playground. We are in an industrial park and a woman in one of the offices commented that when she came to work in the building, the back of the lot was all trees. Then, she commented, the trees were cut down to make room for a bigger paved parking lot. After the center opened, she saw the pavement dug up and sand delivered and then this fall she saw mulch delivered and trees planted. In a period of about 15 years the space has gone full circle. This fall when we had the trees planted, we also had bushes brought in as well as stumps and logs and four-foot wooden planters for gardens. One is going to be left just for digging in the dirt as on the very first day, we had a toddler climb into the planter and just sit there. She was happy as could be. We also have “tree cookies” which are slices from a log. Without any instruction from a teacher, children immediately knew what they could do with them: stack them, line them up one beside another to walk on, and carry them. I think that was the favorite – they’re just heavy enough to be a challenge. We also have two teepees made from three poles sunk into the ground and tied at the top. We hope to plant vines that will grow on the poles and make a hideaway spot for the children. At first they were used to climb and to swing around which left our trees undisturbed. This spring we want to plant a sunflower house and are currently looking for additional ideas, especially for our infant- toddler playground. I am really looking forward to the conference for additional suggestions.
Our own outdoor spaces
I have to say, that this year our playground began a total revamp that for reasons beyond our control has not yet been finished. Our play area now consists of the large back parking lot with all the ride on toys, balls, and house structures that used to be in the playground. Beyond the edge of the playground is what I have been calling “Sherwood Forest” for many years. It has housed many guests, both of the animal and homeless adult varieties. I have taken many groups of children there to explore and even though we are about 100 feet from the building, they feel as though they are miles away. They are intrigued and amazed by what they find.
I also have to say, that since we have been playing on the blacktop, which is also bordered by a very wide strip of grass that houses several trees , we are allowing the children more freedom to just play in the grass and run among the trees. Something we can’t always do when confined to the playground. More importantly, their play has reached new dimensions. They are more imaginative, they are using the loose parts that Louv speaks about. They collected rocks, nuts, berries, sticks, leaves, crab apples, real apples, and boysenberries. They opened stores with them, used them to mark trails and so on. I cannot believe what this simple change has done for them. We were less than excited to be out there away from the comfort of our playground, but it has done wonders for the kids. Perhaps because I am doing this study and I am also in a position of authority at the school, I have been encouraging more of this type of play both with the children and with the teachers. It really opens your eyes to watch this play evolution.
As I read through the posts it sounds like we have some really nice play spaces out there and some beyond our control that need help. Elaine, while trying some new “loose parts” for your yard can you bring in some oversized containers and try different things in each one? How about Carol’s idea of just one full of dirt for the children to dig in? Add in a bag or two of potatoes and some large carrots, a few trowels and I think the kids would have a grand time. I have found planting radishes (they grow fast), corn, potatoes and sunflowers all to be big hits with the kids. I have also had success with the upside down tomato planter (although if vandalism is a concern this product is an investment – maybe it could go home with you for the summer). If space allows – can you bring in some dirt or mulch and just let the kids move it around with child-sized wheelbarrows or buckets and shovels? Pansies are another neat flower – they should be showing up in garden centers soon and they would bring quick color to your space from now until the frost. What about an outside sand table or a dirt table and load it with plastic bugs. I found a simple “recipe” for building a worm farm using a medium sixed plastic storage bin – it worked pretty well and the kids had fun drilling the holes, adding the layers and adding the worms – most of the children actually wanted to touch and hold the worms. Lunch time could offer a good opportunity to save some scraps for the worm bin. Perhaps building a collection of small pocket-sized bug and bird books, some binoculars, and hand-held magnifying glasses could be kept in a basket to be brought in and out with your group when you get time outside. I hope one of these ideas might work in your new space. Good luck!
Jane, the ideas that you have shared with Elaine are awesome.... easy to implement and not very expensive.
I can't wait to try some of your ideas at MLA. The nursing home has given us permission to plant in a number of gardens located near our playground. We have planted flowers in June with a special family planting but unfortunately, weeding and watering have not caught on and the plants, if not watered, soon die.
I am hoping that we will be able to change this disinterest this spring. I like the idea of having a bin of dirt for the children to dig and "plant" carrots and potatoes and putting our binoculars, magnifying glasses, and bug catchers,etc in a bucket by the door to use in our outdoor play.
One of our dad's is a landscaper and has suggested a fall bulb planting party which will give the families the opportunity to plant bulbs in the fall and then take care of it in the spring and summer.
I also like Carol's idea of the tree cookies. What a fun way to learn about trees.
Many times for us as teachers, we want to assist in directing children’s play. We very much want to play that pivotal role in structuring their learning environments and sometimes it is hard for us to let that go – some of us more than others!. Louv does a wonderful thing in making us think back to when we were children. When you were in nature, was it necessary for you to be directed by a teacher to be interested in that personal experience with nature? Our playground is not too nature friendly at this time and is encompassed by a standard chain link fence. Aside from our playground equipment (swings, climbing structure etc.) and ground covered in Fiberbar a/k/a woodchips, we have one very small area which is separated by our fence. This area is grassy w/a two trees but we honestly do not make much use of this area. There is one other located a small distance from this area in which we grow a garden. Our garden is very small, maybe 20 feet, “L “ shaped and only about four feet wide. The garden is accessible by a gate connected to the playground and there is a picnic table within our playground located next to the garden fence but not in the garden (the gate to the garden is next to it). Each year with the help of the children and the teachers, we plant our garden. In the past, our garden has been thoroughly planned and the children instructed as to what is appropriate behavior in the garden and what is not (“don’t step here, don’t pull up that plant”). We only allowed a small number (around three) of children in the garden at a time and although the gate and garden is connected to our playground, a teacher has always been present when children were in the garden. This past fall, my co-teachers and I dared to do something different! Something unheard of and untried by us in our garden. We allowed children to go into the garden alone (gasp) and did not limit the amount going in, did not give them any direction of what to do and what not to do, and just LET THEM BE. We sat at the nearby picnic table (close but not too close) and eavesdropped on the children as they played under canopies of sunflowers! They had an amazing time that opened a door to so much learning. They asked each other questions and when peers could not provide the answers they came to us – curious, inquisitive and open to learning! They guided one another (“See the tomatoes growing? We can’t pick that plant or it won’t grow anymore.”) and took leadership roles in their play. Allowing them a still somewhat controlled freedom allowed us to teach – to an open and interested mind. It is as simple as that and it is so nice to have that confirmed by Louv – unstructured outdoor play is good! Each day we would be asked in excited voices if they could go into the “sunflower house” to play. They worked together and created something we could not – a garden by children for children and took ownership of that garden as no other prior group of children had. It was beautiful to see them make such a connection to nature and all that was necessary was for us to do was to let go of the control and just let them BE. This year, instead of planting quite so many vegetables, I would love to plant more herbs. The children are always picking the sage and chives we grow and perhaps to add rosemary and lavender and some thyme would engage their senses more than the typical squash plant – and they can pick with abandon!
Our play space is pretty typical - fenced in, hard surface, sand box, climbers, mulch covered spaces, etc. But I have longed to make it a more "natural" area for a very long time, while keeping my licensor happy. This book, these discussions have really helped me to recommit to that goal.
Mine is the playground that Amy spoke about that is stalled in the middle of a revamp. Today, someone approached me about getting some help from a civic group to donate materials and laborers to finish it. It's all up in the air but I must admit, I felt a momentary stab of sadness because as Amy related to you, the children's play has changed since they've moved from the fenced area to the relative freedom of the grassy, tree bordered strip. Of course we have one or two children who were very slow to warm up to that space but those are the very same ones who find anything but their video games boring.
As we get closer to finishing our playground project I so want to remove some of the plastic pieces and replace them with rocks, berry bushes, etc. I've always witnessed the children seeking out the rough edges....the one tree we have in our playground has been a source of "food" when it buds...the children work together to pluck the buds off the lower branches to use in their pretend play. Most gravite to that and away from the climbers and trikes.
We have a playhouse on the outer edge of the playground and only one or two children can comfortably fit inside. Every time we go out someone chooses to remove themself from the group and sit in the house and play. We invariably hear them talking or singing to themself and being totally entertained. More often then not the children would prefer to use the wood chips instead of some of the "props" we have for them. They use them to dig, or for food, or for tools - whatever their imagination can devise.
I hope to bring in more "loose parts" and hopefully encourage them to create and build their own things from natural materials. It won't be a true "nature" experience but I hope it will be more natural.
Theresa, I hadn't really thought about the correlation between social dominance play and commercial play structures but I so see it!
I also loved the idea of the "tree cookies". One of the things I want to do in our revamp of the playground is to divide the swingset area with piecies of cut tree trunks at varying heights to create a barrier for the wood chips but to also be a low climber. I had hoped to plant grass and some flowers along the divider and I think I'll use the tree cookie idea as well!
Jane, thanks to you too for some great ideas for loose parts. This has been a wonderful forum for thought, discussion and exchange of experiences and ideas.
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