Technology does not at first appear to fit well with the outdoor elements. As well as needing to be protected from the weather, it is often not the most robust equipment we have!
What is key to technology outdoors?
First, we need to think about what aspects of outdoor play can best be supported with ICT. What will enable children to keep exploring, problem-solving and communicating?
Digital cameras can be used to develop children's confidence outdoors. Taking photos of the places they like best, or least, can provide a talking point for exploring where they feel safe and able, and help us to listen to children's observations. Digital microscopes can afford a close look at worms wriggling, caterpillars uncurling or the patterns of veins in leaves. Torches added to makeshift dens can help develop imaginative play. Adding a tape recorder with songs and stories to a quiet area can aid friendships or provide for a bit of time alone. Music mats (pictured) can encourage jumping and skipping and a sense of physical well-being. Remote controls lend themselves to collaborative play and problem-solving as children negotiate how to manoeuvre a remote control vehicle into a cardboard box garage. Traffic lights, petrol pumps or road drills encourage role-play as they connect with children's own experiences of outside environments.
Think through how this equipment will be managed to keep it all functioning for indoor and outdoor use. Here are some tips:
- Do not flood your outdoor area with ICT. Consider a limited amount of things, to be used in maximum ways - extend play with remote control vehicles by adding to blocks, tunnels and slopes. Provide string to pull trailers or cardboard and pens to make roadways.
- Provide role-play in boxes so that it is easy to put out and put away. Make box sets for builders, garden centres, explorers etc. Add clipboards, note pads, pencils and timers.
- Make sure children know where to find things and where to return them to. For example, use one of the role-play boxes indoors first; this will give the children opportunities to become familiar with the materials and to know where they belong
- Technology does not need to be expensive. Collect a box of defunct equipment - keyboards and phones can transform a table into an office or a den into a space ship.
See Foundation.e2bn.net (Planning, Enabling environments, The learning environment) for ideas on ICT and outdoor play
- Harriet Price, ICT advisor, Homerton Nursery and Early Years Centre, Cambridge.