Guest blog by Lesley McLaren, Creative STAR Admin Assistant.
I’ve worked for Creative STAR for a good few years now (behind the scenes) and although I occasionally tag along with Juliet to her courses, I haven’t experienced learning first hand with children.
When Juliet first introduced me to the world of Outdoor Learning, my son was a wee explorer and an avid paleontologist who now sadly prefers to spend time with the wonders of his XBox rather than the great outdoors (something I hope he will revert back to in the future…well I can hope!).
But 16 months ago my daughter gave me the wonderful marvel that is my first grandson. What a joy it is to be a Nanny, and my wee “Cutie Pie” is the focus of this blog post…
It all started with a sunny afternoon in my back garden with nanny rounding up a few things for CP to play with. Little did I expect to see Outdoor learning in the Early Years unravel before my very eyes.
We started with a few toys, a bucket and an empty bowl, but that just wasn’t cutting it with CP so in went the water. This was quickly emptied leaving CP sitting in a puddle, soaked.
But, not bothered at all by his wet pants, the bowl was re-filled and it soon became obvious that CP is a water play kinda guy.
After the initial splashing with his hands I introduced a spoon and a measuring cup.
Then his mum and I sat on the side lines and watched him play and learn.
Such a look of concentration on his wee face as he aimed the water into the bucket…
…then tipped it back in the bowl.
I don’t have any training in the field of education, but from the few years of working with Juliet it made me realise just what CP was actually learning by just playing. He was so content and happy, and just enjoying what he was doing.
But before long, the puddle was just too much to sit in anymore and he was up and on the move (minus his soaked dungarees!). With measuring cup in hand, off he went to explore.
A Ha! Chuckies! (small rough stones)
How many chuckies can I fit in the measuring cup?
Of course a few escaped, which then led onto…
..the risk assessment part of the activity, when he realised that chuckie’s are not the best thing to step on (second to lego bricks), ouch!
But look at that cheeky smile!
Here he’s discovered that the measuring cup was a musical instrument all along and makes a fab noise when you bang it on the wall.
CP’s love of messy play has now continued to his own back garden, with his mum providing her own set of resources. Next on the list? I think it’s got to be a mud kitchen 😃
