Outdoor Education & Kindergarten @ The Forest
Active outdoor learning is a fundamental element of life within our Kindergarten setting.
Bringing The Outdoors In
Our children enjoy plentiful outdoor space in their dedicated and spacious play areas, sitting alongside two further playgrounds for Junior School children.
Kindergarten and Junior School children have access to the recently renovated Trim Trail, while our Secret Garden is filled with trees to climb and exciting spaces to discover, with our young learners free to explore and investigate their surroundings.
The children spend a portion of their week visiting Kindergarten @ The Forest, playing within a natural outdoor environment where they learn how to both take care of and enjoy nature, experience the changing seasons and how they transform the world around them, exploring all aspects of the Early Level Curriculum using natural resources.
The Curriculum Outdoors
All areas of the Early Level Curriculum can be explored and experienced outdoors, with children learning through play. They experience:
- Opportunities for active, self-directed and uninterrupted play, sparking their natural curiosity
- The chance to play and socialise with other children, developing their social skills - learning to take turns, playing together by agreed rules, inventing their own games and cooperating on creative projects
- The freedom to explore, experiment and discover things for themselves - sharing exciting and interesting experiences with our Kindergarten Playworkers, having conversations about what they are learning, increasing their confidence in communicating with others
- Greater focus on tasks when spending time outdoors which has a positive knock-on effect when engaging in learning. They demonstrate more resilience and less frustration during times of difficulty and are able to exercise their problem solving skills, working through any issues they encounter during play
- The chance for both adult-led and child-led experiences
- Lots of time spent in natural outdoor environments, learning about nature, through nature, exploring the changing seasons and the different wildlife they come across in this natural environment
- The myriad of health benefits associated with being active outdoors. They learn to manoeuvre large natural obstacles, climb trees and immerse themselves in many other physical activities while in nature
- Specifically, studies have found that children with behavioural traits such as ADD and ADHD demonstrate focus and heightened attention after outdoor play, demonstrating increased concentration during learning after physical activity outdoors
Exploring in all Weathers
In Kindergarten we believe that there is no such thing as bad weather, just wrong clothing!
All children are kitted out in all-in-one waterproofs and wellies and in the colder months, they are wrapped up in additional base layers, hats, scarves and gloves, ensuring they are warm and comfortable while they play and explore in the great outdoors!
Children are encouraged to notice how the different weather conditions affect the natural world around them.
Outdoor Learning
@ HSOG