Enriching Outdoor Opportunities for Infants, Toddlers, and Twos International Infant/Toddler Conference Outline

April 15, 2011 Introduction Beliefs or Assumptions about Outdoor Play Rethinking your role as an observer of children’s play Rethinking your role as a creator/shaper/planner of environments

Rethink your role in engagements and interactions in outdoor play

Rethink the broader context for supporting outdoor play for infants, toddlers, and twos

Personal Action Plan

Deborah J. Norris-1@ou.edu vicki.ehlers@okstate.edu

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Observation Process

Notes

Date_____________________Time_____________________________

Step One: Observe Active process in which you notice what the child is doing, what body parts are involved, how they are involved, child’s facial expressions, and child’s verbal messages.

Step Two: Evaluate The physical surroundings (in or out, structures, weather, playing surface); Available play objects; People involved (actively or bystander).

Step Two: Evaluate What skills are being practiced? What connections or understandings are developing?

Step Three: Make a Decision About additional opportunities you can make available to extend children’s learning. About interactions you might do. About language you might introduce.

Adapted from: The Dynamic Self: Activities to Enhance Infant Development by Rebecca Anne Bailey and Elsie Carter Burton. Published in 1982 by C.V. Mosby in Saint Louis, Mo.

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Enriching Outdoor Opportunities for Infants, Toddlers, and Twos International Infant and Toddler Conference 2011

Design Elements to Enhance the Outdoor Play Experience

Child care design expert, Anita Rui Olds, shares six contrasts that simulate the choices nature provides in nurturing outdoor environments. These contrasts can provide guidance for the outdoor learning and playscapes you create for young children and their caregivers.

Contrast Examples In/Out Windows Fences

Porches Up/Down Steps Berms

Ramps Lofts Light/Dark Lattices Screens

Shadows Awnings Exposed/Tempered Wet & Dry Windblown & Empty

Porch Shrubs Shade Something/Nothing Wall & Window Cluttered & Empty

Window seats Arches Order/Mystery Predictability & Surprise

Winding paths Places for Discovery Partially concealed entrances

Jim Greenman, author of Caring Spaces, Learning Places, offers these suggestions for enhancing the outdoor learning environment.

• The more convenient the storage is, the more likely loose parts will be offered. • If you can’t find it or get to it, you won’t use it. Organize your space. • Increase the use of water. Add tubs, sprinklers, gutters, sprayers. • Freshen up your space by adding shrubs, berms, boulders, logs, container plants • Bring attention to outdoor art. Add easels, chalk, paint brushes in buckets of water. • Develop a pathway. Use pavers, tree cookies, slats. • Add an ornamental fence to climb on and define a space. • Create a space for drama such as a platform, playhouse, or lean-to. • Invite fauna. Add bird feeders, bird baths, butterfly gardens. • Provide skeletal structures. Add short benches, step stools, saw horses. • Add picnic tables and benches. • Create a safe throwing area. • Create a safe jumping platform. Vary the heights from one inch to incrementally higher. • Create a gathering area for small groups or families. • Create places to balance such as beams, logs, stumps.

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Movement Concepts and Vocabulary

Locomotor Skills Crawl Climb Walk Run Jump Gallop

Nonlocomotor Skills Bend and stretch Twist and turn Push and pull Swing and rock Fall and rise

Manipulative Skills Toss Catch Kick Strike Swim

Basic Concepts and Vocabulary

Body Awareness Head Neck Shoulders Chest Trunk Arms Elbows Wrists Hands Fingers Legs Knees Ankles Feet Toes Back Hips Face Eyes Ears Nose Mouth Forehead

Spatial Awareness Direction Forward Backward Sideward Level Low High Size Big Little Shape Wide Narrow Path Straight Curved Zig Zag

Spatial Relationships Up—Down Inside—Outside Near—Far Over—Under Around--Through

Time Concepts Fast—Slow Stop--Go

Surface Concepts and Vocabulary Types Grass Wood Rock Cement Sand Mud Dirt Pebbles

Textures Prickly Smooth Rough Wet Dry Dusty Grainy Squishy Rough Hard Soft

When planning outdoor activities for infants, toddlers, and twos—

1. Start with a movement concept crawling

2. Vary the basic concepts hands & knees, forward at a low height with a straight path

3. Vary the surface concepts on a grassy surface

Adapted from: The Dynamic Self: Activities to Enhance Infant Development by Rebecca Anne Bailey and Elsie Carter Burton. Published in 1982 by C.V. Mosby in Saint Louis, Mo.

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Enriching Outdoor Opportunities for Infants, Toddlers, and Twos International Infant and Toddler Conference 2011

Loose Parts and Materials to Enhance the Outdoor Play Experience

sticks sand tree cookies branches bamboo stubs pinecones logs mud large stones shells plants garden tools leaves clay plastic pots dried pods binoculars magnifying glass chalk nets insect container bucket & shovel water source rubber boots corn husks pine needles flowers trees worm bin straw tubs tree blocks clothespins baskets watering cans paintbrushes trays feathers scarves seeds blankets boxes pods gourds cardboard tubes balls hoops grapevine wreaths pie tins spray bottles paper bags flashlights beanbags collection of boots collection of hats newspaper hats pillows plastic-lidded cans sifters laminated books bark tubing plant material scrub brushes tires wheels PVC pieces planks wheelbarrows plastic guttering sprinklers fabric scraps

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10 TIPS TO ENHANCE THE ENVIRONMENT

1. Build a Sunflower House- Plant sunflowers in a square, circle, or any other shape you’d like, to create a living playhouse for hiding and hanging out. 2. Willow Dome- Create a permanent ‘living’ room for children to play in outdoors. Plant it in the winter so when spring comes the willow will start sprouting new roots and leaves. 3. Mow a Meadow Maze- Let your lawn grown. You can create a fun, natural play space for your children to play. Carve out a maze or zigzag path with your lawnmower. 4. Plant Some Bulbs- This is a strange and mysterious experience for children. Plant the bulbs in strategic, fun ways that act as colorful accents to your play space features and pathways. 5. Boom Drums- Use plastic barrels and trim them to whatever size you want. Bolt them to the ground or not and encourage kids to bang on them. * Instructions for all of these enhancements can be found in Rusty Keeler’s book, Natural Playscapes. A 26 page excerpt, including the above Do-It-Yourself Playscape Projects can be found at: www.earthplay.net. 6. Pumpkins- Place small pumpkins outside for children to touch, carry, and explore. Encourage children to take turns carrying and pushing them in a wheel barrel. 7. Loose Parts- Use blocks, boards, “tree cookies” (log slices), and milk crates for outdoor construction play. Give children chalk, fabric, paintbrushes, or water for enhanced imaginative play. 8. Build a Vine Tepee- Add a hideaway to children’s play space and naturalize their outdoor environment. Do-It-Yourself instructions can be found at: www.naturalearning.org. 9. Color- Brighten and create a welcoming environment by adding painted rocks, mosaic stepping stones, windsocks or pinwheels to your play space. 10. Recycled Materials- Use your imagination. Add some cardboard boxes or pipes for construction play. Add tins, buckets, or bottles for children to bang on to create music and movement opportunities.

Did you Know?

9% of the population or 7.6 million children between ages 1 and 21 is deficient in Vitamin D. Increasing children’s time outdoors can also increase their levels of Vitamin D.

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Don’t be a Benchwarmer Be a Sportscaster

Instead of watching the action from the park bench, get up and get closer. While you are keeping an eye on the children, monitoring for safety, you can talk about the physical activity that you see. Just like a Sportscaster giving a play-by-play of an athletic event, you can describe their actions using movement vocabulary. Refer to the chart below excerpted from the I Am Moving, I Am Learning (IMIL) program. Action Awareness (what the body does)

Traveling Actions Walking, Skipping, Hopping, Climbing, Jumping, Crawling, Sliding, Marching, Galloping, Running, Leaping

Stabilizing Actions Twisting, Standing, Stretching, Landing, Turning, Sitting, Swaying, Bending, Balancing, Squatting, Pulling, Shaking, Curling, Kneeling, Pushing, Dodging

Manipulating Actions Throwing, Rolling, Opening, Catching, Kicking, Closing, Bouncing, Trapping, Striking, Tossing, Object Handling

Effort Awareness ( how the body moves)

Speeds: Slow, Medium, Fast, Speeding Up, Slowing Down

Degrees of Force: Strong, Medium, Light

Space Awareness ( where the body moves)

Categories Self Space Shared Space

Directions Up, Down, Right, Left, Forward, Sideways, Backwards

Levels High Medium Low

Pathways Straight Curved Zigag

Relational Awareness (the body in relation with self, other movers, and objects)

Locations: Near to-far from, Around-through, In front-behind, Together-apart, Facing-side by side, On-off, On-out, Top-bottom, Over-under Body Parts

Examples:

Wow, Justin is climbing up high on the ladder. He is squatting down low, waiting for a turn to use the slide. I see his legs out in front. He is going down forward. That was really fast!

Liliana and Jose are crawling through the tunnel together. Jose came out sideways. Liliana is backwards.

Susan, you are strong. You are pumping your legs hard to go high on the swing. Teaching Tip: If you consistently find you are not using vocabulary from one or more areas of the chart/categories, consider how you might create those movement opportunities. Perhaps you might add some new features to the environment such as manipulatives or toys and materials from the indoor classroom. You might join in children’s play, modeling a wider variety of movements in your own play. You might also lead some structured activities that create those movement opportunities.

Sportscasting will help develop movement literacy as children learn movement specific vocabulary. It also supports cognitive development; overlaying language for position and direction words as children move their bodies through space is essential for developing these concepts. Children will also notice you noticing them. This is an integral part of a positive behavior guidance approach.

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International Infant/Toddler Conference 2011 Enriching Outdoor Opportunities for Infants, Toddlers, and Twos

Resource List

Natural Playscapes http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/nacc/ibm/resources.php http://www.planetearthplayscapes.com/ http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/teaching/eecd/Natural%20Play%20Spaces Articles http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/teaching/eecd/Domains%20of%20Child%20Development/Science/BTJNatureMcHenry.pdf http://www.planetearthplayscapes.com/articles_25outdoor.html http://www.planetearthplayscapes.com/articles_20create.html https://www.claytonearlylearning.org/files/importance-of-taking-infants-toddlers-outdoors.pdf Toolkits http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/nacc/ibm/index.php http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/nacc/ibm/index.php Bellevue, WA: Exchange Press, 1987. A holistic look at the design of child care environments Books Greenman, Jim. Caring Places, Learning Places: Children’s Environments That Work. Bellevue, WA: Exchange Press, 1987. Olds, Anita Rui. Child Care Design Guide. McGraw-Hill Publishing, 2000. Keeler, Rusty. Natural Playscapes: Creating Outdoor Play Environments for the Soul. Redmond, Wa: Exchange Press, 2008. Dannenmaier, Molly. A Child’s Garden: 60 Ideas to Make Any Garden Come Alive for Children. Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2008.

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