creativity | Creative STAR Learning | I'm a teacher, get me OUTSIDE here!

Art, Design, Maths and Playground Markings

Nov 15, 2022 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Maths Outdoors, Technologies

Several years ago, I came across this photo on the Playscapes blog which blew my mind. It had so much to it, that I’m still trying to take stock of its potential, fun and relevance to schools everywhere. It is the work of Simon and Tom Bloor. It can be found at...

12 Tough Outdoor Resources for Play and Learning

Aug 23, 2022 | Early Years Outdoors, Play Resources

Very often when I ran courses participants would tell me that they only have a patch of tarmac for the children to play on. Whilst in the long term, all sorts of changes can happen, in the short term, the space needs to be used cleverly. Permission is usually needed...

The Highway Farm Sandpit

Jul 28, 2017 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Early Years Outdoors

Highway Farm has many pockets of inspiration for the outdoor early years enthusiast. I always liked their original sandpit pictured above and below. It’s got many attributes that I find appealing and add value to the children’s play including a couple of...

Beautiful Miniature Worlds

Aug 16, 2013 | Art & Music Outdoors, Literacy Outdoors, Social Subjects Outdoors

At the Turriff Show, one of my favourite competition’s were the children’s miniature worlds. They are beautiful and a good example of how encouraging children to put thought into the design and time into creating the displays pays off. The outdoor...

A Maths Stick Picture Game

Apr 30, 2013 | Early Years Outdoors, Maths Outdoors

In my last post, 10 Little Stick Activities, I mentioned the game of Pick Up Sticks. This is fun, good for all ages and a nice way to introduce sticks to a class. Here’s another useful little idea that one course participant showed me when training in Perth last...