Guest Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 Hi, I'm hoping to get some funding and create a wonderful outdoor area. One area I'm looking closer at is a nature area/corner for my performance management target. I intend to plant flowers to attract birds insects, logs and bark for bugs. Magnifying glasses for the children to use will be attached to fence close by (this will be continuous provision) then for enhanced - add topic related things i.e. dinosaurs Any one created such an area or have any ideas? thanks Katie x
Guest Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 We are planning to have something similar in our new outdoor area. One word of warning though - our gardner has pointed out that logs and bark not only attract bugs but can also grow fungi which may or may not be identifiable by me! He has designed an area which we can close off so we can restrict access at some times until we are sure there isn't anything dangerous growing there.
AnonyMouse_9650 Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 We have put in a compost bin (make your own dirt) and a bird feeder to attract the birds too as well as having a mix of seasonal and all year round planting. Am thinking of adding little house thingies for ladybirds and bumblebees to overwinter in but not done anything about it yet.
AnonyMouse_8623 Posted January 14, 2010 Posted January 14, 2010 That all sounds lovely Katie. I am doing some training on outdoor learning with a lady called Liz McGraw (did my Schema training with her) on Saturday. I'm looking forward to learning more about this and there may be some ideas that I can pass on to peeps here (with permission). We are also having a small strip of land (which the children call the magic place) developed by another person who is doing her forest school training. I have volunteered to help her as I love the outdoors and have lots of ideas of my own too.
Guest LornaW Posted January 14, 2010 Posted January 14, 2010 Don't abandon the logs and bark becasue of the fungi as this is a magical opportunity for questions from the children and you can easily teach them not to touch and that they can be poisonous! You can get a fungi identification sheet here and they are excellent as they are laminated! http://www.field-studies-council.org/publi....aspx?Code=OP80
Guest Posted January 14, 2010 Posted January 14, 2010 Hi, we created our own outdoor area including a garden last year. We have: - Raised beds in which we grow crops and fruit - A herb area for sensory stuff - A small pond - a mini greenhouse - stepping stones for counting activities We used raised beds because we had to build straight onto tarmac. We have covered the ground with gravel. I wouldn't be too worried about fungi, what I have done for bugs is to make a bug box which is a wooden box filled with things like lengths of cane, old seed heads, bits of bark, etc.
Guest Posted January 14, 2010 Posted January 14, 2010 Thanks LornaW! That looks really useful. I didn't want to abandon it altogether but I needed more information.
Guest Posted January 15, 2010 Posted January 15, 2010 thank you so much everyone!! What wonderful ideas!! Weve managed to persaude the local college to make us some bird tables for free so would reccomend blagging as it seems to work I'll keep you updated with progress, good luck everyone!! xx
Guest Posted January 16, 2010 Posted January 16, 2010 Hi, we created our own outdoor area including a garden last year. We have: - Raised beds in which we grow crops and fruit - A herb area for sensory stuff - A small pond - a mini greenhouse - stepping stones for counting activities We used raised beds because we had to build straight onto tarmac. We have covered the ground with gravel. I wouldn't be too worried about fungi, what I have done for bugs is to make a bug box which is a wooden box filled with things like lengths of cane, old seed heads, bits of bark, etc. Did you buy the greenhouse or get it donated/given? x
Guest LornaW Posted January 16, 2010 Posted January 16, 2010 Tractor tyres make good raised beds! Drill some holes in the tarmac and lay gravel first then soil and they are just perfect - and free!!!!
Guest Posted January 18, 2010 Posted January 18, 2010 That all sounds lovely Katie. I am doing some training on outdoor learning with a lady called Liz McGraw (did my Schema training with her) on Saturday. I'm looking forward to learning more about this and there may be some ideas that I can pass on to peeps here (with permission). We are also having a small strip of land (which the children call the magic place) developed by another person who is doing her forest school training. I have volunteered to help her as I love the outdoors and have lots of ideas of my own too. How did Saturday Go? x
Guest terrydoo73 Posted February 8, 2011 Posted February 8, 2011 I am interested in your stepping stones - how did you create these? Or were they bought?
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