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AMA
Original poster

I'm an outdoor pre-school educator- AMA!

13 replies

platptea · 30/09/2019 22:30

As the title suggests I work at an outdoor nursery, is there anything you wish to know about outdoor education in early years?

OP posts:
GaudyNight · 30/09/2019 22:58

Are you ‘pure’ outdoor? Ie all year round, in all but the most extreme weather?

Original poster
platptea · 30/09/2019 23:15

@GaudyNight

We have wood cabins where we spend probably an hour out of our 7 hour day, half an hour in the mornings and half an hour in the afternoon before home time! All learning, eating and toileting is done outside in all weathers.

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Finfintytint · 30/09/2019 23:19

Are you in the UK?
Sounds fab but I’ve never heard of this.

Northernsoullover · 30/09/2019 23:22

Don't you ever get miserable? I know they say there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing but if its pissing down all day? Even the Celts had roundhouses!

Original poster
platptea · 30/09/2019 23:42

@Finfintytint

Yes I am in the U.K. there are plenty of Outdoor pre-schools, kindergartens, forest schools etc. in England. Probably one in your area if you're interested Smile

@Northernsoullover

I personally don't get miserable Grin, I wear thermals, jumpers, coats, waterproofs and wellies! The children are suitably clothed and have spares too, the weather can be a struggle for some children at first. However they adjust SO well! We tend to be taught that rain and cold is 'bad' weather but there are so many things to learn from the environment. They are very resilient and we truly believe that the outdoors offers so much diversity and many opportunities for child led and initiated learning, all while following early years guidelines.

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Finfintytint · 30/09/2019 23:51

Missed the boat for my son (he’s 25) but this would have been right up his street. I love this idea. Being outdoors and muddy was his favourite thing . Why didn’t I explore this twenty odd years ago? He would have thrived.

Original poster
platptea · 01/10/2019 00:02

@Finfintytint

The sad fact is it was seen as a wishy-washy hippy thing back along. The funny thing is it seems like this form of play and learning is how most of us grew up! No phones, no tech, all outdoors, playing freely in the environment with mud and muck! I haven't seen a single child that has not thrived in my time working in this field.

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MaraScottie · 01/10/2019 00:05

Lol, "working in this field" 🤣

Fair play OP, I think outdoor nurseries are fabulous, wish my kids could have attended. Id imagine kids build up a really good immune system too.

Etty17 · 01/10/2019 00:10

My DS nursery have 2 forest school sessions each week once they are in the preschool room. He is not there yet. I'm excited about it though!

What type of activities do they do?

Original poster
platptea · 01/10/2019 00:13

@MaraScottie

I get made fun of for my overuse of puns and I didn't even spot that one! I do literally work in a field.

They probably do have better immune systems, I have to say our favourite myth is that somehow rain and cold cause the common cold and not germs!

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Original poster
platptea · 01/10/2019 00:19

@etty17

We do so many different things! For example: campfires, tool work, water play, mud 'cooking', nature study, loose part building, foraging, painting and so many more things. We tend to do 'child-led' activities, which just means paying attention to the children's interests (today we raced snails and learned about their habitats as that is what the children were focused on) this helps to make their learning more meaningful. They learn numbers and letters for example through counting naturally in the environment (how many sticks can you get, how many children are here?) and through songs and stories and rhymes! The outdoors has so much to offer.

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Original poster
platptea · 01/10/2019 00:22

If anyone is genuinely interested in how the EYFS and seven areas of learning and development is covered outdoors here is a great little pamphlet!

outdoormatters.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/EYFS-Effective-PracticeOutdoor-Learning.pdf

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bridgetjones1 · 01/10/2019 08:20

I have a friend who is a primary school teacher. There are a few Forest nurseries near her. She quite likes the idea of it but says that the children who come from the Forest nurseries into the classroom struggle to adapt to being inside, even though at their school they are outside 50% of the time.

I also very much like the idea of these nurseries, in fact I went to see a child first nursery for my twin girls last week, but I do wonder if more of a balance can be struck so that when they do go into the classroom environment it’s not such a shock to the system?

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