outdoors
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Teaching children how to play outdoors
I hear it more and more often, either programs don’t take their children outside to play because they feel pressured to accomplish learning goals OR they do take the children outside but then the children don’t know what to do once they get out there. It is becoming more and more common for our young children to not know how to engage in an unstructured outdoor environment, which means that it is our job to teach them! As a child I hated playing outside, I was that girl who didn’t like bugs or dirt or sweating. Even though I complained, my mom insisted that I go out and entertain myself.…
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Beach-Themed Sand Play
We may have hit the official halfway mark for summer when we celebrated the 4th of July last week, but that just means that we still have half of summer left to enjoy! What better way to enjoy all things summer time than with a trip to the beach?! While I would love to live near the beach – and around here we can make a day trip to Lake Erie happen – it’s not exactly a place that you can take a field trip to. Child care licensing tends to frown on large bodies of water, so we usually have to bring the beach to us. The perfect place…
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Beach Vacation Must-Haves
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Teaching disguised as outdoor play
Outdoor fun has been a huge theme on my blog this summer, probably because I’ve been spending as much time outside as possible. We may be halfway done with summer, but that just means that we still have half of the summer left to enjoy the sunshine! Beautiful weather makes me want to stay on the playground all day long, but I can only justify it if I can sneak in some of my lesson plan while we’re outside. I just found some really fun ideas on Oriental Trading’s website that kids and teachers are both sure to love. These are classics that every child should learn how to play…
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Summer Must Haves for Kids
Friday Freebie – Cloud Hunt
50 Activities to do outside
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Easy Playground Storage
Since this week has been all about the playground I wanted to share one of my favorite posts, this was originally written in June of 2014, but the idea is still just as cute and just as easy! I love to be outside – which is kind of a shock because when I was little the last thing that I wanted to do was play outside. I need my daily dose of vitamin D, and my students need to run around and be crazy people. It is so good for them to have the opportunity to just play – completely unstructured and in a wide open space, so we spend…
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Friday Freebie – Cloud Hunt
Summer Must Haves for Kids
50 Activities to do outside
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Easy personalized waterbottles
The one major issue that has always made playground time difficult is the lack of a water supply. I can get creative when it comes to water play, but daily drink breaks are another thing. This easy activity is the perfect solution. You will need 1 disposable water bottle for each child – if you collect them from staff or families clean them out with soap and water. The children can help you take the labels off all of the bottles. Use one of the labels to measure new labels, and cut these from white printer paper. Each student can decorate their own new label, which will help them…
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50 Activities to do outside
Friday Freebie – Cloud Hunt
Summer Must Haves for Kids
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Shady spaces for your playground
Nothing can beat a really great sunscreen when it comes to protecting a child from a serious sunburn, but a great shady space is just as important! The thing about creating an inviting shady area is that the children have to WANT to spend time in it. I’ve rounded up some ideas that would have any kid happy to spend some time in the shade – these are all easy DIYs that would be perfect for the playground! Make your shady trees even more inviting – from Play-scapes.com Cover your sandbox – from Wray Sist3rs A tent for all kinds of adventures – from A Sharper Focus Some other fun…
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Summer Must Haves for Kids
50 Activities to do outside
Friday Freebie – Cloud Hunt
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Playground games
I’ve been spending as much time outside as I possibly can – I think I might be addicted to vitamin D, or maybe I’m just preparing myself for next winter by soaking up the sun while I still can! This is all fairly new to me, when I was little I was not an outdoorsy kind of kid. This means that I sympathize with my students who don’t really know what they’re supposed to do when they’re on the playground. I started teaching the children the games that I did enjoy playing outside, and it surprised me that most of them had never played any version of tag before. I…
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Summer Must Haves for Kids
50 Activities to do outside
Friday Freebie – Cloud Hunt
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Questions to ask about clouds
I am not going to complain about the beautiful summer-like weather we’ve been having lately! It’s made me want to spend every waking minute outside – which has resulted in a lovely sunburn, but that’s not the point. I wanted to share one of my favorite activities that you can do with any of the children that you happen to be around this summer, while squeezing in some extra outside time. I love to explore the clouds, but I don’t really take a traditional approach to learning about clouds. I don’t teach the children the proper names for different types of clouds, and while I might do some experimenting with…
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Fun summer activities
Have you started planning for summer yet? Whether you’re looking for lesson plan ideas or fun things to do with your own children, here are some amazing ideas that I’ve been collecting: Twirling Twig mobile from Babble Dabble Do Aluminum foil river from Filthy Wizardy Outdoor play food from Munchkins and Moms Block Shadows from the Pinterested Parent Pineapple ice pops from Eats Amazing It’s no coincidence that all of these are outdoor ideas – we had a hint of beautiful summer weather for about a week in April, and ever since then it’s been rainy and chilly. I’m ready for sunshine and grass between my toes – I think…
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50 Activities to do outside
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Friday Freebie – Cloud Hunt
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Water play with preschoolers
Most of the preschoolers that I know would be happy to play in the water all day, every day. If this is true for your students, then you are probably looking for ways to keep water play fun and exciting. If you do water play every day, you might try implementing a schedule with a different kind of water play each day – like this; Monday – Wading pools Tuesday – Water balloons Wednesday – Sprinklers Thursday – Ice play Friday – Squirt guns Doing something different each day gives children something to look forward too and breaks up the monotony. It also gives you some guidance when planning the…
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Friday Freebie – Cloud Hunt
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50 Activities to do outside