Aug 21, 2023 | Art & Music Outdoors, Early Years Outdoors, Technologies
In 2001, on a Comenius outdoor learning course in Sweden, I had the opportunity to try felting. It was a disaster. I managed to dye my wool using fresh young birch leaves and carded it reasonably well. But the felting process was my failing. I returned home, my...
Jun 8, 2013 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Play Resources
In recent years moveable wooden disks, logs and planks have begun to make an appearance in more and more school grounds that I visit. If you look closely at the photos from the Inverallochy update, you can see the place is littered with wooden bits and pieces. They...
Aug 24, 2011 | Art & Music Outdoors
Previously, I’ve blogged about making felt seats from merino wool. Although this project works a treat and seats lasted many years, I really wanted to do the whole thing from scratch with the wool gathering malarky and all that entailed. Many children rarely get...
Jul 31, 2011 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Play Resources
A few weeks ago I blogged about a presentation given by Rusty Keeler. I’m still reflecting on the ideas he suggested, in particular relating to the cultural traditions and heritage of a local area and thinking about this in relation to the school grounds and...
Jul 4, 2011 | Play Resources
Outdoor seats are a necessity in most Scottish schools. To begin with, there are lots of wet surfaces owing to current or recent rain. Sitting on wet grass, tarmac or benches is unpleasant and often used as an excuse for not working outside. This “bag” is...