Outdoor play

Children play 


Children breathe,
in and out;
Free, alive, 
Under the Sun 
Running with the wind
being who they are,
being children 
free spirits.
Children of Mother Nature
Playing;
Free, like the wind
Happy like the sun rays
Fluid like water
Still like stones


Time and place
open infinite space
Forest, sea, garden, meadow,
climbing, swinging, dancing,
sitting under a weeping willow,
being at one with nature,
exploring,
moving,
imitating,
recreating,
what they know,
what they see,
what they feel.


Children play:
that's how they say
what they need to say.


Mother nature 
The best friend
Mother nature
The best toy
Mother nature
Children's true joy


Susannah

Home is the best environment for babies and young children, that is true and that is where they are relaxed and comfortable. There are restrictions and distractions indoors. The growing child needs challenge and stimulations and the outdoors provides that. A small garden is good for a baby, but toddlers and older children, especially  3 to 7 years old, need more. 

Walking is the best outdoor activity and the simplest. It is the starting point.
An outing for a young toddler is a simple walk to the church/post office/ grocers and back home. This is because there is a task, a purpose for the walk. It could be even simplified: a walk around the block or to the neighbours/ nearby friend's  house.


I always took Morgana for a daily walk no matter the weather, we had plenty of time outdoors.
Often stopping at the local playground, sometimes Southminster, were we lived up until she was 5, or Burnham on Crouch, 10 minutes by bus, or even Maldon, 25 minutes by bus.

Southminster was quite basic and semi rural

Burnham on Crouch a town by water

Here on a spring walk with a white hair dandelion in Maldon

Here, running by the boats in Maldon

In our favourite cafe/garden museum in Maldon

I loved day trips out and went just about everywhere by train or bus, what fun!

In Sudbury, Suffolk

In Greenwich!

We went everywhere, whatever the weather

Rain or shine

Winter or Summer

And, now Morgana aged 11 hasn't changed a bit, still like kicking leaves  and walking and playing with sticks, flowers, trees and stones, etc..only she is bigger and taller!

Since Morgana was tiny we went for daily outings, from half hour walks to proper trips out: round the block to the local nature reserve/field and back, or to see the cows in the farm, to pick stones and sticks and leaves for nature table, to the church garden, to the corner shop, etc...
Or out and about and a bit further!




Make it more of a half a day out and include stops on the way there or back: a compulsory stop: the playground.


Yeah! Was the response from Morgana, who loved the swings more than anything else...

My dear Morgana,
by the age of 4,  she could already push herself on the swing up really high!

Although she liked to swing from trees and climb ...sometimes even more than swings...

Then we moved to London and I was amazed by the amount of gardens, parks and in general, the green spaces near us!
London is great for little gardens and parks and playgrounds...it is great to have so many around.
When it is still a bit too far to walk to the nearest playground a simple solution is a walk in a quiet road, with some green spaces.
Grass, bushes, trees and if lucky, a pond, some broken or cut tree trunks and logs, is all you need for outdoor play.
Of course if you live by the sea, that would be the place to go!

Morgana in Porthcawl where her Mamgu and Grandpa live




The outdoors is where the child can have total freedom of movement and the breathing is natural. Indoors there are many restrictions; furniture to bump your head onto, chairs to fall from, mirrors to break, etc...even if, like myself, you are a liberal and allow children to walk on furniture and jump on beds/sofa (with strict rules is possible, and it helps if you have futon mattress and no china or glass around!), even then, the child needs something else. This is connection to nature.

Nature in urban spaces are indeed different but I am sure that the flower and trees still can make you stop and connect for a brief moment amongst the buildings and other man made things.


















There is something much deeper going on when the child is in the park, in the woods, with no cars, less people, no swings, no toys. Just himself, maybe an adult and other children he knows, and nature.

Sand, grass, stones, trees...water, mud...the basic elements, the child nature 'toys' with which he explores thousands possibilities.
The space around has no restrictions- unless you are by a waterfall or a a ditch or on top of a mountain! Here the child can use the three dimensions to explore movement, rocking, rolling, jumping, running and much more. 

What I do when I take children outdoors I make them comfortable first. Of course clothing is so important; a warm vest and many layers and hats are vital; also waterproofs too! The best clothes and accessories are the ones that are nicely done up, tight -ish but breathable fit; the sort of clothing that makes you snug but not restricted, but never to big or loose as that can be annoying and in the way and the child will want to get it off! 

Warmth and comfort for Morgana in the winter, layers in the spring and most important ...clothes that don't restrict movement...

The environment should feel safe. If I take children to the woods or park I take them the familiar route and the following times the same route and the same stopping points.

A child needs to feel 'at home' even outdoors or his breathing will be too fast and shallow in other words the child will feel unsafe and will just want to go back home.


 I use a certain spot and the same tree/bush/bench/log, always the same one. 

The child will refer to that same spot as his 'house' or 'den' and play can be relaxed and orderly.

Outdoor play does not mean running around endlessly and 'burning' energy. 


Just the fact that the child is walking, skipping, jumping into puddles is enough physical exercise, and playing outside involves running and climbing obstacles, picking heavy things, pushing/pulling big sticks, poking the ground, using hands or sticks to do digging, and just simple exploring is a complete workout for the child!
 Roly poly down a hill is fun for those silly moments but proper play, with social skills, with imagination and creativity, when a situation is acted out ('You can be the mummy and I the big sister' or, ' I am the  the naughty horse and you are the farmer and I run away and you have to put me back into the stable')
involving full body experience and movement with purpose. This is similar to 'acting out' a situation during circle time, like a galloping song or a 'let's all be butterflies and flap our wings'. 

I always made sure Morgana would grow up without fears and restraints; I gave her freedom to explore the elements and kept in contact with nature as much as possible.

And now she can show the little children I look after how to play and be in nature.

There is no need for a circle time like that if the play is outdoors and somewhat guided. When I take the children out  to a special nature corner locally, such as Greenwich park or Manor House park or Charlton House, or Oxleas Woods, my role is to be the grandma at home or the farmer or the mummy and I will become the point of reference, usually under the tree or where the chosen spot is. I will be the base of the game if needed, usually as a starting point. The play evolves and changes and there can be bad wolves, gruffalos, monsters and many more jungle animals. But somebody always has to make dinner at the end! Of course sticks become spoons and grass, leaves and flower petals are the main ingredients for stews and soup, etc...

Then I can observe that within the play there are domestic elements mixed with the 'wild' elements and even with outdoor play there are moments of breathing in and moments of breathing out.

Two girls playing in the green gardens near my house used the bench as the kitchen and this was the birthday 'cake'.






If the children are 'too wild' to start with I bring real food out and a blanket and settle them with a sitting down picnic. If the children know the place and are familiar with a certain 'routine', they will be eventually less 'wild' and get into real play easier. 
If the children I look after know the spot they will be more than happy to return to it over and over again and the play will continue from where they left it before as if it was a new episode, if they are over five, if under five, I am afraid you get repeats!


Some spots I use:


 The 'umbrella' tree at the East Greenwich Pleasaunce 
http://www.parkexplorer.org.uk/park_intro.asp?ID=grn09;


Oxleas Woods, from the cafe down the meadow to the right, in the summer, also, from entry road take path to the right and follow it all the way up to the bit that looks like a castle with a raised area and then to the left, where there are some tree trunks on the ground.


http://www.parkexplorer.org.uk/park_intro.asp?ID=grn18


The climbing tree behind St John's Church Blackheath Royal Standard; there a little passage there from behind Marks and Spencer.


These are just a few, of course, there are more...I am sure!


Outdoor play is a healthy and vital thing for a growing child...in fact for all of us, adults included. I am more relaxed and easy going outdoors and home is sweeter when I come back.
Sharing indoor space with family and friends makes anyone irritable sooner or later...sharing and negotiating is tricky at any age!


Happy outdoor play!


x Susannah


For more reading:


Outdoor play is central to Waldorf learning.  This supports the integration of seasonal lessons and stories into the curriculum. The four seasonal festivals are Michaelmas (fall), Christmas (winter), Easter (spring), and St. John (summer). Children have daily sessions of outdoor play, not confined to short recesses, but longer periods of active time.  Crafts are always with natural fibres such as wet-felting, finger-knitting and needle-felting using wool dyed with natural inks.  Woodworking is common and even the outdoor playground more resembles something you would erect out of ropes and timbers if you were shipwrecked on an island.  Branches, leaves, plants, vines and soil are played with on a regular basis.  Waldorf schools can be considered “spiritual” in their ideas of “Mother Earth”, but they are not specifically religious, and are very open to all beliefs.  Natural beauty is echoed in all things Waldorf, from paintings to flower pressings to the festivals in each season.
http://rootparenting.org/5-unique-benefits-of-waldorf-education/



And read this please, is amazing!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/nyregion/30forest.html




And this article is good to read too:
http://www.whitehutchinson.com/children/articles/outdoor.shtml


Circle time and breathing

Circle time can become a healthy, rhythmic, and a happily anticipated part of a homeschooling day, especially if it corresponds to the children's natural patterns of activity. Each person has an internal clock, which is influenced by the daily environmental cycles, or circadian rhythms, of ambient illumination and temperature. Rhythms that occur during a circadian day include the ultradian rhythms of temperature and digestion.

Circadian Rhythms

The environmental cycles of day and night, shifting through the seasons, as well as of temperature and digestion, influence human behaviors and body processes, such as

           Level of physical activity,

• Body temperature,
• Eating,
• Sleeping,
• Sensory processing, and
• Learning capability.

Certain human activities and biological processes, such as alertness and sleepiness, synchronize with circadian intervals of lightness and darkness, including dawn and dusk, as they shift throughout the year. BBC Science and Nature provides a Daily Rhythm Test to demonstrate a person's natural pattern of alertness and sleepiness, or "internal body clock." Most people experience a dip in alertness in the early afternoon.

Circle Time Activities to Raise Energy

During natural periods of alertness, homeschoolers can use circle time activities to further raise or lower the energy level as desired.

• Singing
• Dancing
• Making crafts
• Playing outdoors

Circle Time Activities to Lower Energy

During natural periods of sleepiness, homeschoolers can use circle time activities to wind down and relax.

• Storytelling
• Reading poems
• Stretching
• Meditating

Circle time must be voluntary in order to provide benefits. The routine of circle time promotes a sense of balance, as well as fun and interest, within a homeschooling day, given that the children desire to participate. Allowing the children to choose activities, or planning activities around the children's current interests, increases the likelihood that everyone will want to join and will enjoy the day.

Read more at Suite101: A Daily Rhythm for Balanced Homeschool Days: Schedules, Routines, and Circular Rhythms for Homeschoolers | Suite101.com http://saramcgrath.suite101.com/a-daily-rhythm-for-balanced-homeschool-days-a153830#ixzz1sf4pBLzO






One of the many truly inspirational women writers, a biologist that back in the early sixties said things so true that now I am amazed that some people are still carrying on as normal, when our Mother Nature is SCREAMING for help!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwQ7S_5Ty5M


Happy reading! And Happy outdoor time!