We have recently had the pleasure of welcoming so many new children and families into the School Age 1 classroom at RisingOaks Early Learning | John Sweeney. My fellow educator and I have been determined to find out and watch for all of the new interests and curiosities in our growing room of children! We enjoy trying new things and watching to see the attentiveness and enjoyment of the children engaging. Recently, we have decided to take a break from the school playground and let the children explore our natural playground. With that being said, they loved it and I think we have discovered a shared common interest throughout the entire class!
From enhancing their sensory processing skills and promoting cognitive development with new play we love to see all of the scenarios the kids come up with in a new space with new play materials. We observed the children expanding their level of communication with other new friends and building new relationships through exploring the playground together. Having the entire group explore a new space has really contributed to the children’s bonding experiences between each other by adjusting to a new environment as a whole. Due to the fact that our natural playground comes with new toys and items to use, it has taught skills such as sharing and helping the children to develop communication and how to express their emotions. We had some children automatically grab the shovels and come up with a plan to start digging for treasures. While other children gravitated more towards the monster trucks and how they can create a track for them to drive on. Another group really enjoyed opening a sandbox bakery and using the sand castle toys to make cakes and cookies. We loved to see our friends creating new memories together.
While the weather is still warm enough we are going to continue to allow the children to explore the natural side of the playground as much as we can. Once a common interest is found throughout the entire class, we believe it is best to let them continue to expand on that together. As the children are able to find a calm space to let their imaginations run wild outside, us educators wonder if the children feel grounded as they are able to spend more time in spaces where they have unlimited resourceful and innovative play.
