Activity ideas for those who do like to be beside the seaside, in the woods or at the park!
Outdoor learning extends beyond the classroom walls and takes advantage of the natural environment to provide unique learning opportunities. This approach encourages creativity, exploration and discovery, helping children engage with their surroundings in meaningful ways.
Being outdoors allows children to experience different sensory inputs, such as the sounds of nature, the feel of various textures, and the sights of the environment around them. These experiences can enhance children’s cognitive and physical development, and their connection to their surroundings.
Outdoor learning also promotes physical activity and helps children develop a sense of respect and appreciation for the natural world. It fosters a love for learning, encourages curiosity, and helps build social skills through group activities.
Whether it’s a beach, forest, park, or any other outdoor space, the benefits of outdoor learning are immense and can have a lasting positive impact on children’s growth and development.
Chatta helps practitioners capture experiences and make links to modelled language and vocabulary, and can turn any outdoor activity into a story, description, explanation, list or even instructions.
Take a look at the Chatta activities below for early years practitioners which link to an outdoor visit or the outdoor area, or even a sandpit at your setting. Some of these activities have recently been shared at a Local Government Association Outdoor Learning Conference, and examples are available in the Chatta software.
Outdoor Learning EYFS Activities
Beach
- Collect objects such as shells and pebbles: sort them according to size, shape or favourites.
- Touch different surfaces: stone, rock, seaweed, shell, water.
- Build a tower or a sandcastle, create a sculpture or artwork from natural materials.
- Use sticks or stones to draw patterns in the sand.
Back at your setting you can use Chatta with the children to:
- Recount the activities of the beach day.
- Explain differences.
- Create instructions.
- Describe patterns…
Woods/Park
Make a trail from sticks, follow it and discover the natural woodland environment. Describe the things you spotted with Chatta.
Describe leaves, colours, shapes and sizes using Chatta.
Make an adventure story with a small toy. Take photos of different things the toy does in the woods – climbing trees, digging holes, hiding etc. Create a story with Chatta.
Make a picture /sculpture from twigs/leaves/stones etc. Describe what it is showing with Chatta.
Look for different colours – leaves, flowers , stones, mosses etc. Name and label the colours of nature using Chatta.