Friday 26 September 2014

Outdoor Play Party - settling in to nursery.


The children have now been in nursery for almost 4 weeks & most are well settled & enjoying exploring the outdoor areas at school. They were very excited to go on a visit to Bear Woods for the first time this week too. Even though we know the children loved this space last year, we still worried whether another class would find it just as exciting but we shouldn't have worried! They all got on their rain gear & had so much fun playing on the grassy slope & having a picnic for snack time. It was very interesting to watch how unsure many of the children were walking on a slope & around the various tree stumps & branches lying around on the grass, not to mention the long grass. Once again we were reminded of how invaluable this whole experience is for the children as they develop their vestibular system in readiness for a more sedentary experience next year.


I can't believe how tall some of the alder trees are in just 18 months - some are bigger than me (5 foot 10) & yet were below my knee when planted. It was lovely to see some berries on the guelder rose & catkins on the alder, you can really see seasonal changes in this space. 

They were great at gathering loads of grass to bring back down the guinea-pigs - we plan to bring them up with us next week so they can trim some of the long grass for us!

The 2 groups go together next week for the first time & it'll be interesting to see how the play changes in a bigger group as they both have very different ways of playing at the moment. The 1st group love to make dens with planks & sticks in the forest area while the 2nd group love to play at being super heroes!

The past few weeks have proved that most children are happiest outside & they don't need lots of expensive resources to have fun.

This post from Wild Family Fun was my favourite from the last OPP, it sounded like my idea of perfect day too & I like to think we recreate a little bit of this in Bear Woods.




  • Any kind of children's outdoor play-related posts are welcome!


  • We'd appreciate it if you included a link back to this post (either in your post or sidebar) to help us spread the word about the importance (and fun!) of outdoor play! In return, we'll gladly further share your post on FacebookTwitterPinterestPlease feel free to grab the Outdoor Play Party button from the sidebar and/or include a text link back. Please note that by contributing you are giving permission for an image and link to your post to be republished if featured.(If you have been featured, please feel free to grab the 'featured' button from the sidebar.) Share your ideas for outdoor play activities with us every other week!

    11 comments:

    1. I just love this space. I love how you have to "travel" to get there. :)

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      1. Thank Jessica, it does make it more fun that we have the adventure of 'travelling' there & yet are within walking distance in an emergency! Thanks for linking up x

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    2. Thank you so much for featuring my post. It goes to show that children can make their own fun and adventures when outdoors. Who cant have fun when there's mud, tree's and forest to explore.
      I love your post and the idea that younger children are getting the benefit of outdoor play. I have always thought if you start the adventures when they are young they love the outdoors as the get older. It becomes a way of life for them the.
      Brilliant exploring environment, they are very lucky.

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      2. Thanks Kim, I always find that the more we go outside, the more the children just accept being outside no matter the weather & they begin to appreciate all types of weather.

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    3. I love your posts! I love how you emphasize the goodness kids can experience by being outside and being allowed to play. Thank you so much for this linkey and for your posts.
      MommyCrusader.com

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      1. Thanks Deborah & for supporting the linky too.

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    4. It sounds like Bear Woods is coming on a treat x

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      1. It is quite incredible how much the trees are growing & even more amazing to think it was an unused piece of grass before this!

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    5. I love seeing how your kids choose to play. It's so funny how different groups use the spaces in such different ways. I'm looking forward to hearing how they used it when they all got together :-)

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      1. Thanks Leila, so far it all going very well - tomorrow is the first whole class trip to Bear Woods, so we will see.

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