Remember that sweet childhood memory of spending summer afternoons in the treehouse playing pretend games with your friends? Something I believe everyone has be
Steiner-Waldorf education is a holistic approach to schooling developed by Rudolf Steiner that emphasizes the integration of intellectual, artistic, and
Those of us who teach in the various areas of the liberal arts are aware that the kind of instruction we offer is severely under siege. Governors and legislatures are trying to condense the time i…
Turn every recess into an adventure!
Image 2 of 33 from gallery of Korea National Arboretum Children's Forest School / GEEUMPLUS. Photograph by Hoonkoo Lee
An outdoor class room and nature learning spaces are great ways to encourage learning outside for your kids and engage in outdoor sensory play. Create your own nature play and learning spaces outside to meet your outdoor classroom goals. Try these Montessori ideas with nature based learning stations, summer outdoor room spaces and outdoor education resources. Creative ideas for promoting motor skill development, too!
Boston University
Lots of EPIC Simple Machine Projects for students to make using things around the house! Learn about simple machines for kids - levers, plleys, inclinned plane, wheel & axel, wedges, and screw.
At Hand Made Places, we’ve created a free guide to designing sensory gardens for school playgrounds for unusual and inclusive school gardening club ideas.
Montessori spaces are designed for independent, hands-on learning in a child-friendly environment. They encourage exploration and development across multiple
Tips for creating your own outdoor classroom full of ideas for making the most out of your outdoor learning space for preschoolers.
The KINCANG Modern Pre-school in Shaoxing City, designed by LYCS Architecture on both exterior and interior, was officially completed and opened a few days ago. With a building area of 16,512sqm, the architects designed the kindergarten according to the highest standards of Chinese...
These science games are an interactive way to get students learning outdoors. There's so much to learn from going out and observing nature!
Image 7 of 15 from gallery of Architecture for the Blind: Intelligent and Inclusive Spaces for the Blind User. Cortesía de Marcelo Roux
Montessori Worm and Composting Activities for Kids with Free Printable
Our school has an Outdoor Learning Committee that I am a part of. We all feel very strongly that the environment where the children play outside is just as important as the environment inside our school. We have worked hard to make our playground an area where the kids can run, exercise explore and yes...learn! Outside play plays an important role in children's development! They are working gross motor muscles and getting must needed exercise. They learn how to solve problems such as when social disagreements arise. They learn empathy as they help friends who get hurt. They learn to take risks and see where their limits are and feel empowered as they take those risks and succeed. They create games and role play. They learn science concepts as they discover things in nature and learn to look closer and ask questions about what they see as they discover new things. They learn kindness as they try to save an insect in danger or nurture a plant. They are literally learning about life and life skills as they play outside, so we knew the environment needed to support that. We had an area that we were having some problems with in the middle of our asphalt area. We wanted to turn it into something all of the kids could explore and benefit from and decided to create a Barefoot Sensory Path. We came up with a design and my husband figured out how to make it so that it would be sturdy and last. Our amazing PTO gave us funds to purchase the materials and we had fun shopping at Lowes for items that would provide the sensory experiences we were hoping for. Our team came in on a Saturday and went to work. Our maintenance team had dug the area down four inches so that it would be even with the asphalt. We put down a layer of paver sand, and then the 4x4's. We glued some materials to 2x2 pieces of plywood. The sections were all 2x2. We filled the sections with paver base and tamped it solid. My son even came and helped! Here is the finished frame. Of course, we had to test it out! Here is the finished path!! We were so excited for the kids to try it! It was a huge success!! The kids absolutely loved walking on it with bare feet, crawling on it and feeling with their hands and even laying in it enjoying the warmth radiating from it from being in the sun. Another new area we created was an area to create roads, ramps, etc. using scrap wood, cars, signs and other loose parts. This lovely lady below had the vision for this area! We also added an area to really work those gross motor muscles. Mr. Doyle created a boundary to keep it all contained to one area. We filled it with stumps, logs, and large branches. The kids have created obstacle courses and love lifting these up to show how strong they are! They jump, balance and create here. They collaborate and problem solve. They use both critical and creative thinking skills. This is a great area to develop 21st Century Learning Skills as they play! For our nature lovers, we have an area with plants for them to explore and observe. Some are edible such as peppermint and fennel. We have cone flowers, milkweed, irises, sunflowers and more. This area is a great place to explore and observe insects also! Here are some other things on our playground where they can let lose and have fun! Our playground is still a work in progress! We have many more ideas that we want to implement some day! One step at a time!
