Outdoor Resources

[AnonyMouse_26037]

Hello,

 

I'm planning to have something of a blitz on our outdoor provision/learning environment next term and hopefully increase our use of what is a lovely, green outdoor space with lots of unrealised potential.

 

One of my issues with using it is set up (and subsequent tidy up). Generally speaking there is just me to set up, I'm already in at 7 in the morning (and can't get in earlier or I probably would be!) and after school there are always meetings, catch ups and 101 other jobs to do. I tend to start with setting up the indoor area as that is the first seen and first used space and rarely get around to the outdoors. So... I'm not going to be defeated, I'm trying to be creative and come up with resources that can live outside permanently or be transported outside very easily.

 

I'm thinking of things like putting together 'boxes' that I can just put outside e.g. a music box, a dance box, a mark making box, maths box etc. Does anyone else do something like this and does it work?

 

The other thing I'm thinking is of creating an outdoor number line/letters etc. We obviously have very limited money so I'm making these and my key question is how durable will laminated card numbers/shapes/letters/pictures etc. be durable enough? Obviously I can make all these (well I was going to get the children to make them!) and make a lovely looking outdoor space but if I have to take them in and put them out everyday I know I'll never get around to it until 3 o'clock at which point I'll just think 'why bother'?!

 

I hope this doesn't sound too moany. I'm determined to make this work but I sometimes find it hard to come up with different ideas on my own - much easier to bounce them off other people!

[AnonyMouse_32697]

Hi

 

I've got a few questions

 

Are you in a school setting?

Do you have support from other adults?

Do you share the outdoor area with anybody else?

 

 

I'll start by saying what we do and this may give you some ideas.

 

We share our outdoor area between nursery and two reception classes. So, Monday and Friday are continuous provision days set up and tidied away by a TA. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are split between the three teaches who have responsibility for setting up on those days and providing a focused activity. The TA who is supporting outside, that day, will tidy resources away.

 

A few years ago we had an overhaul of how we stored outdoor equipment. We invested in trolleys, that are usually used as lunch box trolleys. We now have single and double sided ones, each side used for a diiferent area, such as maths, literacy, music and water, to name but a few. So easy to push out and put away!

 

As for laminated resources we have made number lines and alphabet freezes. They are however under a canopy stapled to the wall so do have some protection from the elements. The sun has faded them slightly. The ones that were made on paper rather than card and laminated, have tended to be more successful as the ones on card have started to seperate, i don't know if this has anything to do with the quality of the laminator though.

 

You are obviously a very committed practitioner starting at 7! So, I am sure you will find your way but I think you need some help and support. We struggle to get the indoors looking nice and outdoor before nine when there are 2/3 of us on the job. Good luck

 

T.

[AnonyMouse_26037]

Thank you for your reply. To begin with answering your questions:

 

Yes I am in a school setting - I have a reception/Y1 class - currently 17 reception, 10 Y1 and am in a 'not really small but not really big school either' with accompanying awkwardness e.g. 2 sittings of sandwiches served in my room which means proper clearaway and set up each lunchtime.

 

I am very lucky and have a full time TA however she is committed to being a 'welcome party' on the playground each morning and as we have to get reading books changed and go to assembly off site 3 days a week there is little time to get sorted before children arrive.

 

The outdoor area is all mine - the Y1/2 class may come to 'play' very occasionally in the afternoon or when we have special days where we mix all the classes up.

 

So, it really is down to me and I'm really very lucky - I know lots of people who have less support and much less space but are still expected to do brilliant outdoor provision. I suppose my 'fear' is that I will be more heavily criticised if I have a lovely space but am not using it effectively.

 

My ultimate aim is perhaps that I could create these boxes and I could get them out of the shed in the morning, put them in the relevant 'area' and gradually train my children to get them out properly. I'm thinking about doing things like colour coding resources to make it easier for children to put back in the right place. I have to admit this year I do have a cohort that are particularly hopeless at tidying up - there's a small but determined group of children who manage to be doing anything and everything except tidying!

[AnonyMouse_19782]

When you laminate the pictures for outside, make sure you have quite wide border of just laminate around the picture then the rain etc. won't do as much damage to your pictures.

 

Do you have a fenced area you could ask to have a blackboard screwed to or a whiteboard, or a wall you could paint an area to be a blackboard?

 

We have planks outside which the children love to use and blue rope (esp. the boys) and my husband sawed up lengths of an old cherry tree we took down to make wooden building blocks for the children and wooden plates etc., a much bigger tree he sawed up to make stepping stones for them. these items can be left out and they just get better with the weather. Could you find an area to string up some old metal utensils for a music area, these could be left out.

 

Boxes going in and out each day works very well, but I do think you need some permanent resources outside which can be your starting point if you don't get round to setting up for one reason or another, the children can still go out and find something to work with and the more natural the resources the better.

 

Would you be able to have a little fundraiser with your class and brainstorm the types of equipment they would like to be able to use outside? They could then use this as a topic for next term to base all the curriculum areas around.

[AnonyMouse_26037]

Thanks Panders, they're exactly the kind of ideas I'm looking for.

 

I totally agree with you about creating the permanent set up areas.

 

I already have 2 huge blackboards which my dad made for me and attached to the walls. All I have to do is put the chalk pots out and I have a mark making/creative area ready.

 

I have two 'woodland' (that's a very grand term for them!) corners one of which is flatter than the other. In one of them we currently have two frames which were originally tables but with the table tops removed (going rotten and peeling and generally not safe). I had been thinking of using them as a base for den building but am now planning to attach pots/pans and other things too them to be an outdoor music area - was thinking that I could get some nice 'natural music' going from being in the woods too.

 

I have security fencing (not pretty!) around 3 sides of the outdoor area and a lower 'picket' fence on the 4th which separates us from the rest of the school grounds. I was intending to attach washing lines to the security fence all over the place to use for number lines, alphabet lines - an 'easel' space etc. You name it I'm planning to hang it up.

 

One idea I had was to make big, bright and colourful signs to identify each different area 'Musical wood', 'Maths Zone' etc. to highlight to any passing parents/Ofsted inspectors etc. that I am providing for all areas of learning even if children aren't actually in them at the time (I was criticised for this last Ofsted).

 

Thanks for the tip about laminating - I had been wondering whether to make numbers/letters so they were on a piece of A4 or whether to cut out and then laminate so they'd look a bit as if they were floating.

 

On a sort of related 'What works outside' note I've been giving the task of getting my children to decorate a fenced garden area we have at the front of the school - it currently has a very dull fence to stop them falling over the wall onto a lower path but it does have an air of 'prison fencing' about it. It would lend itself perfectly to weaving but I'm wondering what materials to use - I could use natural twigs/leaves etc. but I want to get a bit of bright colour in there too. Any suggestions anyone?

[AnonyMouse_32166]

re- the fence, we did some weaving at my last school to cheer up the metal fence using coloured plastic (or plastic bags from supermarkets cut into strips) we just asked parents to collect coloured plastic bags.

 

re outdoor area - i am reception and mostly have the area for just my class though year 1 sometimes come and play. I have quite a big area and also find it difficult to set up in the mornings both inside and out (depends what time my TA comes in!/ traffic in the morning!)

 

Please don't take this the wrong way but if it takes you so long to set up in the morning are you getting too much out? could you not have the classroom set up so the children can access the resources for themselves (you just need to spend time training the children) for example do you let children assess their own paint?

 

i have set things outside that stay outside e.g. sand, crates, drainpipes, chairs and a table, washing line (next to which i have stapled zip wallets to the wall which conatin laminated letters and numbers), the children also made instruments using plastic bottles ect which i have hung to the fence.

 

I also have decluttered the shed, boxed everything up and labeled everything! the children access the shed themselfs and get what they want to play with, if they can't reach they just ask an adult, at tidy up time they match the labels on the boxes with the labels on the shelves/ wall.

 

I also have a problem with tidy up time they would rather play than tidy up! what currently works for me is tidy up groups. i have spilt the children into groups and each group has a set area to tidy up for that week e.g. role play/ writing area/ workshop ect. If they haven't tidyed their area by the end of the 5 minute song they have to come back at lunch/ snack time and do it.

 

i have also had to re-think my classroom- our school is having a big push on work/life balance. how can i set it up so the onlt thing i am getting ready in the morning is the stuff for my focus activity!?

 

hope i have been helpful

Em

[AnonyMouse_26037]

Em,

 

Thank you for your reply - you are probably right about getting too much out in the mornings - have sent you a separate message about this.

 

Decluttering the shed is my project for this Easter! At the moment you can't get more than about 2 feet into it which means that lots of stuff isn't getting used and lots just doesn't get put away properly.

 

I've also inherited a lot of very specific resources - hard to explain what I mean but it's things like a plastic 'castle front' or a set of 'animal hospital' vehicles, they take up a lot of space, are a nightmare to store and I would rather have generic things that the children could use more creatively. I'm suffering a little from that hoarding mentality of keeping things because you never know when it will come in handy but we simply don't have the space to store all of it safely and accessibly. I guess I'm going to have to be ruthless!

 

I am inspired by your story of children getting what they want out the shed. Do you limit the amount of things they can have out i.e. if they want something new out they have to put an 'old' thing away?

[AnonyMouse_32697]

Hi just wanted to share one idea that i saw on an outdoor course. The teacher had spent a long time putting together specific outdoor boxes and she had made laminated lists of contents stuck to the lid. She gave responsibility to the children at tidy up time to work down the list (pictures accompanied the text) and tick off each item then they got an adult to check. I suppose you could reinforce this by awarding them a sticker or what ever other rewards you have such as pasta in the jar or set challenges who can find ? first?

T.

Thank you for your reply. To begin with answering your questions:

 

Yes I am in a school setting - I have a reception/Y1 class - currently 17 reception, 10 Y1 and am in a 'not really small but not really big school either' with accompanying awkwardness e.g. 2 sittings of sandwiches served in my room which means proper clearaway and set up each lunchtime.

 

I am very lucky and have a full time TA however she is committed to being a 'welcome party' on the playground each morning and as we have to get reading books changed and go to assembly off site 3 days a week there is little time to get sorted before children arrive.

 

The outdoor area is all mine - the Y1/2 class may come to 'play' very occasionally in the afternoon or when we have special days where we mix all the classes up.

 

So, it really is down to me and I'm really very lucky - I know lots of people who have less support and much less space but are still expected to do brilliant outdoor provision. I suppose my 'fear' is that I will be more heavily criticised if I have a lovely space but am not using it effectively.

 

My ultimate aim is perhaps that I could create these boxes and I could get them out of the shed in the morning, put them in the relevant 'area' and gradually train my children to get them out properly. I'm thinking about doing things like colour coding resources to make it easier for children to put back in the right place. I have to admit this year I do have a cohort that are particularly hopeless at tidying up - there's a small but determined group of children who manage to be doing anything and everything except tidying!

[Guest]

I asked for ideas for outdoors in sept and got lots of good ideas, here's the link to that thread:

http://www.foundation-stage.info/forums/in...&hl=outdoor

 

Also to add to Panders idea about leaving a border on laminated things, if you leave the top of the laminating pouch empty and hole punch the empty part then use cable ties to attach it to the fence they should last. I've done this with some comparebears cards that we had. I colour photocopied them and made them double sided with the back upside-down then attached them at the top with 2 cable ties fastened quite loosely to make a sort of hinge so the children can lift them up and see the other side (one side is the numeral with that number of bears, the other side is the numeral and the word. Hope that makes sense. I put ours up a few weeks ago, just before all the rain and up to now they've survived intact.

I'm planning on doing something similar with letters when I get time.

 

One of the most popular ideas that I got from the thread above is gutter attached to the fence. We have 3 different lengths of gutter at different angles, aimed into the water tray. The children love putting water down the chutes (coloured water is most fun) and also ball pool balls. I have cable tied a basket onto the fence next to it to hold the balls.

 

Another fun idea was to make an abacus with washing line and airflow balls. I cut 2 small chunks of wood and drilled through them to go at the ends to hold the abacus away from the fence so the balls can move freely. I'll try and remember to take a photo tomorrow to show you what I mean.

 

A trip to poundland got me lots of nice bits, e.g. windmills to attach to the fence and a windsock shaped like a ladybird. Also a pack of 100 cable ties for a pound- much cheaper than diy shops!

[Guest]

I am in a reception class also, this is what we do:

We set up most of inside for the morning the day before which just leaves the things like adding water to the water tray and computers to do in the morning and then we set up outside, sometimes this will only be the large items and things from the playhouse eg climbing frame, obstacle course,painting, writing etc and then when an adult goes outside more items are added.

 

We have 3 storage sheds, 1 is a play house, another a 'choosing shed' and the other a 'grown ups only' shed. Children are free to choose whatever

they would like from the choosing shed and if they want something from the grown ups shed they need to ask. I would like to organise choosing shed better perhaps with themed boxes as it gets jumbled very quickly. We do have a tower storage unit for pens, paper, scissors, junk modelling etc which is just pulled out of the shed each morning.

 

Our things that stay outside all the times are a music area (pots, pans, wood etc), a gardening area (pots, tools, buckets, watering cans etc), loose parts area (crates, tubes, guttering, wood, bricks etc all stored in tyres so they are contained but rain water doesn't build up) and a cooking corner (plastic cooker with pots and pans hung up on wall etc). Whiteboards, chalkboards and book racks are permanently attached.

 

We stopped lunches in classrooms a few years ago and they all go in the hall with two sittings (Reception, Yr1 and Yr2 together then juniors)

[AnonyMouse_26037]

Sorry for the delay in replying to you all again - it's been a very busy last week of term! Hurray for holidays!

 

Thanks to everyone for their ideas and support.

 

Trasong = thanks for the suggestion about box contents lists - I can see how this might help with the tidying up process. I also need to get more environmental print up so that will help with this too.

 

Missblinx - thanks for the link - as you say lots of great ideas on there. Thanks too for the tip about holding the abacus away from the fence. I was thinking about using airflow balls to make a giant bead string but hadn't got as far as thinking about keeping them moving freely.

 

Jo1 - I would love to hope for no lunches in my room but we have no hall so there is no chance. It has definitely got me into some bad habits, after the usual morning noise/chaos and then with lunchtime noise in there once I've finished hearing readers at lunchtime I'm just desperate to escape for some peace and quiet then I have a more rushed set up at the end of lunch and usually walk back in to a chaotic desk too. I like your descriptions of your different 'areas'. I want to create a music area too and have already e-mailed our staff asking for any pots or pans they come across while spring cleaning!

[Guest]

Missblinx - thanks for the link - as you say lots of great ideas on there. Thanks too for the tip about holding the abacus away from the fence. I was thinking about using airflow balls to make a giant bead string but hadn't got as far as thinking about keeping them moving freely.

 

 

Oh no! I forgot to take photos!!! Sorry I'm sure you can figure it out tho... if not ask me again in a couple of weeks and I'll take pics when we go back in x

[AnonyMouse_26037]

No worries - I'm pretty sure I know what you mean. I am so excited about this - will be taking before and after photos myself so might well upload some on here if I'm feeling brave enough.