This month has a been a big month here at Lincoln road. We finally got our new playgrounds built! It has been only a couple weeks of exploring but we have had so much fun and enjoyment learning new ways to explore our outdoor environment.
The first day we explored the playground, our first instinct was to run up the green mat covering our new grassy hill. We explored different schemas already through this, by rolling our bodies up and down the hill. (This is called rotational schema). Penny, Morley and Hannah are often seen walking up to the top of the hill and lying down to get a better look up into the trees and skyline. We won’t often see them lying down on other areas of the playground, it really seems to be more fascinating in the hill. I wonder why?
António, Finley and Benjamin all use their gross motor skills to the test as they bike up the hill and then let the slope bring them back down backwards, naturally.
Another neat area of the playground is the xylophone and ball drop. In both of these areas the toddlers are naturally learning so much as they investigate each spot. The xylophone is a wonderful example of a natural musical instrument. They give the children a life-sized version where they can stretch, move and explore the sounds they create with their while bodies! Morley and Theo have taken a great liking to the xylophone and enjoy listening to the different sounds it creates. They can feel the instrument vibrate through their hands as they hit the xylophone and listen to the different melodies them and their educators make.
The ball drop is an excellent example of basic math and science skills building while the toddlers drop the balls through the drop they learn about gravity and slops, velocity and speeds all while taking turns with each other. The natural wood lets the children hear the balls roll down the ramps, clunking and skimming across the wood. The toddlers enjoy counting the balls as they drop them down. Rowan, Theo and Benjamin started a creative game where they have been finding different natural pieces of wood outside and seeing if they will roll down the ramp like the balls do. We also think it will be neat to try snowballs and ice once we get colder weather.
Then there is the gigantic sand box! This sand box enables the children to move freely around large stumps and logs and even a mud kitchen. The toddlers are often seen digging and placing the sand on all three areas. They utilize the mud kitchen as they scoop and maneuver the sand and mud into the sink and have been observed piling the sand into large piles on the stump in the centre of the box.
Even the large natural stumps and logs surrounding the different area of the playground give great access to motor building. The toddlers are more naturally inclined and enabled to move across them to enter into the different areas. The toddlers use their gross motor skills to balance, walk, climb and jump off of them. Annie and Ford have been working on similar tasks together as they climb up onto the large stumps and sing or overlook the area at their peers. They have been doing a great job sharing the platform together.
This playground is definitely fostering a free thinking, natural based play, where the toddlers can focus on motor and cognitive development as they play!
