If you go down to the woods today, your kids will learn something new
Taking your kids to the woods not only provides them with a great day out, it actually benefits their learning. Kids can explore nature and wildlife through all sorts of games, learning as they go. In fact, the learning opportunities for kids are endless. You can use your trip to the woods to help cover the various learning areas of the Early Year's Foundation Stage; so your children will have heaps of fun and learn at the same time.
A trip to the woods is great for the personal, social and emotional development of your child. It allows them to bond with you and other family members. Discovering new things such as the texture of leaves, logs and mud, will elicit a response from your youngster. Older children will doubtless have thousands of questions to bombard you with. Be patient and humour them by answering their queries â€" if you don't know something, be honest and suggest you look up the answer together later on.
Develop their sense of risk assessment by posing questions such as, 'these leaves are slippy, what shall we do?' Watch your child's confidence soar as they discover how to maintain their balance on a log, and how to successfully hunt for acorns. You can encourage teamwork by making a treasure hunt for your children or by playing a game of hide and seek, although suggest that children team up with an adult to prevent them from getting lost.
Aid your child's development in communication skills and language knowledge by playing eye-spy. Talk to your children and explain the different noises, smells and sights of the woods. They'll absorb all of the new information and are likely to expand on this knowledge by asking you questions. Make up a game; tell your children to be as quiet as possible and to write down all of the sounds they hear. After the time is up, ask them to describe what they could hear and whether they can identify the noise in question.
Improve their physical development by allowing them to let off a bit of steam and run around. Encourage a variety of movements; perhaps play Simon Says and instruct them to jump, reach, skip, and balance. Help them to develop fine movements by creating pictures with objects they find in the woods, or by making them a list of objects to find and giving them a container to put them in.
Mathematic skills can be honed with counting. Compare the size of trees or the shapes of leaves. Ask them to point out three big objects and three small objects. Encourage backward counting by counting down at the start of games.
Take a trip to the woods this weekend with your children and watch their expressions as they discover and learn a whole variety of exciting new things.
Nurseries all over the UK have started to adopt the Forest School method of teaching. The concept comes originally from Denmark, where it became embedded into the curriculum for pre-school aged children. Groups of nursery school children were regularly taken on trips to the woods and given tasks such as 'find 10 types of leaves', or 'how many different sounds can you hear'. Nursery workers found that these young children were developing strong social skills, the ability to work effectively in groups, as well as increased self-esteem and confidence in their own capabilities. This alternative approach to teaching has led to phenomenal results in the rate at which children learn, as well as building necessary social skills that will help them as they grow.
This guest blog was contributed by Lesley Sampson a freelance blogger who is dedicated to finding the best day nursery for your child.
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