The weather is getting warmer and the children are spending more time outdoors. We are trying to find ways to create an outdoor space that simulates all the areas of an indoor environment. We notice the children need a quiet space where they can lay and relax even when we are outdoors. We hung a hammock up but what else can we do? Educator Sam incorporated the community and got some skids brought into our playground. We were unsure what we were going to do with them until now. We added some tulle to create shade and put the skids as a platform, added pillows and blankets and Voila! The children can relax there. We noticed the children who needed space would go to the hammock and a child who just wanted to relax would utilize the comfy area. It didn’t stay that way all the time though, that comfy area became a pirate ship. We came up with pirate names and had to stay off the mulch or we would be swimming with the sharks!
As the children are able to find a calm space and let their Imaginations run wild outside, the educators wonder if the children feel grounded as they are able to spend more time outdoors? What else can we do to extend the outside environment in order to simulate the indoors. What would the children suggest?
To extend this provocation, the educators will sit with the children and ask them what would make them more relaxed outside and encourage them to name some suggestions. Let's see what else we can add to include some of the ideas our group comes up with!
