A 14-month-old is confidently climbing up a wooden structure with a slight incline at Rowland Hill Nursery School and Children’s Centre in north London. Using his hands to steady himself, he places his feet between the slats and co-ordinates his movements as he rises to the top. He looks over his shoulder to his educator and celebrates with a beaming smile.
The climbing structure is just one of the pieces of outdoor equipment in the nursery garden that provides the right amount of challenge for children under two.
‘Our outdoor climbing and balancing equipment provides challenge on a larger scale [than indoors], allowing babies to develop gross motor skills while supporting them to take measured risks that build upon their self-awareness, personal safety and the intrinsic drive to develop new skills,’ explains daycare co-ordinator Sarah Flory.
Babies at Rowland Hill move freely between the indoor and outdoor spaces in all weather. A decked area with water and sand play, a stage for dance and drama, raised beds for digging and growing and an investigation area backs onto a large garden with plenty of opportunities for physical play.
Under-twos have daily opportunities to engage in stimulating activities in the natural environment – the mud kitchen is a favourite. Community Playthings’ Outlast Bridge is another popular resource that supports physical development, helping children to develop balance, core muscles, bodily control and walking skills.
OVER AND UNDER
Negotiating a slope or stair is a big challenge for a one-year-old who will repeat the action until they have mastered it. ‘Provision must therefore allow for action: for clambering up and down, over and under, in and out and through – and include possibilities for swinging, sliding and bouncing to stimulate a sense of balance,’ explains Helen Huleatt, Community Playthings’ early years consultant and author.
At Each Peach Childcare in Hove, East Sussex, owner Kate Peach, who also runs Peachwell Early Years Consultancy with her colleague Jo Caswell, provides low-level climbing frames and beams for babies to balance on. ‘For our older babies, we help them place planks on items, such as tyres and wooden boxes, and encourage babies to balance as they walk across. This range of movement is essential to help strengthen a baby’s core muscle development and give them the confidence to try more “risky” movements,’ she adds.
Tunnels are great for pre-walkers to crawl through as they build up their large muscle groups. Twelve-month-old Jake from Brookhill Nursery School in Barnet, north London, loves to crawl through a soft block tunnel, peeking through to see if anyone is at the other end.
‘As well as having fun, he’s developing cognitive skills and problem-solving as he decides which path to take and how to navigate his body through,’ his keyperson explains in his Observation of Play and Learning assessment, designed by the Barnet Early Years Alliance.
Peach says babies at her setting love to crawl inside the tunnels as they go on a bear hunt. ‘Our tunnels are often transformed into “bear caves”, with different textures and camouflage netting for a “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” story adventure. It’s important to select open-ended equipment so that staff can respond to children’s interests and resource for them appropriately.’
YOUNGER BABIES OUTDOORS
Babies that are not yet mobile often do not get the same consideration as their mobile peers when it comes to developmentally appropriate experiences outdoors. Practitioners might be overly concerned about safety or lack inspiration in how to provide meaningful experiences.
Nicola Kemp and Jo Josephidou’s 2020 Froebel Trust-funded research paper Where are the Babies? found that the two dominant ideas within practice focus on ‘being safe and being active’, yet the impact of both is that babies are often excluded from the outdoors. Concerns around risk are often reflected in the resourcing of outdoor areas for the younger age group, the paper states, which are characterised as being ‘artificial’, ‘safe’ and ‘non-challenging play environments’.
Just being outside in the natural light, breathing in the oxygen-rich fresh air helps the body to grow optimally. Babies explore with their whole bodies and their development progresses from the head downwards and outwards. Lying on a mat outdoors gives them the space to kick their feet, wave their arms around, wriggle or roll over, and all their senses are being stimulated.
Mandy Cuttler, head of pedagogy, learning and development at London Early Years Foundation (LEYF), says hanging mobiles with contrasting colours and textures can ‘further captivate their visual and auditory attention and enhance the sensory stimulation provided by the natural environment’.
She says that in LEYF settings, the nursery garden provides rich sensory experiences for the youngest children. ‘Tactile mats with different textures enrich the sensory experience, while water features – under adult supervision – provide opportunities for exploration and sensory play,’ explains Cuttler. ‘Simple musical instruments can be introduced to spark babies’ interest in sound and rhythm, and by incorporating these resources with engaging activities and conversations, practitioners can create a stimulating and nurturing environment that supports a baby’s holistic development.’
When babies are able to sit upright, practitioners can set out treasure baskets on blankets under the trees and watch them use their newly formed pincer grip to reach and grab objects of sensory appeal. Fafunia’s 4 Sided Easel is great, says Peach. ‘Babies love to watch each other as they explore the paints.’
Cuttler emphasises that the nursery gardens at LEYF are ‘full of learning potential for even the youngest babies and contain many experiences that can’t be replicated inside’.
Big buys – baby room indoor equipment and resources
Physical development sets: TTS’s Outdorable Baby Package (0-2 years), £2,399, contains a log crawler, an incline ramp, a burrow tunnel and two trapezoidal platforms, supporting babies from crawling to climbing. Or try Community Playthings’ Outlast Starter Platform Set, £510, perfect for balancing and climbing, and its Toddler Climbing Set, £1,425, with balancing beams – or buy both sets combined in the Toddler Activity Set for £3,580. Ministry of Outdoor Education’s (MOE) Toddler Up and Over Climbing Frame, £1,023.74, the Outdoor Play Unit for Under Twos from Hope Education, £2,674.99, and the Toddle Along, £469, from Cosy, are great for improving motor skills. Cosy’s Toddle Runway, £550, contains a peephole window and is great for hide and seek.
Tunnels and bridges: TryCosy’s Crawl Through Forest Fern, £335, Community Playthings’ Outlast Tunnel, £795, and its Outlast Bridge, £1,365, or check out MOE’s Outdoor Junior Tunnel, £520.07.
Sensory activities: See Fafunia’s 4 Sided Art Easel, £469, TTS’s Crawl Up Messy Station, £419.19, its Mirror Pull Up Bar, £319.99, and Outdoor Crawl Up Posting Station, £419.19, or try its Baby Outdoor Multi-buy, £524.95 – a collection of outdoor soft furnishings and a canopy. Under 2s Cable Reel Table & 4 Stools from Hope Education, £429.99, and its Under 2s Crawl in Sandpit with Activity Wall, £299.99, are great for those on the move.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Where are the Babies?: https://bit.ly/3YItc3v
Observation of Play and Learning: https://bit.ly/3YF4uB1
Rowland Hill Nursery School: https://bit.ly/4e4bpIY
Each Peach Childcare: https://bit.ly/3TrDFNo
LEYF: https://www.leyf.org.uk
Peachwell: https://bit.ly/4gq5xvm
