This document discusses the importance of outdoor play for children and provides information about a nursery's outdoor play program. Some key benefits of outdoor play mentioned include stimulating creativity, improving immune systems, and increasing attention spans. The nursery's outdoor areas include physical play equipment, areas for constructive play with materials like sand and blocks, and spaces for social play activities. Safety measures are outlined, such as fenced areas and regular checks of play spaces and plants. Concerns about dirty clothes or children feeling left out are addressed. The nursery believes providing outdoor play experiences is important for children's development.

1. DON’T BE A BORE,
LET’S ALL PLAY
OUTDOORS!
Charlotte Connor

2. CONTENTS
• Why play outdoors?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvYDT2u1
Cfg
• What will your children be doing?
• Safety
• General concerns
• Our Beliefs

3. WHY PLAY OUTDOORS?
• Outdoor play is a multi-sensory activity.
While outdoors, children will see,
hear, smell and touch things
unavailable to them when they play inside.
• Playing outside brings together informal play and formal learning.
Children can incorporate concepts they have learned at school in a hands-
on way while outdoors.
• Outdoor play promotes problem solving and expands vocabulary.
As children navigate a world in which they make the rules, they must learn
to understand what works and what doesn’t, what lines of thinking bring
success and failure, how to know when to keep trying and when to stop.
While playing outdoors, children may see an acorn, a squirrel and
cumulous clouds. As they encounter new things, their vocabulary will
expand in ways it never could indoors.
CONTENTS

4. WHY PLAY OUTDOORS?
• Playing outdoors stimulates creativity.
Rocks, stones and dirt present limitless
opportunities for play that can be expressed
differently every time a child steps outside.
Because there are no labels, no pre-conceived
ideas and no rules, children must create the
world around them. In this type of play, children use their imagination in
ways they don’t when playing inside.
• Outdoor play increases attention span.
Time spent in unstructured play outdoors is a natural attention builder.
Often children who have difficulty with pen and paper tasks or sitting still
for long periods of times are significantly more successful after time spent
outside.
• Time spent outdoors improves children’s immune systems.
Healthy children are stronger learners. As children spend more and more
time outdoors, their immune systems improve, decreasing time out of
school for illness.
CONTENTS

5. WHAT WILL YOUR CHILDREN BE
DOING?
• Physical play
Jumping, running, climbing, swinging, racing, yelling, rolling, hiding, and
making a big mess is a large part of physical play. Your children will be using a
variety of equipment on which they can develop fine and gross motor skills.
• Constructive play
Constructive play will be encouraged by using sand and water play, providing a
place for art and expression, woodwork and blocks, wheeled toys and lots of
other loose objects throughout the playground.
• Social play
Children need lots of opportunities outside to
develop basic social skills and social competencies:
pushing each other on the swing, pulling a wagon
carrying another child, playing together in the
sand.
CONTENTS

6. SAFETY
We believe children should learn to
take risks in an outdoor environment
however all equipment and play areas
are thoroughly checked to keep with
safety standards.
• Our play areas are fenced to keep children within the perimeters
• We make sure our play areas do not have places where children can
become trapped and it is made sure we do not have natural
equipment which would attract vermin and other such animals.
• All our outdoor areas are checked regularly to make sure no
poisonous plants are present.
• Most importantly a teacher will always be supervising play, we aim
to have the ratio of one adult to every five children.
CONTENTS

7. GENERAL CONCERNS
• Could my child get their clothing dirty?
YES! We encourage parents to bring spare clothing for their
children in the event of getting dirty.
• Could my child feel left out?
We are an inclusive nursery, your children will play outdoor
games which help them become acquainted with each other
and become friends.
• Are all activities gender neutral?
Yes, all our activities
CONTENTS

8. • We believe providing for the outdoor play needs of
young children is a complex and challenging task.
• We understand a variety of factors must be considered,
including the various play needs of young children,
supervision and safety.
• However, because children in today's society
experience fewer and fewer opportunities to explore
nature, run, roll, climb, and swing and because outdoor
play is part of being a child, we believe we must find a
variety of ways to provide quality outdoor play and
learning experiences for young children.
OUR BELIEFS
CONTENTS

9. THANK YOU FOR LISTENEING
ANY QUESTIONS?