Aug 10, 2024 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Play Resources
*NOTE* This blog post was originally written in June 2013. At the time of writing, having loose stumps around your play space was commonplace. However, some local authorities may have guidelines that expect wooden moveable items to be safely locked away each night to...
Jul 3, 2024 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Early Years Outdoors, Personal & Holidays, Whole School
Yesterday was a special day. I was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctorate of Education, Honoris Causa, from Queen Margaret University (QMU). This was an unexpected delight – to the point where I fell off the swing I was sitting on in a park when the original...
Mar 9, 2024 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Early Years Outdoors
Many years ago, I was visiting Meethill School in Peterhead to do some twilight training. One of my favourite features were the stumps in the photo below. This blog post provides some thinking about why stumps are such valuable play resources. 1. A miniature fantasy...
Mar 23, 2023 | Art & Music Outdoors, Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Play Resources
I love surprises. The Frank Kitts Playground on the waterfront in Wellington gave me a brilliant one. I was walking along, minding my own business, when out of nowhere rose this wonderful play structure. If you look carefully you can see the albatross weather vane...
Mar 18, 2023 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Early Years Outdoors
Many years ago, I had the privilege of participating in the London Open for Play event thanks to Tim Gill. The first place we visited was the Kate Greenaway Nursery. Of all the outdoor spaces I have visited, this one remains memorable owing to the thought and effort...
Mar 17, 2023 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Early Years Outdoors
Whilst there is a trend towards naturalising outdoor spaces, as a general rule, there are less good examples around that have been developed for babies. This post is about an area specifically designed for children under the age of 2. Ideally, outdoor play spaces...
Mar 10, 2023 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Early Years Outdoors
I love being able to visit to Highway Farm Little Explorers Outdoor Nursery. Each time I have been, the place continues to involve in creative ways which are well worth sharing. The placement and quantities of mirrors around the site really caught my attention one...
Mar 9, 2023 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Early Years Outdoors
Slides really mattered to me as a child. When I visited a playground, testing out the slide was always par for the course. A good slide was sublime. A poor slide affected my perception of the whole play park. Factors which affected my judgement included: Length of the...
Feb 28, 2023 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Early Years Outdoors, Literacy Outdoors, Play Resources
One repurposed resource which withstands a lot of wear and tear is the cable reel or drum that is used to store electrical wires. They are very flexible pieces of outdoor “furniture” which are worth seeking out in your local area. With sanding and...
Feb 25, 2023 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Early Years Outdoors
Many years ago when working in Australia, I had the privilege of visiting Glendale Early Education Centre. The establishment had just opened after a 2-week closure owning to flooding. As the Chinese proverb states, “Rather light a candle than complain about...
Feb 22, 2023 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Play Resources
In recent years, several schools and settings with whom I’ve worked, have managed to acquire a boat which quickly becomes a much-loved and well-used feature. So here’s some reasons why I think boats are brilliant… 1) Boats are often treasured by...
Feb 8, 2023 | Art & Music Outdoors, Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces
Big outdoor musical instruments are a lot of fun. It’s possible to buy or make tunes and untuned percussion instruments. If you are buying an instrument, ask to hear a recording of the sound it makes when played. Do not purchase instruments that have an...
Jan 31, 2023 | Community Involvement, Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces
This is an incredibly simply activity to kickstart a whole school approach to developing your school grounds or simply for one class to think about their outdoor space. It also makes a refreshing, purposeful addition to other Valentine’s Day happenings. 1....
Jan 29, 2023 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Early Years Outdoors
Children love water play. I have always loved the work of Tom “Sensori” Bedard who writes the blog Sand and Water Tables. It’s very niche and all about engaging children through well-thought out apparatus and creations at the sand and water trays....
Jan 28, 2023 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Early Years Outdoors
Pallets are “in” in the world of outdoor play. And Stramash outdoor nurseries are up there in terms of the creative constructions which are appearing in nurseries across the world. In 2016 at Fort William this amazing play station was developed. In...
Jan 23, 2023 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Early Years Outdoors, Play Resources
Some practitioners work in settings and schools where they cannot leave equipment out overnight. Usually storage space is pretty tight too. Thus I wanted to look at ways of creating simple, portable water walls which children could create themselves. Many years ago I...
Jan 22, 2023 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Early Years Outdoors
It’s easy to browse Pinterest and “ooh” and “ah” over the amazing photos that you see of outdoor features in early years settings which seem so with- it compared to yours. This post is from a lovely nursery that I worked with several...
Jan 17, 2023 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Early Years Outdoors, Play Resources
One of the big surprises many years ago was the versatile way in which children chose to play with a pair of Cosy willow lattice arches. When I first saw these in a Derby nursery, I could see they were very open-ended. I was not surprised that the children used them...
Jan 14, 2023 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Gardening, Social Subjects Outdoors
I’m a big fan of willow structures in school grounds and outdoor spaces. In a previous post Clare Revera explained the benefits of these living sculptures. So you can imagine my excitement and delight when visiting The Coombes School, many years ago, I found...
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...
