the plan today...

 

Its been one of those dull, grey, chilly autumn days with intermittent drizzle that makes me want to stay indoors. But the EYFS says children should be outside….no what its actually says "Providers must provide access to an outdoor play area or, if that is not possible, ensure that outdoor activities are planned and taken on a daily basis"

And we all know that a good outdoor environment supports children’s learning and promotes a healthy lifestyle. Of course it doesn’t have to be ‘an outdoor environment’ as in nursery garden or back yard, it can just as well be the countryside, park or the new fangled ‘forest schools’. And who ever wrote ‘outdoor play area’ in the EYFS has a sadly limited idea of children’s play if they think children only benefit from ‘play areas’.

 

My plan (not written, just a vague thought) was to take the children down to the play park in the village. We would walk because if you remember I do not drive. And it would have been nice to do the circular route with the children although I have to be careful which roads I use when they are with me, some are just too dangerous. That’s the trouble with the countryside, no pavements. But to get to the village we can walk across the field or along the main road that has a pavement.

So today started like any other. Except it was very dark this morning which meant putting the playroom lights on which is not usual but I suppose it will become the norm from now on….

 

 

So I had a plan of sorts.
Written planning: there are two sides of the argument. On the one hand written planning may have ensured I had lard in stock to make bird feeders this morning. However on the other hand I would have completely wasted my time planning an outing to the park that didn’t happen because a child arrived with a cold.

Good job that 'going with the flow' is my second name. I just so happened to have an idea floating about in my head....and the children loved it. I'll work out the learning intentions later- or not. This activity was loosely linked with the activity we didn’t do because I didn’t have any lard. And loosely linked with a childs interest, in case you were wondering. The children did a great job using the bird stencil with kitchen sponges and pink paint, and glueing bird cutouts on their paper. 

One child told the other that the birds were 'polka spots'. The other child (younger too) positioned the birds using the whole space available. One identified that the red pattern was like a ladybird and said 'that’s funny (& giggled) ladybirds are not birds Sara'. (more giggling)

Then we went into the garden where they used their child sized brooms to sweep leaves. One child knew how to use a broom efficiently, the other child couldn't quite work out how to push the broom. We spent some time feeling the objects in the sensory box and using descriptive language 'soft' 'cold' ‘hard’ 'smooth' ‘tickly’.

So that was my day. I have since spent around 3 hours doing paperwork. Even without formal written planning I seem to spend far too much time doing paperwork. And I’m tired but I think my blog entry shows this, so I apologise for waffling.

 

This is the sensory box, the photo was not taken today because the children were in the way when I tried to get there with my camera :)