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A Fish Trail not a Fishy Tale

Jul 21, 2012 | Art & Music Outdoors, Literacy Outdoors

Last week my son and I went to visit Hull. This is not a regular destination on most tourists’ “to do” list when exploring England, but it has many hidden surprises including the Fish Trail, which is one of the most inspired and quirky public works...

Literacy Trails in Outdoor Spaces

Jun 23, 2012 | Literacy Outdoors

Trails are interesting things. Children like them and they are often associated with taking learning outdoors. Many teachers experience them the hard way. We set up a trail that takes a couple of hours to put together the night before and half an hour to set up in the...

Creating On-Going Dialogue and Change with Children

Jun 20, 2012 | Literacy Outdoors

At the weekend I was facilitating my final workshop of the school year at the Aberdeen Early Years Conference. The theme was Going Out to Play with Fred the Ted – Creating On-going Dialogue with Children. It was a fitting end to a busy year, in that it was an...

Beware! Extreme Signage

Mar 28, 2012 | Literacy Outdoors

Last week whilst I was walking from the car park at the back of a hotel round to the reception at the front, I couldn’t help but notice all the signs within the 100m stretch. On the one hand the sheer number of warning signs was amusing. Yet at the same time, it...

Reading Outside with Fred the Ted

Mar 3, 2012 | Literacy Outdoors

Thursday 1st March was World Book Day. It is always a great opportunity to celebrate the joys of reading and what better way than to take reading outdoors. We began by browsing a few books inside and listening to a story. Then Fred the Ted told the class that he...

Alphabet Mirror Letters

Feb 18, 2012 | Literacy Outdoors

Generally speaking, I’m not one for commercially bought alphabet resources. When I first decided to get into learning and play outside, I bought a set of alphabet tiles which I’ve rarely used. I’ve other bits and pieces too which tend to remain...

Not a Stick! Making Sense of Metaphors

Jan 28, 2012 | Literacy Outdoors

When I was 11 years old I remember struggling to understand the concept of a metaphor. There is a wonderful poem, The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes which opens with three super metaphorical descriptions to set the scene… The wind was a torrent of darkness among the...

Outdoor literacy: Letters from Sticks!

Nov 25, 2011 | Literacy Outdoors

Okay, last week I blogged about sticky letters. This week it’s letters made from sticks. I blame one child. I passed him in the corridor whilst I was carrying a pile of sticks. His face lit up and he asked if they were for his class. So I told him that the next...

Outdoor Literacy Activity: Sticky Letters

Nov 19, 2011 | Literacy Outdoors

This term I have been asked to undertake literacy activities with one class. This has provided an ideal opportunity to work on lots of ways of doing this outside. I’ve blogged about creating letters from natural materials previously. However, we’re going...

The Comedy Carpet – Outdoor Literacy at its Best!

Nov 6, 2011 | Literacy Outdoors

Doing literacy activities outside is no joke… or may be it should be! This weekend I was able to visit the recently-opened Comedy Carpet in Blackpool. It’s a tribute to British comedians who have performed in Blackpool, the traditional entertainment...

The Story of Fred the Ted

Oct 11, 2011 | Literacy Outdoors

Many educators who work with children with additional support needs have a very real and genuine fear of children running off when undertaking outdoor activities. From the outset, I decided this was not going to deter me from letting children explore the grounds. I...

Circle Poems in Action

May 13, 2011 | Early Years Outdoors, Literacy Outdoors

Last month I blogged about Circle Poems and mentioned that I thought they would work particularly well in  nursery. Well, I got an impromptu chance to find out recently. At a nursery I was visiting, the tyres were out and about with the children very engrossed in...

What about the Royal Wedding?

Apr 27, 2011 | Literacy Outdoors

This week the debate will run higher than ever about the Royal Family. Kate and William are getting married and in honour of this special occasion, schools, even in Scotland, have been granted a holiday. My grandparents, either on, or shortly after, their wedding...

Literacy – A Circles Theme

Apr 20, 2011 | Literacy Outdoors

These are the ideas and suggestions covered in the Outdoor Literacy workshop at the LTS “Orientate Yourself to Outdoor Learning” event at Glenmore Lodge on 25th March 2011. The theme of the workshop was circles which links nicely to work on cycles in...

A Harry Potter Hunt

Mar 23, 2011 | Literacy Outdoors

OK. Imagine the scenario. You arrive at a class to support an outdoor learning session and it’s not happening. Do you: a) Nip off to the staffroom for a quick cuppa?b) Join in the planned (indoor) activity?c) Set up an impromptu Harry Potter hunt? Generally...

Full Stops Outside

Feb 11, 2011 | Literacy Outdoors

A couple of weeks ago I was given an interesting challenge. A teacher who has a class of P7 (Grade 6) children with additional support needs asked me to demonstrate the teaching of full stops outdoors. Firstly we began indoors, sharing our ideas about full stops and...
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