Margaret Edgington, an early years consultant and author of The Nursery Teacher in Action, suggests that effective learning in the early years is developed by adults who: 1. Observe children's stage of development
2. Offer a carefully organised and structured curriculum to give children rich and challenging experiences
3. Understand how children think and learn.
Observation
The outdoors is where many children find it easiest to discover their abilities and experiment without fear of failure or criticism. Adults need to observe children outdoors to find out about their interests and what they actually do. To achieve this:
* Spend time outdoors tracking one child or the whole group. Think about how to extend their play. If children are standing at a fence engrossed by the roadworks, could they have wet sand and spades to recreate the work?
* Interact with the children, take an interest and talk with them about what they are doing. This means staff joining in with them and supporting and encouraging their play over a reasonably long period of time, while keeping a careful eye on what is going on all around - just as you do inside. It means getting away from staff 'patrolling' the outdoors and simply issuing instructions about whose turn it is to have the bike, or standing around in groups chatting together in the corner while the children 'let off steam'. It also means that staff and children should have a long enough period of time outdoors to get really involved in learning - children should be able to move freely between the indoors and the outdoors.
* Think carefully about the equipment available to the children. Is there a wide enough range to suit their different interests? Too many bikes out at the same time can lead to quieter activities constantly being interrupted, which is disheartening to everyone.
* Be positive about the outdoors. Rather than complaining that it is too cold or too wet, let the children experience all weathers.
Curriculum
Many children have few chances to play freely outdoors, to the detriment of their physical and emotional health. The nursery outdoor area can offer exciting experiences - the chance to climb, to swing, to dig. Planned activities, both adult-led and child-directed, can create opportunities for exploring ideas or imaginative play. To develop this:
* Make your outdoor area as safe and adaptable as possible. Even the barest stretch of playground can be improved with imagination and only a little money. A small wild area will attract insects to observe. A slope made from grassed-over builder's rubble allows children to climb up and look down. Growbags can be used to plant seeds. Plastic crates can be a bus one day, a spaceship the next.
* Ensure that the whole curriculum can be covered outdoors. For example, develop children's understanding of mechanical forces by providing buckets and pulleys to lift sand or water, or stimulate reading and writing by organising the bikes as a minicab firm, putting up road signs and giving notebooks to 'traffic wardens'.
* Provide the stimulus for imaginative play. Adult interaction can help children to extend this type of play. Children who get deeply involved in a story like 'The Three Billy Goats Gruff' can relish its special language or pause to think about mathematical ideas such as who is underneath or who is on top of the bridge. Children can also dig to Australia, search for worms, or discover buried 'treasure' or 'dinosaur bones' you have hidden.
Understanding
Young children think and learn through doing, experiencing and recreating experiences, and the outdoors is an ideal place for this. Learning is also bound up with emotions - being with friends, feeling confident and safe - which children may feel most strongly outdoors. Finally, it is vital for their development that children have time to become engrossed in what they are doing and have time to achieve the objectives you have planned. To develop this:
* Provide ways in which a child can learn with their whole body - tunnels to crawl through, crates to climb over, balls to throw.
* Provide varied experiences outdoors to suit the children's different learning styles. For example, include activities that promote interaction and discussion, and some they can do quietly on their own or in pairs, such as looking for insects.
* Ensure that the area continues to offer plenty of challenges as the children grow in confidence. Provide as much equipment as possible with no right or wrong way to use it, so that all children can experience success.
