The Wonders of Outdoor Play and Learning.
I did an outdoor play workshop today with some elementary teachers. It was a beautiful day and such a joy to be outside. They had a beautiful school yard with plenty of opportunities to play and learn. They’re also close to lots of cool outdoor areas. Today we stayed in the school yard and started by taking inventory of the environment and then discussed the possibilities. Lots of times we just “go outside” without thinking of where we are going and what wonders we can discover there. By taking this inventory, the teachers were better able to plan their outdoor activities. You can do this with students too. We know that children often see things that we might miss. We also gathered some outdoor loose parts and brainstormed ideas about what we could do with them.
I think we often miss the potential of learning outdoors and learning from the land. I know that when I was teaching my thoughts were…. “It’s too cold/hot/windy/rainy” or “it’s too much work” or it just interrupted the flow of the day. But you know what I have since realized? Outside is a great place to learn and we should be out there more often. Plan a time each day, week, month to go outside to play and learn. It doesn’t have to be big. Read a story outside. Go for a walk. Investigate what’s on the ground. Investigate what’s in the sky. Stop and listen. I used to say, “how can we go outside, it’s too….” Now I say, “How can we not?” Be planned. Be organized. Be ready. And most of all, be playful!
JOY
joy
/joi/
noun
a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.
"tears of joy"
When was the last time you truly felt joy? I’ll tell you when mine was… Wednesday, February 9, 2022. Sure the beautiful sunny day had something to do with it but what really made me joyous was a frolic (yes there was frolicking) on the beach. In short, it was a play day.
I found a canoe by some trees and pretended I was canoeing. I accompanied myself with the song “Land of the Silver Birch, home of the beaver, where still the mighty moose wanders at will…” I danced, I pranced, I sang, I took delight in simple things like stacking rocks and balancing on boulders. This, my friends, is one of the great things about play. Simply…joy. Don’t we need more of that in our world these days?
Do You Remember?
How much fun can you have with a pile of boulders?
Do you remember playing in your childhood? One of my favourite places to play was “the rock pile”. That’s right, the rock pile. We moved into our neighbourhood in its infancy so there was a lot of construction and debris. Next to my street was a vast space filled with giant boulders. As kids we would run out the door yelling “goin’ to the rock pile” and head out for a day of imaginary play in our own “apartment” or running the “local store”. We were free and no one was telling us what to do. Do you know why I still remember the rock pile after all these years? I remember it because of the pure joy it gave me to be independent, creative, imaginative and free.
Play is one of our very first learning tools. It helped us to discover our voices, our toes, our limits. How can we foster that joy in learning? Why is it important to play? I’m goin’ to the rock pile. Wanna come?