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What a wonderful world - outdoors

The outdoors provides favourable conditions to support and extend a baby's emotional, social and intellectual development. Going outside daily can improve a baby's appetite, gives him energy and helps him sleep soundly at night.

0-1 year

The outdoors provides favourable conditions to support and extend a baby's emotional, social and intellectual development. Going outside daily can improve a baby's appetite, gives him energy and helps him sleep soundly at night.

When you are outside with a baby, ensure that he is kept in the shade, or, if in direct sunlight, that his head is protected by a sun hat and that sun cream is applied regularly on all exposed skin. Although sunlight can be harmful if the skin is not properly protected, sunlight also contains ultraviolet rays which kill bacteria and makes the skin produce vitamin D.

Play tips

  • Talk to the baby when preparing to go outside. Explain why they have to wear appropriate clothing and put on sun cream. He may be too young to understand, but the communication encourages him to listen and watch.
  • Make the preparation for going out an experience in itself, with comments such as, 'This is my sun hat. No, it's teddy's hat. No, it's Leah's hat.'
  • Once outside, talk about the sun, the wind and the clouds and draw the baby's attention to the sights, smells and textures around him.
  • Always position the baby where he can see what is going on around him.
  • Let the baby handle and investigate outdoor materials and objects. Do remember to wash his hands afterwards.

Activities

Lazy days

  • Place the baby on a blanket on the grass underneath a secure line of rope, placed well out of his reach.
  • Secure a few windmills, streamers and scarves to the rope so the baby can watch them twirl in the breeze.
  • Lie the baby on his tummy on the grass. Scatter lots of flowers and leaves around him just within his grasp, then move them slightly further away to encourage him to stretch.

Flower power

  • Sit the baby on a mat and surround him with large baskets filled with flower petals, leaves, twigs, flower heads, soil and sand. Encourage the baby to sift the contents, while ensuring that he places nothing in his mouth.
  • Make daisy chains or leaf chains and place them around the baby's neck or on his head. Put them around your head and neck and allow the baby to tug them.
  • Make a trail of flowers. Cover them with a polythene sheet through which the baby can see the flowers and let the baby crawl across it.

1-2 years

A child's intellectual development is greatly influenced by the environment in which she grows up. It is important, therefore, to introduce her to a variety of bright, beautiful and stimulating environments. The outdoor world offers a huge variety of natural resources, colours, shapes and sizes which the young child can be encouraged to explore, experience and enjoy.

Play tips

  • Allow her to practise new skills while outside, such as crawling, walking and carrying.
  • Develop her curiosity through exploring different places such as the park, garden, beach, woods, and a flower market.
  • Remember that most activities set up indoors can be taken outside to extend the experience.
  • Consolidate outdoors skills that were introduced in the playroom.
  • Using trikes and rockers helps to develop toddlers' gross motor skills as well as their ability to share and take turns.
  • Remember to set time aside for quiet and rest, as well as activities.

Activities

Toddler tents

  • Every toddler loves to hide and surprise an 'unsuspecting' adult or friend. Create hiding places with blankets or sheets of material. Ensure that they are safe and secure.
  • Alternatively, use tents to create a little village. Place objects of interest in each tent so that the children can investigate, move or gather them. Hide an object in each tent and ask them to find it.

Potting time

  • Gather a variety of large plant pots and garden tools.
  • Encourage the toddlers to play with the soil, using their hands or the garden tools to fill and empty the pots.
  • Provide bulbs to plant.
  • Bury a variety of objects, such as a fir cone or a plastic creepy crawly, for the children to find.

All weather

  • Remember to take the toddlers out in all kinds of weather.
  • Explain why we must sometimes wear coats and boots. What does an  umbrella do?
  • In rainy weather, let the children splash in puddles, but draw their attention to the fact that the water is dirty and that we must dry our hands and change our wet clothes.
  • In fine weather, allow the children to take off their shoes and feel the grass, the sand or the concrete beneath their feet. Use a hose to splash their bare feet and encourage them to dry themselves, talking about wet and dry.

2-3 years

As children learn to move around independently, they approach objects and places that look appealing, intent on exploring them. Through their exploration, they will begin to understand concepts such as heat and light, and with this knowledge comes an awareness of the environment.

It is important to remember that all play usually done indoors can be taken outdoors. More freedom of movement will prevent boredom, reduce stress and help divert aggression. Children like a variety of experiences and they will always look for new challenges. Changing an environment even slightly can help motivate them and will stimulate different responses to experiences.

Play tips

  • Most children of this age like to be active, so allow them to use a variety of pull-along and ride-on toys, and if possible set up materials for them to climb on, bounce on and slide down.
  • As their vocabulary grows, introduce the names of garden tools, flower names, minibeasts and objects that are normally seen in the street.
  • At this age, children may have strong feelings which they find difficult to control, so allow them to take a few risks, offering support, praise and encouragement when appropriate.

Activities

Miniature gardens

  • Create a miniature garden, using an old baby bath, a foil tray or large potting tray.
  • Let the children pour in some soil and sand.
  • Let the children plant grass seed and some small alpine plants.
  • Sprinkle small stones in another part of the garden.
  • Invite the children to use 'small world' people and animals in the garden, perhaps creating a forest or jungle of twigs and leaves for them.

Wormery

  • Ask the children to fill an old fish tank or similar container with alternate layers of sand, soil and moss, grass and twigs.
  • Go on a worm hunt (a good rainy day activity). Dig up some soil, gather a few worms and invite the children to place them in the wormery.
  • Let the children cover the soil with a layer of leaves to feed the worms and take turns to keep the soil damp.
  • Investigate the wormery regularly and watch the children's fascination with the paths created by the worms.

Bird cake

  • Look out for different kinds of birds in the garden or park.
  • Suggest to the children that they make a cake for the birds.
  • Sitting at a small table, show the children small pots of bread, cheese, banana, nuts (not salted), bacon rind and ask them to take turns pouring them into a larger bowl (but not eat the ingredients themselves!).
  • Add peanut butter and melted fat (an adult should bring it to the table once it has cooled but not set.)
  • The children can take turns to mix and spoon it into a tray to set.
  • Once set the children can take it outside and hang it from a branch or place it on a windowsill.

Obstacle course

  • Set up an obstacle course. Make a tunnel from three large boxes. Place a plank next to it, then add some carpet squares, paving stones, a strawberry net or groundsheet and old tyres.
  • Allow the children to explore the obstacles. Encourage them to use the equipment in different ways for example, suggest they hop, skip and jump between the obstacles.            NW