Water play: rain

Young children love to play outside and for many, this is an important place for learning. In order to benefit fully from the outdoors, children need long periods of time outside every day all through the year. Jan White takes a month-by-month look at how you can make the most of your outdoor provision.

This month: how you can turn rain into a valued resource as part of your provision for year-round water play.

Outdoor water play: playing in and with the rain The key that unlocks this wonderful resource is for every child and adult to have suitable clothing, combined with enthusiasm from staff that matches the children's.

Take every opportunity to experience and investigate other forms of water that colder weather brings us, including dew, frost, ice and snow.

Resources

* Rainwear with hoods or sou'westers * Wellington boots * Large and small umbrellas * Brooms, brushes, bikes * Builder's tray, containers for collecting rainwater * Paint, plastic sheet, chalks * Tarpaulin, tent or gazebo * Big plastic containers, wooden and metal spoons * Camera, Dictaphone * Wet world by Norma Simon (Walker Books) * Splosh! by Mick Inkpen (Hodder Children's Books) * What is weather: rain by Miranda Ashwell and Andy Owen (Heinmann Library)

Potential for exploration and play - children can:

* Enjoy the sensation of raindrops on hands, face and tongue

* Stand under dripping water

* Jump in and over puddles

* Make patterns by riding bikes through puddles with poster paint added

* Paint on to a large sheet of plastic as rain makes the marks run

* Draw with chalk on wet surfaces

* Be fascinated by the patterns that raindrops make as they fall into a black tray

* Watch raindrops fall on different surfaces, seeing how the water runs, disappears or stays

* Work out how the rain makes its way along guttering and down-pipes

* Take photographs of interesting images, patterns and reflections

* Listen to the sounds of rain on windows, roofs, leaves, umbrellas and the gurgles in guttering pipes

* Eat snacks or tell stories under a canopy while the rain is falling heavily

* Sing and recite rhymes such as 'Dr Foster went to Gloucester', 'Rain, rain go away' and 'The rain in spain'

* Respond to feelings by drumming on big plastic containers or stamping out a 'rain dance'

* After rainfall, find out what it has done to things in the outdoor area

* Use puddle water to make marks with brushes, brooms, feet and wheels

* Help to wipe wet equipment dry

* Devise a way of collecting rainwater to use for growing plants.

Jan White is a freelance consultant specialising in outdoor play in the early years. Her new book Playing and Learning Outdoors will be published in June 2007 as part of Nursery World's Good Practice series