Where better to acquire 'knowledge and understanding of the world' than in the outdoors? There children are free to explore, using all their senses, and experiences can be heightened and developed with the addition of some interesting resources.
LOOK
View nature from afar with the RSPB's children's binoculars (£25.95, main pic). And let everyone take a closer look with Galt's Set of Hand Magnifiers (£12 for ten) or NES Arnold's Colour Coded Magnifier Set (NES Arnold, £49), with four folding stand magnifiers and two stamp loupes in varying sizes and magnifications. Sturdy and suitable for resting on the ground is the Tripod Magnifier (Asco, £28.95). For a really close look, there's the Zoom Scope TV Microscope (Asco, £42.75), with a 50x magnification.
The Creature Peeper magnifier (Eduzone, £5.95) incorporates a mirror to allow children to examine insects from both above and below. Reflections on Learning's Marine Viewer (£11.99, below) is a periscope in reverse, with a 45-degree mirror, enabling the viewer to look into a pond without getting wet. Similar is NES Arnold's Aqua Scope-Focus (£30).
The Optic Wonder (£3.40, Mindstretchers) combines binoculars, compass, signal mirror and magnifying glass, while the Looking Closely Outdoors Kit (£29.99, Reflections on Learning) contains a giant cylinder magnifier, two-way viewer, two bug views, a bi-focal magnifier, bug hunters and hand lenses and a booklet.
LOOK AGAIN
There are many resources that allow children to view objects in different ways. Mindstretchers' Lens Set (£12.50 for a pack of three) contains two Fresnel lenses (plastic magnifying sheets that allow children to distort images on a larger scale) and a Minimiser, which shrinks objects.
Also available from Mindstetchers is a Combi mirror (£14), with one side concave and the other convex; a Jumbo Mirror (61cm, £50) that bends and flexes, allowing children to see themselves change shape, and a Diffraction Tube (£1.50) - see a flower multiply.
With Eduzone's Kaleidabug (£5.95), simply pop a bug inside to create an amazing image (a vented chamber keeps the creature safe). Pop objects in an infinity box for a fresh perspective (square, £41.50; hexagonal, £67; triangular, £41.50, Reflections on Learning) or on to a light box (Portable Light Box, £155, Reflections on Learning).
View the world through Discovering Colour Viewers (£29.20 for a set of three, Asco) - acrylic panels in primary colours and set in a sturdy frame.
MEASURE
Have a variety of measuring resources at the ready. Tough, nylon-reinforced tape measures are available from Eduzone (£11.95 for ten).
Measure rainfall with the Consortium's Rain Gauge (£5.25). Count minibeasts or birds with TTS's Hand-held Tally Counter (£9). Stop the clock with a set of five stopwatches from Galt (£22). Explore time and flow with Mindstretchers' Water Timers (£15 for three), which come with different-sized holes allowing the water to drain out at varying rates.
How hot? Find out using safe-to-use thermometers (£8 for two, Mindstretchers).
WEATHER
Make the most of a windy day. Create a whirling splash of colour with TTS's Wooden Windmill (£8.30), and check the direction of the wind with the Consortium's Weather Vane (£8.93).
For a complete set of windy day resources, TTS's 'Grab and Go' Windy Day Set (£59.95, below left), contains a dream spiral, a roll of ribbon, ten dance and movement scarves, a pack of six swirl sticks, a rainbow fish windsock, a wind spiral, two large twister mobiles and small bamboo wind chimes.
Make a rainbow appear and disappear using Mindstretchers' Equilateral Triangle (£20) or Rainbow Prism (£4, Mindstretchers).
LIGHT AND DARK
Explore shadows with Mindstretchers' Shadow Sheet (£20) - a durable white mat that captures shadows created by natural sunlight. The company also supplies Lanterns (£5 each), which give off a soft glow, and Sun-Print Paper (£3.50 for ten A5 sheets) that enables you to create blue-and-white photographs in sunlight.
MAGNETS
Explore magnetism in your outdoor area with Asco's Giant Horseshoe Magnet (£3.10) or invest in Galt Educational's set of three in varying sizes (£12.95). For further exploration, try Wesco's Exploring Magnetism Board (£16.40), with its 18 compartments containing a selection of magnetic and non-magnetic objects.
FORCES
Children's exploration of forces will be all the more in-depth with TTS's Bamboo Water Channelling Set (£74.95), which allows them to create their own system for running water along. Useful too would be TTS's Wooden Pulley System (£24.99).
WILDLIFE
If you need to attract wildlife to your outdoor area, then take a look at TTS's Frog and Toad House (£9.95), Ladybird House (£13.15) and Insect Habitat (£10.99, below).
Now available from Reflections on Learning is a Butterfly Nectar Feeding Station (£3.99), a Nest Box and Camera Kit (£64.99) and a Garden Spider Web Frame (£5.99), whose size and shape encourages spiders to weave their webs there.
NES Arnold's Pond Nets (£10 for four) will come in handy for collecting both minibeasts and pond life. If you're taking minibeasts indoors, the Consortium's Bug Hunters (£9.99 for five) are designed to keep them safe, as is the Port-A-Bug (£4.99, Reflections on Learning), a fine mesh tube enabling children to collect and view live specimens without harm.
Indoors, explore the underground world of creatures with a wormery (SBS, £14.95) or Eduzone's Ant World (£11.95). Insect Lore's 'Worm Bundle' (£40.00) contains an earthworm nursery, lifecycle poster, lifecycle figurines and a Wiggling Worms at Work book.
GARDENING
For the basics, check out Hope Education's Watering Can and Buckets Set (£34.95), with six coloured metal buckets and three watering cans, and NES Arnold's Gardening Kit (£37) containing a spade, brush, hoe, rake and multipack of seeds. Collecting trays of sturdy polypropylene are available from NES Arnold (£3 each).
Resources and books that enhance investigative learning, including digging, gardening and growing, are available from Early Excellence.
Indoors, develop children's understanding of how plants grow with a Rootview Farm (SBS, £31.95), Individual Greenhouses (£44 for a set of 20, Asco) or Insect Lore's Plantarium (£19.54), all transparent products that enable children to see the roots of plants as they grow.
Find out more about what's under your feet with Galt's Metal Detector (£22) or TTS's Hand-held Mini Metal Detector (£9.75, above). If you want to investigate how plants decay, then check out TTS's See-Through Compost Bin (£39.99).
RECORD
Capture children's experiences in image and sound. With the Kidizoom Blue (£54.95, Hope Education), you can take pictures and make videos with this tough, easy-to-use camera. There's the facility to tag photos using the voice-recording function, or view and edit photos or watch videos by linking to the TV or PC. Record on the move with TTS's Easi-Speak MP3 Recorder (£29.99).
If the budget stretches to it, then take a look at the Self-Contained Underwater Wildlife Camera Kit (£199.99, Reflections on Learning).
SUPPLIERS
- www.ascoeducational.co.uk
- www.earlyexcellence.com
- www.galt-educational.co.uk
- www.hope-education.co.uk
- www.insectlore-europe.com
- www.mindstretchers.co.uk
- www.reflectionsonlearning.co.uk
- www.sbs-educational.co.uk
- The Consortium, www.earlyyears.co.uk
- www.tts-group.co.uk
- www.wesco-group.com
